We will be here soon My wife is week 1 into ordering her 09 Laser Blue MCS. White top, all 4 packages, Auto, factory aero kit. Just hope it's not as fast as mine . Since I will be installing a Cosworth BV head and a cam, plus a Mynes tune, I think I will be ok

 

Turnbull Canyon in Whittier, Ca. 7 miles of fun.

 

+1 Fo shizzle!

 

Ah, another LaB factory JCW! I have one too, I think yours is the first other one I've seen.

 

Beautiful!

 

Does anyone have pics of a laser blue with white roof and mirror caps WITHOUT stripes?

I'm looking for something different and was thinking of removing the front stripes.

Thanks,

Mark

EDIT: Sorry, found one....

 

Anyone else with Laser Blue have this? When I look at my car from certain angles, the front and back bumper look like a slightly lighter blue. I noticed this in the dealer when I was picking up, but then from other angles it all looks perfectly uniform. Maybe it's just the lighting playing tricks....but wondered if other people noticed it too or if it's just my MINI.

Thanks

Grahame

 

I find that my paint looks different depending on both the angle I'm looking at and the ambient light. On sunny days, it seems to be a lighter blue, but on cloudy days it seems a lot deeper and bolder.

 

Having been in the bodyshop business for 25 years, I'd like to offer a few thoughts about your bumpers looking different.

Several things. When a car goes down the assy line, the body and sheetmetal goes down one line and the bumpers, mirrors and other plastic mouldings go down another.

We do 99% of the Acura work in town. It is not uncommon to have 09's show up with bumpers that do not match the body.

Having said that, minis almost always match from the factory. When I installed my JCW kit, I had to paint the bumpers and rocker mouldings.

Laser Blue is a PIA to match by panel painting. (that means painting a panel in it's entirety without blending the adjacent panel)

When the sun is out, my parts are spot on....absolutely perfect. When it's overcast, the parts I painted have a slight darker, bluish/red look to them.

I can't say that your bumpers have been painted but if they were, it would explain why they don't match more so than the fact that because they are plastic, they mismatched from the factory. (again, simply because mini IMO has the best color matching on their bumpers)

HTH's,

Mark


PS. For anyone that says they bought the car off the showroom floor and their bumpers have not been painted.... one of the major dealers we paint for spends 5-7K a month just on 09's that have transportation damage. Out of that, 90% are bumpers.

And bumpers are not disclosed to customers. Any other part painted on the car will be noted.

 

thanks Mark, it certainly gives some insight. I had my wife look today and again from some angles it's a perfect match, and others both bumpers are a lighter shade. I'm not too worried about it but if I was, what would be the best course of action? Would the dealer do anything about it, I only have 500 miles on the MINI so far (but I'm 200 miles from the dealer)? I'm going to try and take some pictures tomorrow since I'm putting in my JCW scoop now that it's finally got above 50 degrees.

Grahame

 

Shy of painting it all again, there is no cure. The problem is, there is no guarantee that whoever paints it will match it exactly.

As far as the dealer, if the color is off enough, it is not uncommon for the dealer to have it repainted under warranty.

However, it would have to be pretty off. if it's not overly annoying, I'd leave it.

Several reasons... no guarantee it will match and it will add extra paint to the bumper. That in itself is not a big deal but it could play havoc as far as stone chips.

HTH's,

Mark

 

I installed my JCW CF scoop today...here are the before and after shots :

 

Gorgeous hood scoop Chimera! How long was the install? Could the average person with "average" knowledge of tools and cars do this? *clearly speaking of myself here!

I know ppl don't seem to like chrome these days on the exterior's of their cars for some reason but I have always like the chrome hood scoop too! I'd love to see a white hood scoop on a LB MCS with with roof and bonnet stripes. I think that would look supah sexeh!

 

Funnily enough, I documented the whole process because I hadn't seen anybody else do it I'll write it up and post pictures, it's a very easy install once you know where the snap-in pins are located. It took about 30 minutes but that's because I was taking pictures at every step.

I think a white scoop on next to white stripes would look great...I was thinking about adding a white pinstripe around my scoop so it matches the stripes but I'm not sure yet.

 

Here's mine. Rims are photoshopped but I'm thinking I love it!

 

One more Laser Blue JCW to the list - having a great time with this car... Upcoming mods are window tinting and black wheels

 

I'll add my latest pics here as well. These were posted earlier today in the Factory JCW sub-forum.

 

I love the "un-mini-ness" of the matching roof! That's beautiful!

 

can any of you with the grill mounted driving lamps post some pictures of them turned on? Night time shots would be awesome.... I'm thinking about buying some, but they are quite expensive.

 

+1 for resurrecting the thread!

June 1st: the day I order my Laser Blue Mini!!!

 

why June 1st?

 

LOL...because that's the day I plan to have saved enough of a down payment for a new cooper!

 

well done

 

It's the best I could get at the moment. Hope it helps.

 

sweet thanks a ton... i'm off to the dealer on friday to get my MINI serviced, i'm going to ask if they can offer me a deal on the lamps. I know someone that works there, and we have bought several cars through them.