Bought my used, 2007 MC about 28 days ago.

The previous owner was a control freak like myself, and kept seriously great care of the car, and exceptional good care of the interior. BUT he must have shut something in the door at some point, because the driver's side "MINI Cooper" metal door sill lifted up, and got crumpled up, I'm assuming during a door shut. It was severely damaged, but did not affect the door's ability to shut. It was just a cosmetic eye sore I saw every time I got in and out of the car that bugged me.

Just putting this out there: My closest dealership replaced the part for $71 + tax, and did not charge me any labor fee, as the piece is held in with adhesive, not bolts or screws. The service advisor told me he replaces them constantly because the adhesive fails, the part lifts up, and gets damaged. Which means it will probably happen again If I don't keep a close eye on it. I can see that my passenger side is also lifting up.

Just putting that information out there because I searched the forums before I had it done and couldn't find anyone who experienced this, or get an idea of the charges for repair.

 

Glad you got it fixed. My takeaway from your post was that BMW/MINI charges $71 for a large metal sticker.

That is like the $16 that they charge for the rear wiper insert. This company is really too much.

 

Yup. Way lame.

Though it did bother me that many sites sell this part (MINI # 51717052127) for about $36. But I wasn't able to find much information about its installation online, so I was reluctant to buy it and try myself. Fearing further damage.

Call it idiotic, but I think there is some value in the piece-of-mind one can gain from having something like this repaired by a professional, who's done it before.

...Even if that feeling is an illusion.

 

Quick question: Are you over the mileage for warranty? If you are not, I am surprised they did not cover it under bumper to bumper, since it's not a wear and tear item.

Secondly, if you think that's lame, don't use the mirrors on your sun visors. They are notorious for breaking, and will cost you roughly $80 for the part alone. My driver side broke within the first 1000 miles of ownership. To my surprise the local dealer had them in stock and said they keep a supply on hand, because they are known to go bad.

 

Negative. Bought the car with 63K miles. I found it as-is, no warranty from a non-MINI car dealer, then tacked on an third-party warranty. While that warranty did cover a bunch of other corrections I've already made to it (including a defective hatch lock actuator), this one part didn't seem to be covered under my particular warranty. Though, now that you mention it, I am going to go triple check on that. It seems like it should be included.

Oh, man! I knew those mirror lids felt WAY shady. I have been handling them with kidgloves for now, but I think I might just discontinue using them all together. I'll just bend the rear-view if I need to see my reflection. Thanks!

 

Thanks for the info. It is your money and your MINI so do whatever you want to do.

Just a suggestion if the sill(s) come up again, it might be time for a little personalization (maybe that's what your MINI was asking for)! I believe a few vendors make sills. I like Aesthetic Creations work.

 

I'll Google them, check them out. But there's a special place in my heart for original equipment.

I find that, with me, the appeal of cosmetic mods lasts like two years. After that, having the original part re-installed seems more novel than having the mod'd version. I mean, a mod has to be REALLY subtle and tasteful for me to get on board.

I totally see why people do light, cosmetic mods like this. But personally, the way I express myself is keeping things looking as much like new original equipment as possible

 

Great post. I know people who drag their feet over the door sill can scratch / damage the sill. I could see myself replacing mine at some point. Good to know they could be peeled up and new ones stuck on the sill.

When I ordered my 2011 MCS I noticed one of the dealer install options was lighted door sills - do any of you have those, and where does the power come from to light them up?

Sold here - http://tinyurl.com/32jwe8b

 

As you can tell by my signature pictures, my MINI is unique...especially around here. I do still have another six months to go before I hit the two-year-itch so we will see. Although last winter the tropical theme helped me deny the upstate NY winter so I really loved it then!

Cheers!

 

I say give it a shot. Looks like you could save about $40 doing it yourself. I will definitely at least try to do the passenger side sill myself when the time comes, now that I realize how easy it is.

I would consider this a teensy bit too much for me. But, during my bit of research for that original part, I came across these lighted sills a lot. I wondered the same things about these. What electrical circuit does it attach to? I mean, once installed, what actions turn it on and off?

 

I have the lighted door sills. I ordered them from Classic Mini for $230.00. Mine are just the basic "MINI" lighted sills. I asked my dealer how much to install them and when they told me over $600.00 I put them in a closet for a few months until I saw a thread here where a guy had just finished installing them. I ended up doing the install myself for free and and it took me a little under 4 hours. It is a fairly complex job but they look awesome at night and were worth the investment to me.

