I wanted to swap out my all chrome front grill with a black grill with chrome trim. I purchased the entire upper grill from Classic Mini (Chrome trim w/ black slats) along with 12 new nuts for $73 dollars. I did not get the black upper bumber slat because that was $25 dollars and I figured I could to that job with "Blackout" tape.

Removing the upper grill without destroying the plastic tabs that hold the screws proved impossible. These nuts are meant to go on and NOT come off, at least without a fight. It didn't help that it was 20 degrees F while I was doing it. I did the smart thing and covered the engine bay with a blanket so all kinds of misc parts did not end up down in the engine. After getting the upper grill back together, I set to work on blacking out the slat on the upper bumber grill. I tried to remove it and quickly decided against that. The chrome trim comes out easily, but the slat will fight you until it's death. So I decide to cover it "in place". I slashed my finger open on a jagged chrome edge and bled all over the place. I found that warming up the surface using a blow drier made the process go better. Putting on Blackout tape at 20 degrees F is pretty annoying.

I got a roll of "TrimBrite" Blackout tape at Pep Boys 1 3/8" x 20' for $6.00

The tape has more of a matte/flat finish, and I may do the upper slats in the tape as well as I like the matte/flat finish. You could have probably taped the whole chrome grill, but the underlying chrome would show through when the tape got nicked and dinged from road debris.

Next up is a Carbon Fiber scoop. The OEM JCW I tried did not fit well so I returned it and may try the Seibon After Market Scoop.

 

I hate to break it to you but, the bumper grill and the hood grill color doesn't match, unless it's the camera.

 

Getting rid of that front license plate really cleans up the front. I dont know why some places you have to have that front plate and other places you dont.

 

It's not the camera.

I decided to not pay close to $30 for the upper bumber slat and try the Blackout tape to see what it looks like. You can see the difference for sure. Replacing that slat is a big PITA as it is fastened with double sided tape and it will probably be destroyed and you risk scratching the bumber while replacing it. But at some point I will take on the challenge because the mismatch is bugging me.

 

You feel my pain about that license plate. It takes away from how nice the front end of the Mini looks.

 

What's everyone got against chrome?

I like it so much I swapped out my 3 slat Chilli Red Hood grill for a 4 slat Chrome one off a MC.

mmmmmm nice and shiny!

 

Well Jim, I'm going the opposite way you are. I've already bought a used MCS upper and lower all-chrome grille from another NAM member and have it in my garage as a "Spring project". Now the thing is that as you said this upper one has all the plastic tabs/nuts broken. I wonder if MINI dealers do sell the "back" part of the grille (the one that actually has the plastic tabs/nuts), otherwise, once you remove one of these grilles , the only way of re-installing it would be gluing it back to the hood.

Thanks,
bond007

 

Give Jayson at Classic Mini a call. He could tell you if you can just buy the "slat" portion that has the tabs on it. Hopefully the person you purchased it from had a bit more patience than I did when taking it off. I could have come up with a better way to remove those nuts in a heated garage. Between my broken thumb and 9 degree temp, I just wanted to get the thing off, and was less concerned about selling it to someone else for a few $$$.

Replacing that bottom "slat" will be a real PITA. They sell a "mounting kit" which I think is nothing but double sided tape. My original plan was to remove it and paint it black. When I tried to remove it I quickly figure out it was probably going to get trashed and or I would scratch up the bumber. Maybe the body shop guys have better tricks for removing that than I could come up with. Blackout tape was the best option, although someone was quick to point out that it did not match very well. How dare they call my baby ugly!