Hi,

Some jerk can't park/unpark and dented my 2009 MINI Cooper S. The dents are on the driver's side in the quarter panel, before the tire, but after the door. Luckily none of the paint was damaged. I spoke with a couple of paintless dent removal services and they said it would be best to push the dents out from the inside. This would require the removal and reinstall of the rear seat and the inside panel and the driver's side. This is basically half the cost of the estimates I have been getting. I think I should be able to do the removal and reinstall portion on my own.

But it would be great if anyone had photos, or better yet videos, of this being done. I have tried doing internet searches and I can only find the end results for removing the rear seat, nothing about the process. I don't know what the interior panel is called so those search results are proving to be completely fruitless.

Please note, I have done very little like this, so any help is appreciated.

 

Check out the R 56 Speaker removal thread in the audio mods section. It explains how to remove the seats and the trim. Good luck.

 

You should post some pics of your dent. A while back on a different car, I was actually able to put some water on a dent and pull it out with a plunger..

 

No pictures but unfortunately you would have to remove pretty much everything from the B-Pillar back. So here's a list:

-b-pillar trims
-rear seats (top first then bottom)
-plastic trim below back end of rear seats
-c-pillar trims
-trunk/boot lining (left and right where the trunk/boot illumination and cigarette lighter/12v socket is
-rear plastic trim (open trunk lid, look down, the piece where luggage would slide over when moving in and out of trunk/boot)[this needs to go before you can get to the boot lining]
-front and rear seat belt lower bolts (to aid in removal of side panels)
-then finally the side panels

Kind of in order, mostly everything is held in by plastic clips; visible clips require a flathead screwdriver to remove (pin out then pull trim); internal not-visible clips can be removed by pulling (or yanking) the trims (pops back in during re-installation); or torx (star) bolts [think pillar trims and seatbelt bolts] T15(or20) and a huge one for the seatbelts

Removed my rear panels to install rear speakers and left them off cause I can't be bothered to put them back on....... bleh.

 

I had a small dent in door (WRX), went dent masters, they drilled a hole in the door jam and inserted a rod tool and removed the dent. This could work on our cars too.

 

Don't be intimidated by the above list. The task is not that difficult, I removed the seats and panels to install dynamat. Found plenty of suggested help on this forum as also mentioned by others. Invest in a plastic panel removing tool kit; costs under $10 at auto parts store. Some panels may give you some résistance, but have no fear just use good common sense. If you do loose a few clips, oem replacements are available from online vendors.

 

^and time consumption. Have a beer and some good music, maybe some cigarettes if you smoke.