Guys-


I bought the replacement chrome mirror caps for my Mini. Is there a good way of getting the old caps off without destroying them? When I had my car in for service today I asked if they could quickly throw them on but they said the car would have to go to the body shop for installation and the cost would be $90. It doesn't seem to me that this would take 1 hour to install($96 labor rate).

Advice?

 

Aloha and welcome to MCO!

Save your money! It took me all of 15 minutes to remove the old and install the chrome.
Some members have done a DIY. You can use the search function on the top right of every page and search for chrome mirror caps.

To save you some time, this is how I removed the original caps. I pulled back (by hand) on the caps far enough to insert a "hook tool" and slowly pop out each tab. Someone had used a plastic knife....just something you can use to pry without sharp edges.
To install, line up the tabs (easier to do the top first) and snap back into place. Don't be afraid to give it a nice tap

 

Thanks for the info. I can't believe that they were going to charge me 90 bucks for a 5 minute job. Crazy crazy. Damn they look great!

>>Aloha and welcome to MCO!
>>
>>Save your money! It took me all of 15 minutes to remove the old and install the chrome.
>>Some members have done a DIY. You can use the search function on the top right of every page and search for chrome mirror caps.
>>
>>To save you some time, this is how I removed the original caps. I pulled back (by hand) on the caps far enough to insert a "hook tool" and slowly pop out each tab. Someone had used a plastic knife....just something you can use to pry without sharp edges.
>>To install, line up the tabs (easier to do the top first) and snap back into place. Don't be afraid to give it a nice tap

 

Everyone, be aware of the STICK ON Chrome Mirror covers, they don't look so good, in fact we sent ours BACK to our supplier and got the real ones from MINI. The OEM ones are perfect, they fit well and look great, no gaps or overlap or anything. The real ones cost a bit more, but they're worth it.

http://outmotoring.com/chrome_mirror_covers.html

Enjoy!

 

I just put mine on my MCS DS/B this week! Looks AWESOME, pics to follow. I had read the threads here and decided to use a small paint scraper, about 1" to 1.5". It worked great, although i think i managed to mess up one of the little clips. I do have a question for those that have made this change. it seems that the new chrome ones don't fit exactly like the original ones. by this i mean there is an infinitesimal (sp?) difference. the chrome ones don't seem to fit quite as snug against the mirror housing, just not as close as the original caps. it's not far off, in fact if i hadn't had the originals to compare i wouldn't even notice. i'm just wondering do i need to give them one more push, or is this normal?