As many of you guys know, I'm a new MINI owner. In fact, I haven't gotten my car in yet haha (but I have temp tags!), but the mod bug is already biting me. I've been driving in my wife's new MINI for about a week now until mine comes in, and all I can think about is what I'd like to do to my car.

I have a liquid yellow MINI with sunroof, and white roof/mirrors. I know for sure I'll be getting the performance mods done first like the supercharger pulley mod, M7 front and rear strut bars, ect, but it's the cosmetics I keep going back and forth on.

For one, I keep going back and forth on the grill. Some days I really like the black aero or m7 grill, others I look at the stock yellow one and love it. However, I saw a picture of a MINI the same as mine on google images with an aero grill and it looked horrible. It seems to look really good on yellow MINIs with black roofs, but for some reason it really didn't look good at all on this version. I've considered blacking out the headlamps, handles, and gas cap so maybe that would help it.. but this grill just looked off on this color combination. Almost like it lost character and became very plain.

I'm also going back and forth on wheels. I have 17" stock rims on it currently, but would like something white with a smaller spoke width. This is something again I go back and forth on, but I'm just wondering if I have white accents if white wheels are worth it. The only reason why I'm considering staying with stocks is because white wheels (at least the ones on my Celica) are EXTREMELY hard to keep clean, and always look dirty.

There are other mods I'm iffy on as well, like the rear seat delete (as the trunk on this thing is laughable at best, as is backseat leg room), matte black vinyl accents on the chrome, stripes, gauge chrome, ect.


Anywho, I guess I just need some guidance. I don't want to waist money doing mods that don't look good. I know a lot of this is personal preference, but I'm curious what people here would suggest for my color combinations. Due to the roof, stripes have also been a bit of a concern to me as well as I wanted something to run down the center instead of the typical Cooper stripes. All in all, sometimes I like the stock look, sometimes I don't. I just don't want to dive into this and regret it. Which path would you take if it was your car?

Thanks

 

Honda Element antenna. In elegantly contrasting black.

 

Is it hard to change out the antenna?

 

No. Super easy (unscrew old one, screw in new one).

But you do lose the RC car look...

 

I too am a new owner of a ly/w but an R50 -- my previous was ps/b that I had blacked out I had molded wing covers that I have moved onto the new car, but I have ordered a spray can of plastidip in white, I'm going to spray the wings and license plate frames I'm happy with the white and yellow and think a little more white may not hurt (on my way to a whiteout)

 

You know if you really want to, you can change the roof color with a decal from Aesthetic Creations or Cooper Flags. At least that gives you more options, as you build your MINI in your head. I have had my Black Jack on for 2 years now, and it looks the same as the day it was put on. Also, if you have the sunroof, it will got hotter than h*ll in the summer if you live in a warm area. I dont have that problem anymore. Just a thought! Let us know what you decide to do! (and post pics)

 

I'll be sure to post pics .

I looked at the Element antenna, and it does look nice. However, I am quite partial to the RC car look haha.

Actually, I really like the white accents, and would like to keep them. I think it gives it an extra added layer of uniqueness. The problem I'm having is getting a person to do stripes (was thinking white on boot and bonnet, while yellow on the white roof) that would do stripes on the roof and ones that are transparent on the sunroof portion. I'm still not sold on stripes though, and I like it stripeless, so we'll see.

I think the white wheels would look great on the car. I have a great set with brand new tires available to me for a little over 600 bucks, which is great for 17" rims. Plus, I have a MINI friend who wants my stock wheels.

What I'm really not sure about is the grill and whether to leave the chrome on the car or black it out. There's something about the yellow grill that looks "classic", even though the classic Minis never had a grill that looked like it. However, blacking out the components is cheap and sporty looking. My fear is that if I do black out the chrome, the white accents will look out of place. As it is stock, it looks fine so I'm hesitant to mess with a proven and working look.

Coming from a Celica owner who's choices for aftermarket options was VERY limited, going to a MINI is almost TOO limitless! There's so many different ways to go about this haha. We'll see, I'll keep you all posted.

 

You might try just blacking out the standard grill slats. I did it to my car and it looks great.

 

That actually might be something worth thinking about. Just out of curiosity, what's the best way to do this?

 

I actually did mine with electrical tape...

I meant to go back with some automotive vinyl, but it has held up well for a few years now.

 

i used a roll of black tape from pep boys , about $7.
just the right width and like nabeshins, i think it looks good.
(easily reverseable too)
see my gallery for pics
boxcars

 

On a slightly related note.. my car finally shipped today! Can't wait to get this thing! The pepper white Mini (my wife's) is great and all, but I can't wait for the liquid yellow S :D.

 

Thats awesome!!! Congrats! Wish I had taken pics of mine coming off the truck. I guess thats just something that is forever ingrained in my memory !

 

Hey thanks! Actually I think you misunderstood me. It's being shipped today, as in the dealer sent me the picture of him loading it onto the truck . It probably won't be here till mid next week.

 

The car comes today! I'll post pictures soon when it arrives :D. I'm SO excited. I ordered a M7 strut bar for mine and M7 strut pads for my wife's Mini in anticipation :D.

 

I also have a LY/W S, and that pic brought back memories of my car when I first got it bone stock. As it sits now it looks kinda like what you're going for, yellow w/ white accents and thin spoked white 17's. The white wheels sre definately hard to keep clean, but then they are they look super good. Good luck with your MINI

 

Yea, the 17s really make the Mini shine. I wish my wife's pepper white had those on her car as well.

Btw, the car came off the truck. First shot is dirty, second and third are of it after a good wash. Unfortunately some poor idiot decided to leave my hatch open in transit, which killed the battery as the dome light was on from NY to OH. The dealer paid for the battery and the service cost, which is good. The latch is hard to click closed all the way, and it needs to be readjusted. Other than that I'm stoked. I'll get more pictures soon. The car, unknowingly to me, has the stainless steel dash trim kit look to it, and it looks really classy. I'm having a blast. I haven't even done the pulley mod, air intake or strut bars, and this thing is already a beast.

 

Great color choice But I am partial to LY.

I wish I could help with the white mods, but I went the black/chrome route with Butters.

What helps me decide what might look good is photoshop. Even a crappy shop job can give you a good idea what the finished project could look like. I keep pictures of Butters from all angles stored on my hard drive so I can pull up a picture & "modify it" without worrying about doing something I would regret.

I'm currently working with vinyl & magnet sheets (along with photoshop) to work out and 80's design that would be easily removable...looking at this for inspiration...but i digress...

 

Love the color combo

 

Thanks guys. Yea, it's sharper looking than my wife's Mini, but I didn't say that .

As far as the photoshop bit, that's exactly what I've been doing. I'm a graphic designer and it helped me with my Celica when I was choosing how to layout the vinyl graphics on it. I've avoided some costly mistakes with the Mini by not getting stripes that in my opinion, would have looked horrible on the car but looked great in my mind.

I have one idea which would be quite fun, but I need access to a company that could make me a circle shaped magnet...or at the very least some vinyl. Dicuts are either way too expensive or aren't offered by a lot of the magnet makers, so I think I'm going to be forced to go the vinyl route. I already have the graphic made and ready to go, so we'll see. Unfortunately, most of the magnet producers also want a minimum order of 150 units to make it, which is ludicrious.

We'll see. If anyone knows a place who could do the magnet though in a circle shape and not charge a thousand bucks or something insane, let me know. The thought of vinyl just irks me cause I don't want the paint not to fade under it, and knowing me, my tastes will change and Ill want to do something else.. but I won't be able to because there's a giant darker yellow circle on my hood.

Any advice?

 

Pics look good, congrats