Hello Everyone,

So 2 weeks ago I totaled my R53 and just picked up an R56...

Still getting used to the Turbo.... So far love everything about the car..

My noob question is .... What's the preferred (best) format to "blacking out "

the chrome rings around the headlights, Taillights and Front grill? I've heard of

Plasti-dip and have and have heard of Vynil?? Any advice is greatly

apreciated.

Thnx,
JV

 

Stay away from the plasti-dip stuff. For God's sake that stuff drives me nuts. People pay all that money for a car and then put rubber spray goop on it. Ricer modding at its best. You drive a MINI. You are better than that.

Aesthetic Creations used to make the great molded covers for every chrome part of the MINI. You could even buy a black out kit. The best part about them was the plastic was black. No need to worry about chips. This was the best solution out there at the time, especially for things on the front of the car. I'm not sure if they're still doing business though. I heard they got irritated with the MINI community because we were too demanding

I would at least vinyl wrap the pieces on the front. It will resist chips better than paint does. There are lots of textures and colors available. You can make it look as shiny as paint. We have a lot of MINIs in our local club that go this route and it looks great. Detroit Tuned sells belt line blackout tape that fits wonderfully. It's $12-16 for a big roll. Beats trying to remove or mask off the belt line. Every MINI that I've seen that has painted these pieces on the front of the car looks like a disaster after a year. Soooooooooooooooo many rock chips For stuff like door handles, gas cap, taillight rings, and boot handles paint works fine.\

Nice looking ride by the way. I'm a fellow midnight black owner. Keep it clean!

 

^ I plastidipped my headlight tail light and grill surround. If you take you're time and do it right it looks good. Especially if you want to experiment what it will look like before you do a more expensive permanent route it is smart to buy a $5 can of plastidip and do it to make sure you like it. Also, I have had it for 4 months and only a single rock chip. It's all about how well of a job you do

 

The front of the Mini as you probably already know is very prone to rock chips.


I Plasti-dipped my grill surround and headlight/taillight rings and after 6 months only the grill surround has a very tiny chip.

I first tried painting them, they looked nice but did not stand up to the rock chips well (hell, even the factory paint job doesn't). The plastidip looks good if you take your time and do it right, and it is very durable. If it eventually does chip, you simply peel it off and respray. No sanding, no damaging the integrity of the stock pieces. It matches well with the black trim on the rest of the car.

I don't get what people have against plasti-dip. It goes on and off very easily and is cheap, and that is the beauty of it. If you think it looks "ricey" and "cheap" as others claim, you can peel it off to reveal your perfectly stock trim pieces.

Vinyl is another option. So is buying the blackout pieces that MINI makes.

 

Thanks guys for all the replies. Not sure which route I will go with. Need to find more pictures to compare vynil and plastidip.

 

Best way to go would be plastidip first to see if you like the look of te black and then if you really wanted to you could take off the plastidip and have it wrapped

 

Wrap is the way to go. If you want to go back to stock you can peel it off. I have it on my car for 2 years and it looks great. Check out my pic.

 

It's been said a million times, but nothin beats a $5 can of plasti dip. Best part is it isnt permanent if you decide you don't like it. People compliment me all the time and cannot believe it did it myself for under $10. Go with whatever you feel is the best option for you, but for $5-10, why not give it a shot?

 

Once again, I find myself agreeing with Countryboyshane. After seeing some plastidip parts that looked like crap, I went vinyl. I bought everything from Lyle at Vinyl Styles, including the hatch "handle" (it's late, I'm old, can't think of what it's called). The only blacked out elements not from Lyle are the door handle covers (Aesthetic Creations/out of bidness) and the grill bezel (JCW/from dealer). Lyle does a great job and after 2 years, everything still looks great.

 

I dunno. I kinda like the chrome. At least on my laser blue MCS.

 

I plasti dipped my rings - front (including the 1/2 moons ) & rear, grille trims and gas cap. I love the way they came out. It's also a good sense of accomplishment when you do it yourself. There are plenty of pictures of minis with said parts blacked out and you can decide if you like it b4 u do it.
my .02¢.

 

I did the plastidip and I haven't had any regrets about it. The finish is durable and matches the trim around the wheel arches. Plus I get compliments on it all the time. Someone asked me if it was a limited edition

 

Welcome back fellow Jerseyan!