I'm not sure if this was just a problem w/ my MINI or the batch of Pure Silver MINIs that were painted around the same date as mine, but there was a major flaw in the paint application. It seems that too much paint was applied to the right rear quarter panel (Gas tank side) causing the paint to flow to the bottom giving it a very slight light to dark gradient effect from top to bottom. I never noticed it until I had to replace my tank lid. I took delivery of the car with the tank lid hinge busted, which evolved into needing a new lid that needed to be painted (comes premiered), which was matched with the bottom of the quarter panel, which was darker then the area around the tank lid. (Crap!) So; anyway, my rear quarter panel is in the body shop being repainted by MINI.

I just wanted to alert everyone in case this was not just a random problem w/ my car. Look at the paint in bright even light w/o shadows to see if your MINI has this problem.

wow that sucks

i will have myf riend check his silver this week

Styjan,
Silver is on of the hardest colors to keep even and also to match up when repainted. It also tends to fade faster since the paint is mostly metalic flake and clear (no real pigment like other colors). Sorry but it's just a fact of life not just a Mini problem.
Dan

Greetings,

Sanddan,
I love the silver paint, my favorite color! Keep 'em waxed and the finishes will look great for a looong (years) time !!

Best Regards,
Ron

I've got some splotchiness to my PS on the bumper and to a lesser degree on the doors. It is really mild, and it's only visible in just the right light/shadow combo, but it's definitely there. It would definitely be more trouble to attempt a re-paint than to just go with it as-is.

Good luck with yours, and thanks for the heads-up!

Just wanted to point out that MINIs are not painted in batches. They come out of the paint assembly in whatever color they were ordered to be! How cool is that!?

Having said that, there have been some others who have noticed "blotchiness" in their PS paint. I have also seen a gradiant darkening (although it was right-to-left, and not up-down) on an Indi Blue.

>>Just wanted to point out that MINIs are not painted in batches. They come out of the paint assembly in whatever color they were ordered to be! How cool is that!?
>>

Yes, according to the MINI book by Patrick Paternie (p.57):


Cars are painted in production line sequence according to customer orders and not in batches according to color.

I guess my build date was a very bad day. Both sides of my pure silver MCS are clearly blotchy. I'm currently trying to schedule a Mini rep to examine it for a buyback.
Jim
>>I'm not sure if this was just a problem w/ my MINI or the batch of Pure Silver MINIs that were painted around the same date as mine, but there was a major flaw in the paint application. It seems that too much paint was applied to the right rear quarter panel (Gas tank side) causing the paint to flow to the bottom giving it a very slight light to dark gradient effect from top to bottom. I never noticed it until I had to replace my tank lid. I took delivery of the car with the tank lid hinge busted, which evolved into needing a new lid that needed to be painted (comes premiered), which was matched with the bottom of the quarter panel, which was darker then the area around the tank lid. (Crap!) So; anyway, my rear quarter panel is in the body shop being repainted by MINI.
>>
>>I just wanted to alert everyone in case this was not just a random problem w/ my car. Look at the paint in bright even light w/o shadows to see if your MINI has this problem.
>>

Got my MINI back from the shop, looks good now.

So MINI actually paid for a repaint? How much of a haggle was that on your part? My bumper looks like total crap in direct sunlight, but I live in fear of having it looks worse after a blend...I don't really know what action to take. I'd appreciate your insight!

Maxwell

The dealer repainted the rear quarter panel. I guess they billed to MINI as warranty. There was no haggle involved. They actually caught the problem and offered to fix it. Go figure?