Hey fellow MINI maniacs,

Just thought I'd share some pictures of my recently modified interior. I did this work some 3 weeks ago and finally got around to taking some pics, a 5k mile trip came in between.

I had decided to re-do certain things in the interior of my 03 EB/W MCS, Celeste.
I had always liked the idea of repainting the center speedo and dash vent trim rings in exterior EB. In addition, while I like the alloy patina dash, I never liked the silver trim that came with it. Even before seeing a car at the dealer with anthracite dash and the dark trim that comes with it (I love it!) I decided to re-do the silver trim in a dark metallic anthracite.

Well, the excuse to pursue this project finally came when the silver trim on the door Y-braces started to peel. I also had an annoying speaker buzz from the door panels, and when placing anything hard in the door pockets, stuff would rattle around in an irritatingly noisy manner, all things that I wanted to improve upon.

So, on one long weekend that turned into two with long evenings and nights during the weekdays, I tackled the task.

I removed the door panels, and (others had warned me), dremeled off the plastic welded oval trim off the plastic door panel. I obtained some charcoal gray trim cloth and lined the pocket oval as well as the pocket trim piece. For this I used 3M spray headliner adhesive (light weight, not heavy duty kind). I extensively dynamatted the plastic door panel, and the door itself in a few places. I also used 5-minute epoxy on the lower HK-speaker trim ring since that is also plastic welded and not in a tight way, so very prone to rattle.
Overall, I have to say that this way of assemblying the door panel and trim is really an ultra-cheap way that is not repairable and very prone to rattles and buzzes, I hope MINI improves this!
I furthermore used friction tape in a lot of places, specifically the edges of panels etc...

To repaint the plastic Y-trim as well as other interior trim, I first removed all prior paint through extensive hand sanding, lots of work. To avoid scratches which will show through a new paint job I started with 60 grit and then used 120, 150, 180, 220 and finally emory cloth. I degreased using iso-propanol. More on th epainting later.
I had originally planned to make some sort of detachable attachment for the trim pieces, but ran out of time and thus just used a thermoplastic glue (heat glue gun) to re-attach the trim pieces to the panel. All trim pieces are ABS plastic, the panel is PPT.

Here are some pics before I give you more boring details:

The old style magnesium door panel:



And the new door panel:


I love it! I like the way the oval now looks solid on account of the charcoal gray dark center of the oval, much better than the previous 'hollow' oval. The doors are so quiet now, no buzz or speaker noises, the speaker sound has significantly improved (more precise), and no annoying rattles of pocket contents.

Ok, next I did the interior:
I removed all trim and repainted it as such:
Tach trim, center column vertical posts, gear shift trim and cup-holder / ashtray 8-trim and ashtray / cover all in anthracite. The center speedo and dash vent trim rings I did in exterior electric blue.

Here are some pics:
An overview, you can see the new style door panel, as well as the anthracite and EB interior trim.


A closeup:


A view from the rear:


And again a closer angle:



Finally the closest view of the EB trim:


Ok, some more details on the painting:
After consulting with some car paint experts and discussing in particular durability, I decided to use an exterior type of car paint and modify it for interior use. At my local car paint shop, the very, very helpful folks custom matched the exterior EB and helped me select the anthracite as well. The colors were mixed in a Diamont paint system. A reducer was added which helps make the paint more sprayable and softens it for more interior flexibility. This was all mixed at the store. Just prior to painting, I added 10% by volume of DH46 hardener, after which the paint has to be sprayed within 30 minutes. I used a reloadable spray cartridge system by PREVAL (www.prevalspraygun.com) for the painting, very handy and convenient: this system comes with a small glass bottle which you fill with the paint and then screw in a propellant / sprayer can, which you can purchase separately. A glass / propellant combo is about $5, and a propellant canister only abotu half of that. One can of propellant can spray up to 16 oz of paint. Works like a spray can, really cool!

