Have been playing with what my next MINI will be...have always liked the hardtop in Hot Chocolate, but the interior has always been my question mark. I like the polar beige interior, but would like the dash surface to be Hot Chocolate (paired with the hot chocolate steering wheel, hand brake, and shifter) and maybe find some hot chocolate arm rests from an old hot chocolate color line.

Can the dash surface be painted (by which I mean the pieces we have an option of making piano black, fluid silver, etc.)? If I were planning to paint it anyway, does it make sense to order one type over another? And finally, does anyone have pictures having done anything similar (in any color?) Would a vinyl wrap be better than paint?

 

There are some really cool 3M "brushed metal" vinyl choices you might look into

 

I did this by myself. Tried vinyl but it wouldn't stay on well, so I removed them, masked the back, and sprayed them with Krylon. They are looking great and, now that they are cured, the surface is very strong. Not hard to remove, you can find instructions on this forum. I've actually taken them on and off about three times now, and I'm not mechanically inclined. :-)

 

And on the above photo, the chrome is aftermarket, and far less expensive than the OEM chrome (though not as well made) and the UJ flag is from Aesthetic Creations, but he doesn't offer them anymore. That would be a tricky place to get color on, if you can't find a good graphic sticker that has all of the proper cut outs. This one was firm, so it was easy to peel the backing off of and align. I tried to do it first with just plain vinyl there on the center console, but even after making a paper mock up, aligning it was really difficult. This graphic saved the day.

 

Looks great JoanieB

 

The OEM checks on 2011s have a slight texture to them, so that probably wouldn't be a good option for painting. I would think any of the smooth finishes would be about the same.

In the spot where Joanie has the Union Jack, I have a decal that's made from a custom laptop skin.

 

Yes, they can be painted!
In fact they already are! haha
The Dash is (from looking at it) either a PolyEthylene, Nylon, or ABS based plastic that has been painted. I vinyl wrapped mine without removing the paint at first with the 3m di-noc vinyl, and it actually peeled the paint off when I went to re-do it as it was my first stab at it and I didn't do the best of jobs.

So yes, it is paintable, but as with everything when painting, Prep work is Key. If you are going to wrap it, sand most of the paint off if you can.

If you are just going to re-paint it, Id suggest hitting the whole dash with a scotch brite pad till the finish is hazed, then wiping it down with some acetone, priming, and then painting it. Did this with my boat (re-sprayed all of the dash's and panels in the interior) and it turned out fantastic and has held up through two harsh seasons of sun and weather with no problems so far.

before


Painting


After


LMK if pictures do not show up.

 

I painted the interior panels of my '05 S a couple years ago. When I say "I," I mean I paid a body shop to do it...much better turnout. Wish I hadn't painted the center console, but oh well.

 

Ready... GO
When i get this process figured out I'm going to nail it !
http://youtu.be/e8JcW1mO5Tc

 

I have a pic of the red plasti dip with 2/3 coats of glossifier on the dash trim. Thinking rather I wanna do the door panel pieces to.

 

please upload a pic when you have time. i have considered doing plasti with the glossifiers too.

 

I was gonna say go to my gallery but when I went to it, there were no pics. Ill try and upload them again for ya.

Edit: Uploaded a pic of what it looks like. Thought I had more pics of it but I guess I don't. Ill try and get a few more if need be.

 

That looks good! Does your OEM trim have any texture? I have the 2011 OEM "CF-lite" checkered trim and I'm wondering if the slight texture that it has would show through plastidip.

 

My interior trim wasnt textured and was as smooth as can be before plasti dipping it. Theres alot more texture to them now with the plasti dip and glossifier. Kinda hard to describe but looks grainy to me.