I am a self proclaimed detailing fanatic and am hooked with the MINI addiction. I am choosing a color prior to purchase and although BLACK interests me my normal fears (swirls and scratches) have me worried since this will either be my (or my wifes) daily driver.

How does the MINI paint hold up and respond to compounding? Soft? Tough? Swirl and scratch prone? Has anyone gotton BLACK and regretted it?

Any BLACK pics would be appreciated.

My second choice is BRIGHT SILVER which I know is a piece of cake to detail and hides scratches and swirls well.

Thanks in advance for helping a newbie.

Brad

 

Brad,

The paint is water-based with a flat color base coat and gloss clearcoat. The paint is NOT hard. It scratches easily in my opinion. I have ~3000 miles on my MINI, and I treat it like a baby, and I have scratches on my roof, of all places. The MINI sits low, so it eats a lot of road debris. I've had rocks fly up and hit my roof. First time it happened, I thought I had been shot. :smile: Those rocks are the cause of my scratches.

I have micro marring on my Chili Red from where it was detailed by the dealership. Now, most people wouldn't even be able to see it, but if you're into detailing, you know what I mean.

I don't think it's poor quality paint...it's standard fair these days. If I could only get the paint I have on my '91 red Jeep. Man, that stuff is rock hard and easy to repair if it does get any damage.

As for compounding, I would be VERY careful. I would try my best not to ever have to go that route.

See ya,
JS

 

I have a black Cooper and there are numerous swirls and scratches. I see more scratches every week. Stay away from black. I think the grey or silver might be better for hiding these unavoidable flaws. Black is probably the worst choice, at least for the MINI.


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get red, its the faster color

 

I have indy blue and it scratches easily and shows waterspots. When I keep it clean it is really nice. So I keep it clean. Always. I have to hand wash it and I don't take any chances.

I also own another car that is black - it gets dirty easily scratches and shows lots of waterspots. Other than that it is just plain hot in the sun. Great car otherwise.

 

i am planning on getting british racing green.

black shows scratches too easily
white is just ugly
silver is too common
red gets you pulled over by the cops too much

 

You'll have the same problems no matter which color you choose.
MB

 

I think you would be better served with a lighter color as they tend not to show swirl marks and scratches as badly as the darker colors. As already pointed out in this post, the MINI does seem to take a lot of hits from road debris as you are low to the ground, there is a lot of paint area exposed in front and the MINI brings out the worst in me at least as I drive the MCS much more aggressively than my Chevy 2500HD truck so I have a tendency to tailgate as a way to tell people that they are driving too slow and holding things up and get out of the way. Most of my driving is on two lane mountain roads with few places to legally pass and Sunday drivers that think it is O.K. to drive 30 in a 55 and not use the turn-outs to allow faster traffic to pass. My Chili Red MCS has only 4,000 miles, but the front of the car looks like 40,000.

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2003 Chili Red/White MCS, sport pack w/white wheels, cold weather pack, black leather w/anthracite dash, DVD-based Navigation w/OBC, HK sound, MFSW, PDC, rain sensing wipers & auto dim mirror.

 

I'll echo all of the above posts and say go with the Pure Silver. Black MINIs look fantastic for about 10 miles, then they look like dirty shoes. When I was choosing my color, I went to the back parking lot of the dealership and saw a BRG that was probably there for service. It was parked on the end spot and was the target for spashes as other cars came round the bend. It was so dirty that I vowed then to get a light colored MINI. My Silk Green has scratches and chips, but they're not very noticable at all. The black roof, however is showing swirls and chips like crazy. I made a good choice for the kind of roads I drive and for the fact that my car is parked at night on a city street.

 

Your feedback is realling helping, guys. Thanks. Looks like you have talked me out of BLACK.

Has anyone applied the clear film to the front of their MINI? I have this on my Carrera and S4. Works well. I purchased the Xpel brand. (all the same 3M film)
http://www.xpel.com

Keep the info coming! This site is AWESOME!

 

Welcome Aboard BradB!!
If you are really concerned about your paint getting chips and keeping it clean, then I suggest getting a lighter color and clear bra.
There is a lot of good info on the clear bra here (sponsors, DIY installation, kits available, etc). Installing it takes a lot of patience and time, if you are a novice.
Using the [search] section across the pull-down menu is a lot faster (I think it's only available when you log on as a member) than the SEARCH section near the upper right.


:smile: :smile: :smile:

 

I have ject black and while I think it's the best color (when it's clean and detailed) it does show alot of imperfections. The day I picked mine up I had swirls on it from the last dealer wash. I have treated it with the Zaino regimen (this is my first experience with Zaino products) and am happy with the results, but the upkeep is a bear. I have a habit of washing it right before twilight so by the time the sun sets it's dry and detailed - I then of course take it for a high-speed twisty run and come back with the front full of bugs. Someone told me that the paint was not very good quality and I'm starting to believe them. My black '97 4Runner looks just as good after detailing.