Spray like a regular paint can, but you need to use a respirator since the solvent fumes from the paint are really nasty!!! I applied a total of 5 to 7 layers, depending on the piece. You can spray one layer, and then wait for 8-15 minutes (no longer!!) And apply the next layer. Better more and thinner layers so the paint does not run. After 5-7 layers, the covering is very good. With a thinner cov er, the surface remains somewhat textured, with more, it becomes smooth.
I let all parts air dry overnight and then put them in a drying oven at 50 degrees C for 3 days, before letting cool for another day before installation, to make sure the paint was properly hardened before installation. So far, it seems to be holding up very well.


At the same time I also installed the Euro parcel shelf and AUX adapter (also did the Forge Motorsports coolant reservoir). Lots of work.

I love the results though. I love the anthracite trim, much much better IMHO than the silver, and hopefully more durable too! I like the door panels. The EB trim was the most different than anticipated, and honestly took me a while to get used to, but now that I've had it for a while I like it. The interior is a wee bit 'noisy' (optically speaking), in part as a result of the two different blues now (lapis and EB), but on the other hand the anthracite trim quieted thinsg down a bit.
I love it!

What do ya'll think?

Cheers,
Markus

 

It looks fantastic..nice job! However let me remind you that you have the "Alloy Patina" trim not the "Anthracite" trim as you suggested. This is the reason why I didn't get Alloy Patina because you still get those very prone to scratches white silver door pulls and dash down tubes.


_________________
'02 Cooper CVT
On order: '04 Cooper S (Est production date: 9/5/03)

 

>>It looks fantastic..nice job! However let me remind you that you have the "Alloy Patina" trim not the "Anthracite" trim as you suggested. This is the reason why I didn't get Alloy Patina because you still get those very prone to scratches white silver door pulls and dash down tubes.
>>

Thanks Cooper4us!

Yes, I did originally get the Alloy Patina dash and the silver trim that comes with that.

The confusion may stem from the fact that for my new trim I chose a color that is called 'Anthracite', although it does look different than the anthracite dash that MINI offers.

I absolutely agree with you, and with other reports as well:
the silver trim that comes with Alloy Patina does not wear or hold up well at all.
The dark trim that comes with the Anthracite dash appears to be much stronger and holding up better.
My self-painted anthracite trim in appearance is very similar to the dark trim that comes with the MINI anthracite dash. So now, I have the Alloy Patina dash, and a non-MINI trim that is called anthracite.
:smile:

 

Looks sweet. Are you going to do the tach trim ring as well??

 

>>Looks sweet. Are you going to do the tach trim ring as well??

It was silver, and I changed the tach trim ring to the new anthracite.
I thought EB for the tach would be too tachy

 

Markus,

I'm EB with envy. Great looking interior, I especially like the inner door job behind the y-bars. Any ballpark cost estimates on your mod.? Skill level involved? Is this for the average DIYer or need professionals only apply?

 

that looks great! thanks for the heads up as well! i'd love to paint the silver in my interior electric blue but i'm afraid it would clash with the blue of the lapis... what do you think?

 

I think it was more noticeable that the trim ring was not EB, rather than that it would look odd being the EB. But like you said, the trig ring is easily replaced. And, hey it's your car, whatever pleases you, pleases your MINI! That's all that's important.

 

MGCMAN, NoMo and Indy,

thanks for your feedback!

NoMo, I am quite happy with the EB trim rings right now, though of all the changes I made that was the one that took the most getting used to, maybe because of the two different blues (EB and lapis). Now that I have seen it for a while it does not bug me, I like it.

I also thought about doing the other trim in EB, but thought it would be too much.
Do you have magnesium door panels or black? With black it would look better, IMHO.

I think in an EB MINI with black leather, anthracite dash and black door panels, doing all the plastic trim in EB could look really, really cool! You could try finding some cloth with a similar color and draping it ov er the door trim for example to gauge the effect. Or you could try to photoshop it. Maybe by the time you do all the trim in EB it would not clash. Not having magnesium panels would also help.

