Has anyone swapped the stock painted slats front grille in thier MCS for the one in the regular Cooper? If so where you able to make the switch before delivery and if so how much did you pay to get the part and labor done?

How did you add the chrome trim piece in the front upper section of the bumper?

I am thinking of putting the Cooper's chrome grille once my MCS arrives as I much prefer the look of the chrome grille vs the color matched one.

 

You can order the chrome grills for the MCS. It has the same open grill with 3 slats.

Part numbers :
Top : 51 13 7 122 473
Lower : 51 11 1 490 062

Adhesive strip for the lower : 51 11 1 490 960

However, if you want the 4 slats that the Cooper has,

Top : 51 13 7 026 202
Lower : 51 11 7 032 900

 

>>You can order the chrome grills for the MCS. It has the same open grill with 3 slats.
>>
>>Part numbers :
>>Top : 51 13 7 122 473
>>Lower : 51 11 1 490 062
>>
>>Adhesive strip for the lower : 51 11 1 490 960
>>
>>However, if you want the 4 slats that the Cooper has,
>>
>>Top : 51 13 7 026 202
>>Lower : 51 11 7 032 900
>>
>>
Thanks for the part number info. I didn't know you could get a chrome grille with 3 slats only...news to me.

What about prices for these parts?

 

Yup, I ordered the MCS chrome grill though my dealer, and I had it put on yesterday for a combined total of $205. I did not have the slat that is built into the bumper replaced because the mechanic talked me out of it. It would have added another $200 in labor to the cost. I will probably either put chrome tape over the bumper slat or teach myself how to remove the bumper. Good luck!

 

Any pics, this might be something that I'm interested in.

 

>>You can order the chrome grills for the MCS. It has the same open grill with 3 slats.
>>
>>Part numbers :
>>Top : 51 13 7 122 473
>>Lower : 51 11 1 490 062
>>
>>Adhesive strip for the lower : 51 11 1 490 960
>>
>>However, if you want the 4 slats that the Cooper has,
>>
>>Top : 51 13 7 026 202
>>Lower : 51 11 7 032 900
>>

Does anyone know the difference between these lower grill slats?? I got the three-slat upper grill, but the lower grill slat I bought was the 51-11-7-032-900 one, not the 51-11-1-490-062 one. I had read elsewhere on this site that the lower grill part was the same between Cooper and Cooper S. If that isn't true, what is the difference? What difficulties am I going to run into trying to install this one??

--Ryan

 

Here ya go... I did it with my grille and my tailgate trim...

These are off a standard Cooper, not the special Mini S chrome grille - so they have 4 slats instead of 3. I feel the 4 looks better anyways, my goal was to make it look as much like a standard Cooper as possible, since I do not like the styling on the S quite as much.

 

Oh, and installing the lower grille is a real pain, by the way. It comes eventually, just be patient, you have to pretty much remove the entire front bumper, then pry it off.

 

I can see I'll just have the dealer install mine!

and Sarcuz, I love the look of your MCS with the Cooper Chrome Grill! I hadn't thought about it having a more "MINI Grill" look, but you are correct. The more slats, the more it's a grill!!

_________________
VINI, VIDI, MINI. . .
He Came, He Saw, He Motored !

 

If you wanna spend that money, go for it... only took me about 2 hours total, would have been less if I hadn't kept breaking things, lol.

 

I have read it helps to put a hair dryer or heat source on it to get it off, but I'd hate to ruin it and then have to order another one because I'm stupid. which happens often

I really like the look of your 2 cars! and nice you didn't let the one get lonely in the garage!!

 

What can I say, I'm a groovy guy.

 

Hey Sarcux,

Congratulations on two beeeeuuutiful MINIs! I am getting an IB/B MCS in about a month but, like you, always preferred the styling of the MC (except I do like the hood scoop). So I would love to install the four slat chrome grill and chrome strip on the back hatch. I know you did it yourself, but how exactly did you do it? First, did you order the stuff from your dealer or MINIUSA? Then, are there directions involved? What is the physical process of removing one grill and replacing it with the other? What tools are involved? I haven't checked if there's something there already, but the entire process from A to Z would be a great thing to post in the "Beneath the Bonnet" forum if you have the time.

I'm a little hesitant to take apart my car myself, but if you think it's not too difficult and can show how it's done, I would love to give it a try.

Thanks for your time,

Craig

 

I also put a chrome grill on my MCS (dark silver). I like the look much better.

The new grill comes with unthreaded plastic nubs that you have to connect with the small self-tapping nuts that come off the old grill. I used a socket filled with masking tape so that the nut would not fall into the much deeper socket head. You have to use positive pressure while turning in order to cut the new thread into the plastic nubs, all of this while working upside down. If you don't fill the socket with tape then gravity will get the best of you. I have not tackled the lower strip yet. It is sitting in my garage waiting for me to complete some more pressing projects first.

