bad news = my wife bent up the nose last night. creased the hood in several spots, front clip and grills are bent up, headlight washer on driver side is hosed.

good news = geico has a rapid repair shop nearby, and i already had an appt with the MINI dealer tomorrow (monday) for brakes and exhaust repair. so i have the opportunity for the dealer to give me an "official" opinion on what needs to be replaced and what can be repaired b4 i go to see the insurance adjuster day after tomorrow (tuesday).

best news would be = the front clip needs to be replaced and i can replace it with an aero clip only paying the difference in cost.

questions: is a standard clip for a 2006 S available prepainted or will the body shop be painting it regardless of whether i get the regular or aero clip? (color = purple haze, so it's not like it would be chili red readily in stock?). i'm thinking the big issue would be if the regular bumper clip is available prepainted in purple and the aero obviously isn't, then i've got an uphill battle, but if they are both primed only then it might not make much difference?

any ideas on the difference in parts cost between replacing one vs the other?

are 1st gen aero kits still avaialable? last time i looked morristown mini had them, but that was a while back. since the cabriolet still uses it tho, it should still be available, right?

last q: has anybody else had a similar situation and used it to "upgrade" for just the difference in cost, and if so, any pointers for handling the insurance adjuster correctly?

tia!

 

I've done it and its really depends on the insurance company as I'm sure they will vary on how they handle this. I was under AAA insurance in CA and they were ok with me upgrading to an optional OEM replecement and paying the difference. The fact that its an optional OEM part is helpful and there is very little difference in cost as the painting and labor is the expensive part and pretty much a constant between the two options.

 

Both are primed-only, so the painting shouldn't be much different, but you'll need to make a BIG decision:

The aero front bumper has the "molding" built-in...the "molding" is the black trim piece on each side.

If you want to carry the black trim theme onto the aero bumper, your painting cost will increase because it's a 2-color job.

If you want the aero bumper to be 100% body color (ie: purple haze), you'll have to decide if the "interrupted" black trim theme will work for you.

Schultze was a victim of a hit & run in a Walmart parking lot in February this year. Three of the black trim pieces needed to be replaced, so I advised the collision center to NOT install the new pieces because I made the decision to have all the black trim pieces replaced with new pieces that would be painted to match the body color.

Schultze's repairs from the Walmart incident were completed & I got him back on March 14th; unfortunately, I had an accident the very next day which required a new front bumper, rocker panel & several of the black trim pieces. I called the vendor who sold me the black trim pieces and added the aero kit (except rear bumper) to the order.

The insurance company didn't have a problem with any of it since all the parts were OEM options.

Good luck!

PS: My vote is for replacing all the black trim pieces with new pieces & having them painted Purple Haze...makes for a SHARP looking MINI!

Erika

 

is anybody currently running a great price on the aero kit as separate pieces? i don't want the rear, and could pass on the sides if $$ dictated.

 

do it!! aero kit for the win! ; )

 

I'm wondering the same thing. I have to have the front bumper cover on our 02 MCS replaced and am considering doing the aero front instead. Does anything else change besides the bumper cover and the hood center trim?

 

Outmotoring.com has a slightly better price than the MINI Dealer on these parts, but since my
answer is almost a month old I imagine you've already completed your upgrade.

All of the grill work changes and the wheel well trim will need to be painted.