Newbie here.. Hola.. and soon to be Mini owner....Woohoo! Supposed to place my order within the next 2 weeks. Wonderful site here, BTW.. Tons of invaluable knowledge.

Have a few questions for now...they are somewhat general in nature.

1. Those of you who have purchased BLACK Minis... Any regrets. We all know that black is the hardest color to keep looking good and clean. With the limited color choices for the S model... I'm pretty sure I'll be going black. Opinions from those who've gone black?

2. $500+ for driving lamps?? OK.. I admit I just want the driving lamps for the looks... but the price gives me ED... Surely there are some cheaper aftermarket alternatives? and I'm sure somebody here can furnish a link or advice.. Anyone?

3. Attention **** Retentive: I'll be ordering mine with stripes as shown below. Never owned a car with vinyl stripes. My question is... when waxing these cars, are there any issues with getting wax off on the edge of the decals? Am I over-thinking this? or is it a PITA to keep the areas looking good around the edges as it's not a smooth surface??

4. I'll be buying aftermarket wheels sooner or later. Are the standard wheels worth anything on the market? or eBay?

TIA all...

 

Nice looking car. I've had several black cars in the past and as good as they looked brand new, I soon regretted getting black. It's just a royal pain to keep looking good. My Mini is a dark silver.

As for stripes, can't help you there. My personal preference is not to have them. I like a much cleaner look. But all that's personal.

As for the lights, I would imagine that aftermarket might be a little cheaper, but no by a whole lot. And then there's the work and effort (or cost) of installing them. I guess the better question would be what kind of lights are your getting for your money? Are better quality available from the aftermarket?

Good luck!

 

You can get Hella Rally lights for halfish of OEM Driving lights, but then you have to install them, and put the switch in. I'd personally shell out a bit more to get the OEM ones, They look better and the switch is in the dash already, and tied into Hi Beams too. Check out www.outmotoring.com for the Hella kits.

As far as stripes, There isn't really a problem with waxing over them. Dirt/wax can build up at the edges, but it can just be washed off. Also, Try out the roof stripes, IMHO, they tie the Viper stripes together really well.

 

My MINI is midnight black and I love it! Granted, it's nickname is "Dusty" but I wouldn't trade it for another color. I use a California Duster in between washings and it works really well

 

Good point about the OEM being pre-wired into the high beams with dash switch...

 

Black is a pain to own and try to keep clean. I had a black MB and it looked great when freshly washed, and like hell when you got one of those drizzle on dust weather acts. Actually I don't care for any blackish/grayish/silver colors, no life to them. Red, blue, yellow, white, even BRG if you have to be dark. But thats me, get what turns you on. I love stripes and will be adding driving lights this Xmas.

 

I'm getting the driving lamps on my new Clubman. Be aware that the $500+ price for the lights does not include installation which is another $500+!! On the Clubman, you get a new grill and they have to remove the bumper to do the installation -- total labor is well over 5 hours! Consider yourself warned. But they do look good.

Ross S

 

Everyone should have a Black car ONCE. I had a Black 1984 VW GTI. Car looked awesome after waxing, but I hated to see it rain....

 

Black will be harder to keep clean, no doubt. But it will look REALLY cool...go for it! Just remember also this is a REALLY small car to wash and wax - much easier than the Honda Odyssey minivan that it replaced.

 

From someone that just bought a black MINI, with white bonnet stripes, I say go for it. PITA to keep clean, yes. Look really sweet when detailed, hell yes! I do not regret going with the black MINI one bit. The white mirrors, roof, and stripes really set the car off and it really turns heads because it stands out so much. Even though I plan on keeping this one, if I ever trade it in, I would go with the black and white again, no doubt about it.

Just my thoughts.

 

Dark silver can look plenty cool:



And it doesn't show the dirt much at all.

 

whoa there, fireball... Are you telling me that if I order the car with the optional driving lamps I'll see an extra $500+ for labor tacked on to the total cost if I actually want to pick up the car with them installed?? Surely this cant be right... Can anyone else confirm this??

Follow-Up: I just called the dealer I'll be buying from (in Nashville) and asked about the lamps... sure enough he said if the dealer has to install them the total cost will be $1000+. He also said that if they caught the car at the point of entry into the US they could get them installed for ONLY cost plus $300... total $800 or so... My God, that's pricy for 2 lights. Guess I'lll be buying aftermarket afterall..

 

Well black is hot and hard to keep clean ! i see you live near the dragon so motor on and stay safe !
Black is too hot where i live ! I have had a black car before for one year & got rid of it too hot here all year long !
El Tiger

 

There is nothing prettier than seeing a nicely detailed black car. Unfortunately it is a pain to keep clean, plus dings show up very well when light reflects off of them. Not to mention scratches and swirl marks. All in all, if you keep the car garages and take care of the paint, you'll be fine. Do I regret getting a black car? Sometimes, but that's mainly because I wasn't the first owner and therefore didn't get to do the initial upkeep of the black paint.