 

>>I also put a chrome grill on my MCS (dark silver). I like the look much better.
>>
>>The new grill comes with unthreaded plastic nubs that you have to connect with the small self-tapping nuts that come off the old grill. I used a socket filled with masking tape so that the nut would not fall into the much deeper socket head. You have to use positive pressure while turning in order to cut the new thread into the plastic nubs, all of this while working upside down. If you don't fill the socket with tape then gravity will get the best of you. I have not tackled the lower strip yet. It is sitting in my garage waiting for me to complete some more pressing projects first.


Hey Dan,
Thanks for the tutorial. Although I must say it's hard for me to visualize exactly what you're talking about without seeing the grill in front of me, so I guess I'll just wait until the blue beast arrives and can fully understand what you're saying. Did you figure out how to replace the grill just by looking at it, or did you talk to a service guy? And is the bottom bumper going to be a lot more complicated, or just time consuming? What I'm getting at is, can a guy who's somewhat mechanically inclined but has never worked on a car do this on his own or does this need to go to the dealer?

Thanks

Craig
IB/B MCS in production, all packages, blk leather, hk stereo.

 

Did you figure out how to replace the grill just by looking at it, or did you talk to a service guy? And is the bottom bumper going to be a lot more complicated, or just time consuming? What I'm getting at is, can a guy who's somewhat mechanically inclined but has never worked on a car do this on his own or does this need to go to the dealer?
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>Craig

Craig, I figured it out when the little nuts started falling into the engine compartment.

You have to put it on with the bonnet up so everything is over your head(and the engine).

As far as the lower section. I have read that some people took off the bumper and others didn't. It held in place by adhesive and is difficult to remove without scatching it.

 

Those self-tapping nuts can be a real pain, they simply wouldn't work for me, so I got some doublesided 3M foam tape, applied it, and stuck it on. Then I took two nuts, and ratcheted one on either side of the grille, on the far corners. Don't go down too hard, or they'll snap off.

For the bottom part, remove all the bolts holding on the front bumper. I left the very bottom corners on, 'cos they're harder to get to, and just folded the bumper down. Use a screwdriver and pop the old bottom grille slate out (takes some finagling), then put the new one on, they come pre-taped, you just peel off the tape backing and slap it on. Make sure everything is snapped down tight (they snap in as well as stick on), then bolt everything back up.

For the rear hatch trim, its very self explanatory. Just use a torx (#10 if I remember right, everything on these cars are torx, I hate that) to unscrew the old one, you'll need two pairs of needlenose pliers to grip the harness well enough to unplug it, then do the same by putting the new one on. Very easy.

The one I got was off of someone who had gotten an aero kits, I believe. Can't remember though. Shouldn't have to spend more than $230 or so.



minitothemax - I too have several nuts in the engine compartment,

 

No but I swapped my S body-colored tailgate peice for the Cooper's chrome one. It really looks great with the dark silver. I, however, prefer the body-colored grill. I'm not a big fan of chrome. I just wanted a LITTLE taste of it!

 

>>For the rear hatch trim, its very self explanatory. Just use a torx (#10 if I remember right, everything on these cars are torx, I hate that) to unscrew the old one, you'll need two pairs of needlenose pliers to grip the harness well enough to unplug it, then do the same by putting the new one on. Very easy.>>>>


Be VERY glad that the MINI uses torx screwdrivers or half of our parts would be missing!

 

I just finished putting the lower chrome strip on. I ended up taking the bumper cover off so that it was easier to pry the painted strip off. It took me about 1 1/2 hours from set up finish. Most of the time was spent trying to get all of the adhesive residue off before putting the new strip on. I pried the old one off by starting in the lower, middle of the strip and wedging a screwdriver behind it. I moved the screwdriver toward the sides while jamming my fingers behind the strip in order to separate the adhesive. I thought this would be the best way to keep from scratching any of the exposed painted surfaces. Here is a good link that I followed to get the bumper cover off.

Remove bumper cover

The entire project was fairly easy.

 

For the bumper cover link, All you have to look at is step 1. I did not jack up the car and remove tires. I just turned the wheels in order to get a little more room to work behind them. Also the painting part in step 1 is for the aero grill (no need to look at that).

 

I had lower bumper damage and replaced my lower MC bumper with an MCS bumper. If you look closely at my sig pic, you can tell. Had it done at Helix, saved quite a bit off from the dealer / bodyshop. They got the part from a local dealer - leftover from aero-kit installs.


_________________

 

>>I had lower bumper damage and replaced my lower MC bumper with an MCS bumper. If you look closely at my sig pic, you can tell. Had it done at Helix, saved quite a bit off from the dealer / bodyshop. They got the part from a local dealer - leftover from aero-kit installs.

Our local dealer does have alot of stock pieces, grills- bumpers- tail pieces ... in all facotry colors for both Coopers and MCSs. They are left overs from body kit installs as Dan has stated. If anyone is interested in some let us know , they are selling them off pretty cheap.