I bought a 2003 Mini and LOVE it! The bonnet stripes are cracked from the sun and I want to replace them but am finding it to be REALLY expensive.
Any advice?

 

Define really expensive. It shouldn't be more than $100 to buy them from the dealer. from an independent shop like Aesthetic Creations, they can be $40-60. And then installation is just a squeegee away.

And don't take this second part offensively, If that is defined as REALLY expensive. MINIs may not be for you.

 

I just removed mine a couple of weekends ago by using a regular hair/blow dryer on "Hot" and "High" settings. After they were up, I used my regular car wash and cleaned it, then waxed it. Mine is pepper white and only a couple of years old so I had no "ghost" stripes or anything. Now I'm trying to decide if I want to replace them and with what. Good Luck...and suggest Out Motoring, Aesthetic Creations, or aftermarket supplier...much cheaper than dealer.

 

The Dealer near me said $289 but that is them doing it. I didn't know I could do it myself so cool. Just afraid I'll put in on crooked or something!

 

Its a good idea to let a dealer or trim shop do it. Its ime consuming to remove the one adhesive and prep the hood because there is the old lines from the old stripes. Unless you can line them up perfectly you should really cut polish the hood before. Its a one shot deal... if the stripes dry and are not straight on in line then you need to do it all over again

 

Dealer (MINI Yaletown) replaced my stock stripes with the OEM Sport stripes and company they used did a great job

 

Honestly, I would just shop around. Take some measurements.

Often at Auto Zone, Pep Boys, Advance Auto Parts or even WalMart, you can find stripes or stripe kits that you can go with.

Installation isn't very difficult if you use the wet method. I put ours on in about 1.5 hours total. And they look like a professional did them.

Our stripe kit was $20 (on sale) for 20' of the stripes at Auto Zone.

Good luck with it.

 

If you can buy the kit online then windex can be your friend. I run a print shop that does full wraps and on things like this we use a formula called Rapid Tac which is very similar to windex. Soak down the decal/hood and place both stripes on there, move them around until you like the placement then squeege it down, let it sit for a little bit in the sun to help dry the windex out and you are good to go.

 

look on ebay..must be over a hundred on there.

 

$289 is too much to pay, about what I was quoted by my MINI dealer, had them done front and rear for $150 by a sign company that does vehicle advertisements.

 

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