Alright so I recently had some hood stripes installed by MINI and wanted to know the best methods to take care of them. Things like how to make water spots not show up and how best to prevent fading from the sun, etc.

 

I wipe them after washing the car and I also put a spray on wax on them......they are black I assume?

 

303 Aerospace Protectant works well on the stripes and on the black trim too.

 

Yea they're the black and red JCW stripes.

 

DO NOT polish them!
Two or three coats of good carnuba wax is about all you can do. High speed suicidal bugs and other road trash will have their way with them. One of the stripe suppliers, gone now, provided laminated bonnet stripes which I installed three years ago and there's not a mark on them. Next time you go to replace the stripes, seek out laminated stripes.

 

Also, DO NOT use a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on them. It may look like it works, but it's abraisive and will destroy the top layer. By the way - MINIs have bonnets, not hoods (that would be the roof on the convertibles), so they're bonnet stripes!

 

Lol well the Brits may call them bonnets, but here in America we call it the hood (though we all know what is being talked about).

 

Calling it a bonnet (as well as a boot) is part of the culture of owning a Mini. Embrace it.

 

OK I have a question.....
The Hood or the Bonnet Stripes on my 2008 Clubman are cracking now I can see the Paint in the cracks.
Question 1. Should I bite the bullet and just take it to a Paint shop and see how much it hurts to have them removed and replaced?
Question 2. Is there a method to remove them safely?

 

Best way I've done it is to use a heat gun and gently heat the stripes so you can peel it off the car. You don't want to toast the stripes because it'll damage the paint underneath the stripes, but you want it hot enough to loosen the glue so you can peel them off. Helps to have a second set of hands based on my experience.

 

It's a very doable DIY. Standard hair dryer is all the heat you need. Start at one end or the other, it's easier back to front, and pull straight back, not up and they will peel right off. You can order replacement stripes and apply them yourself. Take your time and follow the instructions closely. I used painter's tape to hold them in place, pealed and cut the backing off to half way and worked it down from the middle back then forward. The squeegee is used to push out air bubbles as you lay it down. Easy peasy.

 

A hair dryer is a good tool to use for removal purposes.

 

That is nice to know as mine are under the clear bra. I might have to remove mine if clear bra is removed someday? I think it is good for 5 years? I would be fine going stripe less.

First ordered car, had stripes maybe a bad decision. Then I am told to get clear bra. Now stripes are under the clear bra on the front. Very careful with Top and Rear (Spoiler) stripes.

Car is the S Coupe.

I have normally used only Griots spray on wax. I still have much to learn about car care. Started with Griots products but still new at all of this sort of thing.

 

Griot's here as well. Pretty much up to my eyebrows in the stuff including the random orbital, clay bar and #3 machine polish/best of show wax. For the black body trim I use Black Wow though.