 

Man, now you guys got me worried.

I've got an all jet black MCS on order for a september delivery.

I went by the dealer today because they had another all black on there and I wanted to look at it. It looked awesome.

Now Im worried that I cant keep it that way.

 

Greetings!!

Been detailing cars for a couple of yearssssss !!

Suggestion: Visit a dealer and look at the finishes up close and decide for yourself !!

Best Regards,
Ron

 

>>Welcome Aboard BradB!!
>>If you are really concerned about your paint getting chips and keeping it clean, then I suggest getting a lighter color and clear bra.
>>There is a lot of good info on the clear bra here (sponsors, DIY installation, kits available, etc). Installing it takes a lot of patience and time, if you are a novice.
>>Using the [search] section across the pull-down menu is a lot faster (I think it's only available when you log on as a member) than the SEARCH section near the upper right.
>>
>>
>> :smile: :smile: :smile:

Yet another reason to go with a lighter color so that you can clearbra it: I took mine into a local tint shop that offers clear bras and they declined to do my cosmos black Cooper. They said they had poor results from doing the bras on dark colors on other cars, and thought the complicated curves of the MINI bonnet just made the job even more difficult. They didn't think they could do a satisfactory job and just declined to even try.


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I've always felt that the pure silver and dark silver MINIs look absolutely flawless when detailed. The depth of the shine, regardless of what product you are using, is amazing. These MINI colors photograph amazingly well too.
Here's a link to some pics: http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...threadid=34692


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CCM means CAPE COD MINI. Red/black S, sport combo, cold weather combo, premium combo, panther black leather, cd changer, floor and boot mats, map light, full Aero kit w/painted wheel arches,BMP filter,BMP red strut brace, Madness rear sway bar, Alta pull

 

Liquid Yellow!!

MINIACK

 

I went with the dark silver to avoid the obvious scratches and swirl marks the darker colors get. I can even get away with just one washing a week and Junior still looks clean.

 

>>I went with the dark silver to avoid the obvious scratches and swirl marks the darker colors get. I can even get away with just one washing a week and Junior still looks clean.

You don't see as many MCS's in DS with white tops. Looks great from the small picture.

Do you have any more shots of "Junior" I could look at? Thanks.

Brad

 

>>You don't see as many MCS's in DS with white tops. Looks great from the small picture.
>>

Nor stripes that are opposite in color than the roof.

 

Silver is the way to go for ease of upkeep. I like my Pure Silver/Black combo, but the easiest would be Silver/White. And the Dark Silver White looks pretty sharp, I would have to agree.

I do want to stand up for my Pure Silver/Black that suddenly is so "ordinary" according to everyone on this board. I think it's beatiful, and although Yellow, Red, or Green are definitely the "raciest" colors available, I would argue that the Silvers (and perhaps the Pepper White) are the "classiest" colors. But that's just my opinion. I used to really dislike the Chili Reds (I thought they looked like toys), but now I really like the Red/Whites and even the occasional Red/Reds I see.

To each his/her own. Enjoy whatever color MINI you drive. All of the colors are the best.

 

>>You don't see as many MCS's in DS with white tops.


u got to be kidding me

DS, besides the red, is the most popular color for the mcs

 

Black is a color to be wrestled with..
Black showa off all swirls and spiderwebbing and scratches and dents and dust and mud and bird crap and fingerprints and odd atmopspheric disturbances. Even Gravity shows on the JET BLACK. No matter how much you chase the black, it will always be dirty and webbed. Good Luck to all who chose Black... I think it looks great on a MINI, I just would not look forward to the continual heartbreak of new swirls and scratches.

I believe that the BRG is next in line for swirl and mar chasing...
Followed by Velvet Red
Then Indi Blue - The Indi Blue has some sort of magical reflective additive which causes the imperfections to look "almost" okay.

Silver and White would be the two favorable colors.

Best bet is to remove all factory paint and get it repainted with better product.

Remember, Mini said that chips and scratches are the proud marks of motoring.

What a LOAD!

HAHAHAHAH

GoFast!

 

yep, i got silk green and black. the silk green is easy to maintain, but the black is killer. killer shine if you take care of it, like every day, killer drain on your emotions when the cat scratches, spiderwebs, waterspots start popping up. i'm thinking about getting another mini...if i do, i'm leaning toward BRG/W or DS/W. at least the roof will look decent, which on my mini, just gets hammered.

 

>>>>I went with the dark silver to avoid the obvious scratches and swirl marks the darker colors get. I can even get away with just one washing a week and Junior still looks clean.