My second-hand MINI has badly smudged door trim pieces, which the dealer has informed me cost over 500 bucks.

Does anyone know what the two big long plastic trim pieces are called, or better yet know a company that stocks them?

 

Finding the parts aftermarket may be tough. If you find them let us know. I wonder how hard they are to replace?

Pat

 

Those trim panels are connected by melted plastic rivets.There's no removing them without some timely and careful work with a dremel.

 

Consider painting them.

 

I had the drivers side replaced on my Mini due to a scratch during shipping/assembly.

Mine are piano black. The part number on the drivers side were
51412753711 and
51412753701

The repair invoice also lists 37 circlips (p/n 51412756689) and 6 clips (p/n 51412756617) replaced for those parts as well.

If you check Pelican Parts those pieces are a few hundred dollars. Did the $500 your dealer want include installation?

Check out Real OEM for other part numbers.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...77&hg=51&fg=50

Painting is a good suggestion. Get a good plastic paint like Krylon. Make sure you cover up everything else on the car with sheets or plastic for over spray.

 

I would assume the door panels have to come off? Sounds like a real opportunity for a rattle to start down the road if it's not done exactly right.

That was one of the reasons that I rejected my car the first time around. The dealer was going to put the proper ones in, piano black, but I didn't want to risk it being done improperly.

Pat

 

All of us who have done speaker replacement (check the nav and audio forum) have had this door panel off.

There are no melted connectors. There are a bunch of clips that hold the trim panel on. I do not know if you would need new clips or not, but I suppose it is possible because if memory serves me correct they might have been thin metal clips that would deform when removed (think of a teethed washer that snaps over plastic ridges on the trim piece).

The door panel does not rattle after you take the panel off and put it back on. Some people have had door panel clips break, but they are less than a dollar each and can be gotten at the dealer. I've taken my passenger door panel off twice and have no rattles.

 

That's good to know. When my MA told me that their tech had replaced the trim only twice I got cold feet. I figure if I'm pyaing big bucks for the car it needs to be correct from the factory. My MA agreed. I'm not in that big of a hurry. If I need a MINI fix I go to the garage and sit in my wife's new PW/MCS. (I still haven't got to drive it yet.)

Pat

 

oops please ignore

 

500 bucks was just for the trim and clips. I'm thinking the cheapest solution is to buy the clips and pop them off for a repaint. I wonder how body color would look (lightning blue)?

If 500 was for cool brushed aluminum like my dash bits, I could swallow that, but Jeeez.

 

Those elliptical door trim rings get marked up really easily, particularly the upper part of the dull gray ones used with the Brushed Alloy trim. Ours got smudged and scratched within the first few weeks of ownership even though we tried to be very careful. Fortunately, we had them replaced under warranty, since they are quite costly (as you've discovered ). Seems like body lotions/oils and especially sunscreen react with the finish causing it to smudge, plus the random key swipe or seatbelt clip scratches them easily.

As soon as the replacement ones were installed, we had some 3M Invisible Bra material put over them and they've remained perfect ever since. It actually makes them look better too since it adds a nice gloss to the finish.

 

I have the checkered dash/door trim in our Clubman S and haven't had a problem with them. They appear to be metallic, thus more resistant than the other trim offerings like piano black that is beautiful but very scratch prone.

I believe in the R53, the door tubes were attached to the door card via melted rivets. Seems not to be the case in the new MINIs which makes it easier to replace if needed.

In the R53 the worst trim in terms of durability was the silver door/dash trim. The door pulls would peel just by looking at them. The dash pieces were lacquered so they had no issues (and didn't have the wear of the door tubes). If you wore sunscreen, the paint would come right off.

My first MINI a 2002 MC had the silver trim which was the only trim you could get in a Cooper that year. After the dealer repaired the door pulls under warranty (Had them painted aftermarket and that worked better than replacing the door cards), the 2 MCS that came after it were ordered with Anthracite door/dash trim which was head and shoulders above in quality to the silver trim pieces. My 4 year old R53 MCS interior trim still looks brand new.

 

Despite what some say the melted rivets(37 to be specific) are on the R56 door panels and I have yet to see a picture of R56 rings separated from the door panels.

 

i guess my experience with my m coupe is correct. you have to drill out the melted rivets to remove the trim. the replacement has cylindrical tabs and those are secured with one way discs.

 

So maybe it's a good thing I re-ordered because of the incorrect trim. Looks like a rattle waiting to happen. Lots of chance for something to be done incorrectly.

Pat

 

How would piano black replacement rings look with the alloy dash? Mine are scuffed up like crazy because of my hard-core work boots and it's hard getting out of the MINI with full gear on.

Ah, well. The things you do to drive a MINI. I was told I look comical getting out of it by a passing woman.

 

Maybe this might be another option?
http://www.wooddashexperts.com/custo...t=30095&page=1

 

Interesting, looks like a simple overlay but anything is better than the standard door ring color/material. I wonder how the brushed aluminum would actually look.

 

This is just what I have been looking for. Thanks very much.

Jim

 

Tell us how it is. I'm seriously looking into this too.

 

Will do. Mini said in a brochure I saw that they offered this, but it turns out they did not. The EO I got was not what I expected, but this is. I do plan to check it out. Thanks again for the lead.

Jim

 

Great site, the prices are very reasonable too.

 

I think those those are just "stick-ons." I'd be interested to see some pics of them installed, particularly from a side view.

Does Vinyl Styles not have anything for it?

 

I'd also look into how easy they are to remove if you decide you don't like it or if they need to be replaced or something.

 

I've had my interior completely disassembled more than once and the factory trim(dash and doors) is just stretched vinyl glued to plastic forms. I'm gonna try out the CF set and if it sucks than I'll revert back to my original plan of stripping the vinyl and re-wrapping the trim pieces.