HELLO! (my first post)

I'm spec'ing out my MINI to order in mid-march, and I was looking at the bonnet stripes the other day on a local MINI. I'm not too impressed with the fit & finish of them. They look to be stickers & aren't even flush with either the grille or the top edge of the bonnet by the cowl. To me they cheapen the look a bit.

Question is: who has had bonnet stripes painted on, & what did it cost. Would it void any warranties? I'm thinking of shelby-style stripes. Wide & straight back.

any input?

thanks, I'm psyched to be here.

bill
new haven, ct

 

I have owned 2 MCS and neither has wore the bonnet stripes. Sometimes I like the way they look but most often I prefer the "naked" look of the beautifully sculpted hood.

It all comes down to personal preference. If you insist in getting the stripes, there is a number of NAM sponsor vendors that can custom cut and even integrate your own design into them. Quality should be as good or better than the factory ones.

The main caveat I hear about the bonnet stripes is that they have a nasty tendency to chip and peel when rocks and road debris hits them.

My vote is for the naked look.

 

I have to say... I was against the bonnet's but when I looked at my MCS with the silver body and black roof, it ties them in nice and I am happy to have them. I'll agree the painted on look could be even better cause after a few months if these stripes need to come off, the paint underneath will be a different color/tone than the rest of the car.

So maybe get them without and add them later as opposed to having them and later taking them off with a possibility of fading .

 

I got them later on... vipers, and very happy with them.
See my gallery.

 

I am installing wide viper style stripes out of vinyl. The new vinyl is very high quality, 7 to 9 years, and may even be better than paint. If you have someone install them or do it yourself, you can remove parts and get the stripes to cover as much or as little as you like. Also have seen some painted stripes that don't have true edges and look like they have been painted on with a brush. If sprayed on the cost goes way up and often looks thin in the stripe and heavy on the edges. Most custom shops go with vinyl for both the ease of install and the quality result. Plus if you want to remove they come off a lot easier than paint. Vinyl you are looking at $50 to $200 and Paint would be from $300 to $1000. But it is your call. I will post photos after I get mine done.
Oh and mine came with the factory bonnet stripes. I too thought they looked very cheap and were black with white accent, that did not match the PW. Looked like crap and leading and trailing edge did not even go to the edge of the hood. So, with-in a week I pulled them off and decided to make my-MINI just that, MY MINI. Looked at several stripes and decided the Viper style were my choice. They are going to be a total of 23 inches wide and planning on putting them from bottom of bumper to the windshield then on the back from window to bottom of bumper. May change this if the look is not right. But could not change if were paint.
It is your call. But, vinyl is my choice.

 

I say stripe!!
Both of my cars have custom vinyl...

 

do it in vinyl first - what if you don't like it in 6 months? Plus either the aftermarket guys or your local sigh shop can make it look better than the factory ones.

***Edit: Oh, and WELCOME!

-jac

 

I say vinyl from aftermarket, I made the mistake of getting the factory stripes, which dont quite make it to the edges for some reason. To further compound it, the factory stripes are black ink on white vinyl. Had I known I would have gotten them aftermarket. Unfortunatly, they are now under my clearbra so im stuck with them until i decide to redo the clear bra some years from now. And i agree, a local shop can do so much better than the dealer and at a better cost.

 

i know 2percooper's bonnet stripes are un-painted... meaning, he has a
CF bonnet and the CF shows through his IB. very nicely done.

 

Keep in mind that stripes do make it go faster, so if you are interested in speed...

 

I second the vinyl stripes first comment... Check out Cooper Flags and have them do what you are thinking about... I hear that their products are nice

Then when you are SURE you love them, paint em on and let us see!

stripes = added weight = SLOWER

edit: i just saw someone with a wide V-stripe (silver, factory) with a chrome scoop... very nice!

 

After three years of ownership, I'm now thinking about putting on some bonnet strips. I like the factory cut and the white trim (black stripes). I have heard bad things about the factory bonnet strips. Anyone recommend a cut from cooperflags? I want to have as close to the factory ones as possible, but with better vinyl.

 

That's a tough one...I always danced to a different drummer and it seems that stripes were getting so over rated....so I began to look into different designs...I really enjoy the graphics I have seen on a lot of MINIs, and the check mate is nice....I was considering putting modified bonnet stripes (each stripe consists of a set of 5 stripes, each a little wider then the next), and the checkered stripe is nice...I wound up getting a custom checkmate design...my purple haze MINI with a red roof, mirror caps and checker board... Yep, that's me. So, the real question is, Put aside what you see everybody else doing, what do YOU like? ...and go from there... Mick

 

Get them aftermarket exactly how you want them. My MCC is HB with a black top, but thought the black stripes would not stand out and my car has no white on it. I ordered black stripes with silver pinstripe to match the exterior chrome package. I got them on ebay from Mightystripes for around $25.

BTW... The silver pinstripes came as separate from the black stripe, is that normal for aftermarket??

 

STRIPE!

 

PICs???? We need PICTURES!

 

My stripes are 2mils thick... thats 0.002" for you laymen.
Paint isn't going to be any thinner!

 

Chow4us, I am a techno-idiot! I tried and got my a$$ kicked by the camera and the computer...How do I get the picture from point A to point B and post it?

This reminds me of a movie with "what's his face" (Played in "Something About Mary" [Ben Stien ?]) ...can't stand him, anyway...he played the part of a male supermodel turned spy...he and another male model ( both of them were ding bats) turned spy were trying to hack into a computer, his contact kept telling him "It's in the computer!" They couldn't get into the computer no matter how they tried and started acting liking a couple of chimps..."It's in the computer!"...so here they are, jumping up and down on the desk, making monkey noises, trying to literally open the computer...

Well, okay....I can sympathize .... Mick

 

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, Zoolander, "the files are in the computer? It's so simple."

 

...yeah, yeah! That's the guy! ...but it's still in the computer and I'm still getting my butt kicked by a stoopid computer! Should I jump up and down on my desk and ...well, just tell me how to get the picture posted on the computer...Argh-h-h-h! Mick

 

I posted these picks in the Astro Black thread a few days ago but this is probably a better spot. I have the front stripes on the way from Aesthetic Creations. If i like those i will get the back ones later. Anyone seen black stripes on an AB before? I'm experimenting with the tint in photoshop as well. Don't want anything too dark and I want to have the faint blue like the paint has.