Hey guys,

Everything has been fine and dandy with my Mini since purchasing it last fall until today a young girl so conveniently slammed on her brakes after starting to take off from a stop sign - I was coasting in neutral riding the brake, looked at the radio for a split second and before I could slam on the brake I rolled into her bumper going under 5mph. There was absolutely no damage to her steel late 90s 4runner but my Mini didn't fare so well

I'm obviously at fault and called insurance company but have 1,000 deductible on damage to my car - full coverage if other car is damaged. I was hoping that I could get this fixed for under a grand so I wouldn't have to file it through insurance but I'm affraid it might be the only option. Please let me know what you think....The right headlight also **of course suffered a slight crack so I'm assuming it will have to be replaced as well. How easy is it to find a salvaged used Hood assembly for an 03 Mini Cooper S?

Here are some pictures, I want to get my baby back into shape ASAP.



Also I can't get my 'open hood/trunk' indicator light to go off even if I slam shut the hood - any thoughts there?

If you can get the bonnet open, look at the latch. There should be an electrical connector on the back side of it. It may have been knocked loose by the impact.

Ouch !

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Deductables are a pain. I keep mine at $500.00 but I guess that is not always possible or available in some states. Even that is not cheap.

1) new headlight alone is at least $500.00

2) hood damage is about a grand incl new bonnet stripes. Yes both as they are probably somewhat faded by now. Best to be replace in pairs.

I did see a really nice looking carbon fiber bonnet for sale in the marketplace though..... Probably cheaper than OEM metal one painted to match.

Another possibility is to call a salvage yard. They may be able to locate a hood in the same color. Then you can just replace the entire hood. If you are lucky, the color will match closely. Worth a few phone calls to see what you can find and what price it might be.

Thanks for the replies guys. I am in South Carolina...and have done some research on salvage yards and woudln't mind going that route since the car is 7 years old...whats the best way to find the parts I need (hood and right xenon light).

I would just call around to ones near you and ask for the parts (hood, and headlamp).

The picture almost makes it look like the dent wizard folks could fix that hood.. had a dent in a vw i thought was a body work/repaint job and they got the dent out w/o any paint damage. The headlight is another thing :(