You are right Indy, I will just try to get a second tach ring and paint it EB.
Note though that the back of the tach housing is black, so then the next question is: should I do just the trim ring or the whole tach? The back of the tach is quite visible from some perspectives! I like the anthracite right now, so I'm in no rush to try the tach trim.

MGCMAN, regarding complexity, cost etc...:
Cost: for the velvet: $28 for material at any car upholstery place.
Spray headliner adhesive, about $5
For the paint: that was very expensive, mostly because I decided to use exterior paint. The DH46 hardener comes in nothing less than 1 quart at a cost of $70 per quart, and once you open it you have to use it within about one week. The rest of the paint was mixed in 1/2 pints, with each 1/2 pint costing about $17. So, the paintjob was expensive, but I wanted it to last as long as possible and di not want to skimp on cost.

Details on the EB:
From any Diamont dealer you should be able to get this mixed to these specs:

Stock #171802
Color Code M4000W
Diamont reducer UR50 19.7 grams
Medium fine meta. BC140 106.6 grams
Rich Blue BC406 153.7 grams
White BC105 178.2 grams
Medium Aluminum BC171 202.6 grams
Flop Control BC101 216.2 grams

And then later just before spraying mix in 10% by vol. of DH46 hardener.

Difficulty:
a difficult thing was to remove the heat welded plastic trim: I had to dremel off about 80 weld points on each panel to detach the lower pocket trim, and the upper oval and Y-brace come off as one piece, although I then separated them.
The cloth trimming was very tricky because of the dished out area, and it was my first time to have done something with cloth in this manner (I did some door panels on my MGB-GT, but in vinyl which is more strechable and flexible). I had to cut templates from paper, and then carefully cut the sections of cloth to fit. Still messed up in a few spots.
The most difficult thing by far though was reattaching all the trim because of the infuriatingly stupid way it is attached in the first place! I did it with hot melt glue, but there may be better ways. If you need more tips PM me.
The whole thing took 2 complete weekends and quite a few extended week nights.
Still, now I'm glad I did it!

Cheers,
Markus

 

Blue is not my color, but damn that looks sweet.

 

MGT, do you have pics of the door panels fully disassembled? I never tought that they were so complicated to take apart.

 

>>MGT, do you have pics of the door panels fully disassembled? I never tought that they were so complicated to take apart.

Nope, no pics, sorry! In a moment of sheer and utter folly I decided to start this one week before going on a long trip, so I was in a mad rush to complete and took no pics.

The door panel is one piece and there are good posts on how to remove it from the door. The tricky part is to remove the three pieces that make up the oval trim and Y-brace handle. These basically are made/cast with long plastic extruded studs that fit through matching holes in the door panel piece. Once they stick through, they stick out on the other side (the hollow inside of the door), and then are basically flattened by a hot piece of metal into a wider 'plastic rivet head'. So, the only way to remove these three trim pieces is to cut or dremel off the plastic rivet head, which then of course leaves you with no way to reattach the piece. An unbelievably dumb way of attaching this! Since the trim pieces are ABS, I thought of attaching new 'studs' but had no time, so I just held the pieces in place for reattachment and squirted hot melt glue into the holes or onto the remainder of the studs, and since the hot melt glue sticks well to ABS that worked fine. If I have to remove them again I will have to repeat the whole stupid process though. Very, very silly!
There are also lots and lost of plastic-plastic contacts that can squeak, antoher reason why this is a very poor construction.

Sorry about the lack of pics!
M.

