Hey guys,

So I've been searching around for about 3 months now on a range of different options to upgrade the exterior look of my MINI. I decided it has been way too long since I've put the time and love into my MINI it deserves. It's been treating me well since 2003 so I want to show it how much I care. I thought what better place to get some opinions than here? I've been posting on here back since it was minicooperonline...

So, I am going to post some pics of my MINI and I'd love some feedback on what exterior mods you think would look good for my MINI. I just got the dark silver wheels, so I think it's time to modify the rest of the exterior accordingly.

I was thinking of eliminating all chrome and going either dark silver, the shadow color of my stripes, or black. Leaning towards dark silver with maybe some shadow accents here and there to match the stripes. I've been looking at Vinyl.

This would include
-Door handles
-Belt line
-Gas cap
-Side grille
-Front grille
-Headlamps

Also, I've been looking at those Oricari cowl scoops, maybe in shadow or dark silver, but those are pretty pricey.

Finally - I really want to upgrade the grille situation I've got going on. I think my only option is to go full aero kit grille and then vinyl or paint the lip shadow/dark silver.

What do you guys think? Looking forward to everyone's opinion and PLEASE post some pictures!















Please give feedback and pictures!

 

love your mini! great color scheme. you should definitely black out the handles and gas cap and belt line. along with the grille

 

Ya. How bout the headlamps? May lose the retro feel. I'm looking for a good grille option if anyone has any...

 

go for the aero grille! it looks great. make sure you dont get wax on it though, one of the former owners of my car got some wax on mine, and now it has white splotches on it. and definitley do the black out stuff. maybe a front splitter? you might black out your headlight rings too. also i just did a de-badging of my boot, it looks really clean, so i'd maybe try that. My car is an 03, and i was able to pull my badging off with my fingers. i wouldn't go for tinted headlights, it looks a little dumb on mini's imo. oh and tinted side reflectors would look good, i got those on my car too. these subtle things will look great! you already got that thing looking nice. One other thing. if you really wanna spend some money, go for some aero side skirts and an aero rear bumper, to compliment the front bumper.

 

This guy used a semi-transparent spraypaint on his taillights. I think it would look awesome on your mini if you wanted to get rid of the tinted tails. The link to the thread is after the picture.



https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...il-lights.html

I love the look of the aero rear, but since you already have painted arches it could go either way.

I would avoid getting blackout-happy because it is done a lot and ends up looking boring. I think black should only be used to dilute a piece of the car you don't care for. The door handles, gas cap, and beltline would look good in the ghost stripe color you mentioned, although it wouldn't change the look drastically.

I agree that the orciari cowl scoops are cool, but also agree they are over-priced. If you have the money, go for it. Not many people have those.

I did this with my grills. Maybe you can pull some ideas from it. I definitely wasn't the first.







Painting your aero grills body color or the ghost color would definitely be rare. I haven't seen ANYONE paint those.

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

"Professor" has one of the coolest DS 1st gen minis I have ever seen. He is a member on here. Look him up.

 

I painted my headlight trim rings black, bought standard Mini side grills and painted them body color, bought an extra set of door handles and peeled off the chrome and painted them body color, and removed the Mini badge from the hood and the Cooper S from the rear. (I left the JCW badges in place.)

 

I think your Mini looks GREAT !

One thing I would do: Not sure if you are keeping the upper grill because it looks retro, but I would get the upper grill to match the lower mesh type or black Plastic Dip the upper grill you currently have so they all have the same look in black. I did my grill slats in black and it made quite a difference.

 

Just a suggestion that will really improve the look and style of your Mini.
I got a set of aftermarket halo projection headlights off of ebay. What an improvement on the car. Also got a set of Altezzea tail lights, that really help set the car off as something different.

 

Thank you guys for all the suggestions! Keep them coming!

I am thinking of maybe doing the aero grille up and lower and painting the lip to match the ghost stripe. If I like the look of that, maybe I will paint the mirrors ghost stripe.

I have seen some dark silver minis with a silver top, have you guys ever seen those on here? Maybe I am thinking things, but I could of sworn maybe MINI offered that color option on the 2005s and 2006s?

Please keep the pictures coming! I love it!

Yes, I was thinking of keeping the retro thing with the chrome, that's why I bought the chrome grille originally, was to match the headlights, so not sure if I'm going to jump over and get rid of the chrome on the headlights so quickly. That is what makes it a MINI kind of...

ACT_04. I love what you have done with your grilles, I am totally thinking of just doing that, only problem is, I can't fit the normal grille on the bottom of the aero kit bumper unless I mod it slightly. Where did you get your headlight rings painted or vinyled?

You guys rock!

 

Is this the mini you saw?



If so, the color is actually Thunder Blue (I think) and the Mini is a GP which was a special commemorative edition marking the last year the 1st gen body style was built. They all had Pure Silver roofs and Chili Red mirror caps.

Why do you need to fit the normal grill on the bottom of the aero kit bumper? I like the aero grills you have. The upper, chrome grill you have doesn't look bad, just out of place with the rest of the grills.

As for the headlight rings, I wrapped them in vinyl myself. I gave a brief description here: http://www.bluegrassminis.com/showth...ili-Red-R53%29
Scroll just past halfway down the page and you will see pics of the headlights and vinyl.

Thank you very much for your compliments.

Let me know if you have more questions about anything.

 

Yes, that thing is very nice. Very well done and smart color selection.

 

I can't help but admire how much wider a MINI looks when the flares are painted

BTT: I'd most likely just get the upper aero grille & a carbon fiber splitter. Blacking out everything but having stripes in a much lighter shade of silver sort of negates the effect of a complete blackout IMO

 

I most likely won't be blacking out. It would be matching the body color. Or maybe the stripe color? You are right. With the stripes blacking out isnt the way to go.

 

Is this middle grill insert/delete available? Custom? It looks like the GP grill delete piece, but slightly different? Either way, can I get this and modify it to fit my stock S grill? Love the look.

Also, to the OP, I'd avoid doing to much blacking out. Some of the chrome on your car helps it maintain a balance between sporty and classy. Just a thought.