The wiring is connected into the fuse box and one of the control modules which controls the interior lighting. The sills are designed to come on when the door is open and off when you close it. They also fade out along with the interior lighting by design if you leave the door open too long. If you search for the thread "Illuminated Door Sills" you should be able read about my installation and see a few pics.

 

Wait, what?? I ordered this with my '11 MCS and they mentioned labor was extra but I never thought it would be that much. I didn't go into specifics with them that day because my regular MA wasn't around. I was hoping to negotiate labor upon delivery but at that rate it doesn't look good.

 

Most BMW/Mini stealers (dealers) have a labor rate of at least $160 per hour. (at least mine does.) Installation isn't terribly hard but it is complex and time consuming and can take up to 4 hours depending on stealer. You have to disconnect the battery, remove the old sills, remove the lower interior trim pieces, drill a couple of holes through the body work on both sides of the car to get the wires from the door sills into the interior. Then you have to run the long wiring harness from the drivers side to the passenger side. The connection for the fuse box is on the passenger side and the connection into the control module is on the drivers side. By the time you get everything connected, all the wires tucked away neatly, get the car cleaned back up and the trim pieces reinstalled, You're looking at minimum 3 hours. The good thing is that you don't need to take the car into the dealer to have any programming done. They work as soon as you reconnect the battery. If you aren't into do it yourself, you might be able to negotiate the installation cost down when you are doing the final purchasing paperwork. Free installation would be best but if you can get them to do it for under $300, I'd say jump on it.

As I said in my last post, they look awesome when you open the door and they are glowing . Good luck.

 

Spoke to my advisor about installation rate. He said unless I'm in love with the sills, they're too expensive. I had him remove it from my order. I went to the online configurator and saw no option to add the non-illuminated sills. But if I'm not mistaken, those are just peel and stick so I'll just do that on my own later on.

 

Mine got totally messed up the other day, I was on my way to lunch with my co worker and all of a sudden when she tried to close the the door it wouldnt close... she tried 3 times and guess what... my door sill was bent up like a crushed empty soda can. I am searching around for a place where I can buy new ones, since the dealer said that it wont be covered thru warranty if its damaged..... and we all know that they will give me a ridiculous quote just to replace it..... Does anyone know of a place where i can purchase a new one I cant seem to find one that sells them..... I only want the regular kind not the one that lights up... HELP

 

That happened to our 07 as well, but he's still under warranty, so the dealer replaced it for free.

 

I think non-illuminated sill plates are standard. You shouldn't have to add them.

 

RealOem says the current MINI part number for the non-s, non-illuminated metal sill is 51477238263, and they have it listed $35.50. But I googled around and couldn't find a site that sells it. AllMiniParts.com is no longer up. If you find one, let me know because I actually need a new one for my passenger side. You may have to bite the bullet and pay $71 for the dealer to put one on for you.

 

You might try Penske Parts for $48 + shipping.

 

Cool.

http://www.penskeparts.com/DiagramsB...ts=51477238263

Yeah. About $40. Not sure what their shipping costs are like.

 

One of mine was replaced under warranty. Then one day the driver side one started to come up and caught my pants leg and nearly tore my pants. I pulled it off. Next time I went in for service, I showed them that it had come up. They refused to service it under the warranty because I didn't keep the bad part. Yeah, like I would just pull it off for fun. Pissed me off. They said the factory required the return of the faulty part. So now I have no sill part.

 

Yes indeed. My build arrived today and the MA said they came with it.

 

I have the same problem. I have a used 07 mcs with is fairly new and the passenger side is bent in several places and is also coming up I haven't replaced it yet hopefully I will soon my car is still under warranty any idea if they will fix it for free?

pic

 

$75 at penske parts http://www.penskeparts.com/DiagramsM...3798&md=200801

$65 at ECS Tuning http://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2008-C...16A/ES2734603/

Wish there was a cheaper or more robust aftermarket alternative. Once the piece bends, there is no fixing it.

 

There is a recall for these due to weak adhesive. I can't recall which model years it covers but my 2011 has had them replaced twice (I don't think the new adhesive is any different). You should look into that.