 

>>NoMo, I am quite happy with the EB trim rings right now, though of all the changes I made that was the one that took the most getting used to, maybe because of the two different blues (EB and lapis). Now that I have seen it for a while it does not bug me, I like it.
>>
>>I also thought about doing the other trim in EB, but thought it would be too much.
>>Do you have magnesium door panels or black? With black it would look better, IMHO.
>>
>>I think in an EB MINI with black leather, anthracite dash and black door panels, doing all the plastic trim in EB could look really, really cool! You could try finding some cloth with a similar color and draping it ov er the door trim for example to gauge the effect. Or you could try to photoshop it. Maybe by the time you do all the trim in EB it would not clash. Not having magnesium panels would also help.
>>

i have black door panels.. but after reading your last post, i dont want to take the door apart if its not going to be able to go back on right.. what i really wanted to do is the rings like you have and the down tubes... basically things that fall within the center... but i'm going to have my lapis hand brake and lapis shift gaiter and **** installed tomorrow so i don't think that would look good.. (i am saving the black ones though) so then maybe i should get a color to match the lapis? i dunno... i'm not going to make any decisions now.

 

You did a FANTASTIC job. Many kudos to you! I have the anthracite interior, and one of the things on my to-do list is painting the tach trim ring anthracite. I even bought the preval sprayer a month before my car came. :smile:

I haven't had a chance to go to a paint store and have them color-match the anthracite yet. Since the MINI anthracite is sort of sparkly, I'm not sure if they can match it exactly. But even if it's just a dark grey that's close, it will be better than that fat silver trim ring.

Your interior is truly unique!

 

Here are the details on the anthracite color I used, for those who are interested.
Remember this is not a MINI anthracite, or an attempt to match it! It is just a color I liked for the interior trim that is called anthracite:

Anthracite:
Stock #171601
Diamont Color Code M1582R
Diamont Reducer UR50 19.8 g
Black BC200 81.1 g
Blue Black BC250 129.6 g
Medium Metallic BC170 153.3 g
Medium-fine Metallic BC140 173.1 g
Violet BC300 184.4 g
Red-Gold BC800 194.2 g
Rich Blue BC406 199.6 g
Transparent White BC195 200.7 g
Flop Control BC101 217.5 grams

As before, just before spraying mix in 10% by vol. of DH46 hardener.


M.

 

:smile: :smile: :smile: All I can say is - WOW!!! That looks schweeeet.... You did a fantastic job.

It's kinda wierd, we were just talking over the weekend about doing this exact same thing to ours. But knowing Mike, we would take it someplace and have it done as he doesn't have the time or patience to do it himself...
donna@dcmetrominis.org

 

wow...great interior mods. You did a good job, it even looks like a custom shop did it for you. :smile:

 

Amanda.... Color Match the Lapis...

And accent with EB/Black.

I would not reccomend the Preval to spray anything that needs a sweet finish...
I do however applaude your effort and it looks nice.


Did you use any sort of PlaticPrep? How about a sealant?

I have airbrushed many Plastic parts and the paint is always... like a "sleeve" on the plastic. Which is why we have seen threads of complaints about interior paint chips. You can see my handy work in Bicentennial Man... the Robot is plastic.

If I was not a professional I would not do it myself. There are so many variables and unforseen problems. And those problems can cost a lot of $$$ and frustration.

My Advice, If you were to do this yourself....

1) Practice.... Practice Practice Practice...
2) find out if you know anyone who slings an airbrush
3) buy the Parts Seperately from the Dealership.... then paint them, then install them.
4) sell your unpainted pieces on ebay or keep them and paint a variant.




I am planning to paint some interior and redo my headliner in Burberry... (no joke)
and paint my mini fire extenguisher and the NOS bottle & Spare when I get them.

 

MG-BGT – Great job. The blue rings around the speedo look nice, but why not the tachometer also?

 

Very nice. I was in KC earlier this week There was an EB/EB JCW car there with Kansas plates. Looked like he had taken all interior trim pieces and painted them EB. It was way sweet. EB rocks but I prefer the white top
Nice Job
RAT

 

My kids refer to the white tops as "girls" and the black tops as "boys"...

 

Very nice! I've been wanting to change my silver trim to the darker anthracite ever since I saw an anthracite in person. I may have to do this now...