Hello,

The car that I am looking at has an aero package, but I want to make sure whether it's factory. First, side plates that says "Mini Cooper S" on the side skirts / doors are missing. Is this normal? Second, on the rear bumper, two slates that are supposed to be open with mesh grill just have two stickers that make them look as if they are open (I am not explaining this well). Is this how it's supposed to be?

 

The rear panels on the aero kit are usually covered with stickers so to me that sounds correct.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Can you take a pic? That will help us better determine whether it is the real article or not. Sounds like it is but...

 

Doh.. I Should have taken some when I looked at it in person...

Here are some from the dealer website.

"Mini Cooper S" plate missing:

 

looks genuine to me.

Sweet looking car BTW! I am very partial to Pepper White/Black as my first 2002 MINI wore those colors.

Pepper white is very easy to maintain...Something to keep in mind!

 

The kit was definitely not added from the factory based on the quality of the paint job.

Should I not worry about the car missing door plates? Can I purchase them separately?

 

Most of these kits were dealer installed (I Believe none of them came installed from the factory) and the pieces were mostly primed and ready to be painted to match the color of the vehicle. It is possible that the kit was painted by someone either outsourced by the selling dealer or the previous owner.

As far as the missing door sill plates is concerned, you should be able to order those separately. Let me take a look in Realoem.com for you and I'll post the part numbers.

 

OK, the official door sill plates description is "COVER ENTRANCE, MINI COOPER S". They are sold as pairs (Left and right) and the part number is #51717200469. They retail for $53.75 for the set of 2. Not bad at all.

These are special order parts!

Looks like they have a stick on backing, so they are not held by plastic clips or screws.

 

Thanks so much for your time and help!!! You are a true asset to this community!

 

My bad, my bad!!!!

The door sill plate part number I gave you is for vehicles equipped with the standard bumpers and trim (In other words, no Aero Kit).

The door sills for Aerokit equipped MINIs is different... Here it is:

Part #51710154680

Good news! They are even cheaper.....Only $36.50 for the set of 2.

As before they are special order parts.

You can order them here:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/euro/cgi...r&Input_Make=Y

 

This brings up a question that I may have overlooked.

If I am considering installing just the side kit to my 06 S, will I need the different sill plates?

 

According to RealOEM.com, yes.

The door sill plate part numbers are different for cars with and without the aero-kit. (See above)

 

This reminds me of a piece of interesting trivia about my car. The left side has a cooper skirt - with the etched 'mini cooper' logo and an S sticker on the sill, and the right side has a cooper s skirt - with the full 'mini cooper s' etched logo. It doesn't bother me, I rather like the cooper skirt over the cooper s.

 

Another thing to think about... you might want to take this opportunity to try out a different door sill cover - MINI makes a bunch of really neat ones, including some illuminated ones (the only catch to those: much more expensive, plus installation).

And of course there are unlimited options in the aftermarket for custom designs.

 

Little more expensive but fun.

http://www.aestheticreations.net/doorsills.htm

I am not sure if you need the covers in place in order to use these or not. Contact Mike at asthetic creations he has answered many questions for me.

 

The different versions of door sill plates are all interchangeable. Just choose the style you want. The standard factory version is metal and says Cooper or Cooper S. The aero style is vinyl and has only a MINI logo. Also available are JCW and illuminated sills.

 

I am assuming from the description of the aero style it is meant to be an add on and may come with the aero kit. So it may have to be applied onto the standard versions made out of metal. If you are buying that from a dealer ask them if they can instal the factory sill plates in order for you to purchase it. I had my MA install strips before I would buy it, and agree to have a dent removed at the body shop and have the bumper refinished and repaired. He did it and kept the price the same.

 

Direct links to part info on OEM varieties:

Standard factory-supplied sill cover
Aero Kit version (part #24 on list)
JCW
Checkered & Union Jack
Illuminated (all of the above types, but illuminated instead of opaque)

Of particular curiosity is the "personalized" illuminated version. I don't think MINIUSA offered it here, but it's pretty cool to think that MINI International even allowed people to do that... as an OEM part! I wonder what font and/or graphic options they allowed?

 

No to both statements. The aero style sill covers are not included with aero kits and must be purchased separately. Also they can be applied directly on the sill and don't need the standard metal version underneath.

 

Here is what the aero-style sill covers look like. They did NOT come with my aerodynamics kit (which I bought prepainted from Classic MINI). I had to order these sill covers (and a rubber plug for the front tow hook hole) separately.

In order to remove the factory side skirts, you'll have to peel up the original metal sill cover. I was not successful when removing one of the original sill covers, so I opted to go with the aero kit ones instead (cheaper).