Anyone know any good/reliable shops with reasonable prices in SoCal (orange county preferred) for tint and chrome blackout vinyl wrapping?
im also thinking about oem replica sport stripes in matte black.

My dealership wants to charge $495 for tint (all windows including dual pane sunroof) and $380 for
vinyl-wrap-blackout the chrome parts (not including door handles!). these prices seemed pretty nutty to me. but then again whattya expect from the dealership?

Of course i will use a professional for the tinting. $250-$300 seems like a reasonable price range. Tint shop recommendations anyone?

Ive tried plastidip on my Clubman door handles in the past. 1 turned out perfect and the other was just ok. I plastidipped the emblems and they turned out great. I also plastidipped the headlight rings and they came out just ok. plastidip is greAT for that matte black look but is there a way to give plastidip a glossy finish?

I used the beltline blackout kit (from outmotoring.com) and didnt work too good. Mainly because i pulled too hard which stretched out the tape and made it too thin to cover the width of the beltline.

I was leaning towards carbon covers for the door handles but for $180! dang!

Anyone know any shops or easy DIY techniques for blacking out the R60's chrome parts? and possibly oem replica sport stripes?

I usually dont make any modifications unless i refer to NAM. This is such a great resource for MINI owners! Thank yall in advance! Your tips and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 

I used OC Tint Shop to tint my first MINI when I lived in LA. They came out to my buddy's house in OC and did the tint there. I also used LA Tint Shop on my second MINI (same company but in LA).

As for the rest of your questions...MINI has started making a black line trim option for the headlight and taillight rings. It's a matte finish as far as I know. If you want glossy, I'd order some glossy black vinyl and wrap them. I've heard of people spraying a clear coat over plasti dip, but I don't know how well it works.

For the door handles, plasti dip is probably your best bet. I've seen mixed results on here from people trying to wrap them. I've also read that they get really hot after you paint or wrap them black.

 

Plasti-Dip has a glossifier, but I have not seen the results of anyone using it.

 

I'm getting my CM tinted tomorrow at Signature Tinting on 17th street in Costa Mesa. I'm getting Llumar CTX ceramic 30% front & 15% rear & sunroof for $450. I know it's expensive but they are one of the best in OC and I also chose high quality tint. They have cheaper tint if you don't want the CTX ceramic for less. I'll post some pics once I get it done.

As for the chrome, I'm in the process of blacking out the front & rear with plasti dip. I know u can spray it while the parts are on the car but I decided to take them off and spray. It comes out looking a lot better. As for the belt line, I am gonna try 3/4" scotch heavy duty electrical tape later this week. Will let u know how it comes out when I get it done.

I have a guy in riverside that does great vinyl that comes recommended from my repair guy. I haven't gotten prices but I plan on doing double stripes and a clear bra in the front.

 

Post some close up pics when you are done.

 

Owen Palmer (5zero4) is in LA and does vinyl work. IMO, he's as good as it gets with vinyl. I'm not sure if he does tint work, but if not, I'm sure he can recommend someone who does.

I highly recommend getting the tail light and headlight rings painted body match. I got my belt line and grille surround blacked out and the rings painted body match. I think it's a good look.

 

What did you use to black out your beltline?q

I'm blacking out all the chrome because my car is absolute black so the matte black will go nicely.

 

Vinyl. Yeah, if you have a black car, then I agree blacking out is the way to go.

 

yes indeed couldnt agree more. total blackout on absolute black is the only way to go.
please do post pics

 

Got the car back from tinting today at Signature Tinting in OC. Came out really great. This was my first time plasti dipping, it came pretty good but I had some dust specks on one side of the grill from it being so windy the past couple of days. I plan on redoing the plasti dip on the grill and the tail light rings tomorrow. I bought some professional 3M Scotch electrical tape and gonna try the black out the beltline. If the tape doesn't look good then I will vinyl it myself.

Before:


After:


Plasti Dip front chrome:

 

siiiic. looks great!
You went 30% in the front & 15% in the rear on the tint? looks good and uniform. not a huge difference.
Did you have to remove the chrome strip from the grill to plastidip it? or did you leave it on & mask around it?
how'd you do the headlight trim?

 

Yea, 30% front & 15% all around including sunroof. I took off all the trim to plasti dip. I had to rig everything to prop it off the floor for spraying. It looks ghetto but it works. Most of the chrome pieces are easy to remove, only one that was difficult are the clips that hold the chrome grill to the rest of the black plastic grill.

 

Tinting: Get Ceramic tint and if legal in your area get the front windshield tinted too. Solar adaptive tint would be another great choice if you want to dish out the cash.

Chrome pieces: Having used paint, Beltline (Sucks), 3m scotchprint 1080, and plastidip, I found the last two to be the easiest and best.

I used 3m vinyl on my trim rings and the remaining chrome pieces I used black pastidip with glossifier top coat. Door handles are tough. Started with plasti dip and found the texture funny, vinyl was a pain in the butt, then just bought on ebay carbon fiber door handles, which had to be modded to fit for comfort access button.

The top pic shows the headlight trim in gloss black vinyl and a basic plasti dip coated headlight washer cover. There is a difference. The rear pic shows it with glossifier on the emblem and trim rings with vinyl wrap. Not a great match, but pretty dang good. Will try to upload close ups today.

 

very cool. looks awesome.
i will be attempting to plasti dip the grill, headlight and tail light rings.
yea i already ordered the blackout vinyl for the beltline and im leaning towards handle covers. my last attempt with plastidip on the door handles was too much of a headache.
should have the car within 3 wks...hopefully.

 

Let me know if u need some help with the plasti dip. It's fairly simple but I do recommend you taking the parts off and spraying them. They will have a better finish.

 

yea for sure ill hit u up. ill probably also need any advice with prying off all the grill, headlight, & tail light trim. Much appreciated. Let me know how that 3M works on the beltline.

 

Headlight trim & washer is simple. Grill is easy to take off, but chrome trim is hard to separate. Tail lights are simple to remove, 2 screws on each side and it pops off. Putting the tail light back on is a pain. I'm not going w/ the 3M tape anymore, about to order a roll of vinyl striping tape. I read in one of the other forums that someone had it on for over 5 years and no problems what so ever. I'll let you know when I get that in and try it out.

 

This has been a great resource! Looking forward to applying tint and plastidip to the new R60 ( neither of which I did to the other MINIs)

 

I'm planning on ordering this for the belt line blackout. http://www.beacongraphics.com/suppli...prostripe.html

3/4" x 150' roll for $20.65.

Not sure if it's matte or glossy, I plan on calling them to get some more info. Will keep you guys up to date.

 

Am I the only person on the planet who doesn't like shiny chrome on my car's dash and would like to know how to cover it black?

 

I dipped the emblems, front and rear light trims, wrapped the roof rails (not very good job, first timer will rewrap them again in spring time) and installed skin on the door handles. Taped the belt lines with black 3M wire tape. Not easy but safe $$$$ for all. I don't really like chrome and the last part will be the gas cap to be blackened.

 

I have to agree with you on the belt line kit...it was a little tough. However, I did find that the matt finish was a tad bit easier to install than the gloss black. The gf just picked up a black R57 and I spend the better part of this last weekend applying and dipping. Plastidip does make what they call a golssifier that you apply after the main product. I'll see if I can snap a photo tonight for you so you can see the outcome.

Getting back to the glossy belt line kit - I was going nuts with that thing! It's too easy to stretch it. I had to keep telling myself to ease off on the tension...still ended up with bubbles and it just looks like a 2yr old did it. From far it looks fine, but i don't know what she wants to do about it.

I did the plastidip on the trim rings a couple of times and I just finally gave in and just purchased the actual trim rings. The trick with the plastidip is really taking your time with it. Yes, it's easy to apply but my patiences get seriously low when I have to wait a good 20 minutes between each application...and I do no less than 5 applications. The first needs to be a simple starter layer and you just build up from there. If you wait a minimum of 20 minutes between each application, you'll have a great outcome. Plus, it'll be easier to take off later.

Thinking of wrapping the door handles with a carbon fibre vinyl...I've not really done it, but trial and error is the game sometimes. I picked up a 12"x5' strip from amazon and a heat gun from harbor freight...and a couple of other miscellaneous tools...I think next weekend I'll give it a whirl.

I'm not a fan of chrome on exterior of my Countryman...it's all gotta go!

 

Tint in OC go to XLNTint in Anaheim. I have been going there since 87. Great work and fair prices.

I did the gloss black trims pieces for the lights front and rear as well as the black handle covers from outmotoring. They go over the chrome and so far I am very happy the way they have held up. I used the 3m tape for the belt line. Not ideal but after doing it the third time I have it without bubbles and no gaps. Crazy to me not one company has made and sells the black belt line as so many folks are doing this change.

Only thing I haven't tackled is the front chrome grill surround. Too big of a piece in my mind to make Plastidip look good and way too expensive to do it right and just take it to a body shop for paint.