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zogbogbean · Jul 11th, 2002, 10:47 AM

Hi there. I too wanted the Aero grills on my S. Here's my story.

I bought the two grills. The bonnet grill and the upper grill for the
bumper. On the S the lower bumper grill is already black, not silver like
the cooper, so I left that stock. My goal is to eliminate all chrome trims
except for the indicator light area and head light surround and door
handles.

The bonnet grill was in place with only 10 minutes work. The hardest part
was just getting the original one off. I managed to get the bolts that were
on the plastic posts of the grill off by wedging a small flathead screw
driver between the bolt and the plastic washer. While wedged, I applied
pressure and used my 10mm hex head to run the 'bolts' (they are cheap as
hell self tapping bolts) off in a new 'self tapped' thread... as when they
are put on they strip the plastic so they can't go off in the same thread.
You'll figure it out... this way you can re-use them to put the aero on.

Yay! It's on - woo hoo... now on to the bottom portion.

Ug. I've researched this for about 4 weeks now. What I posted on the
roadfly forum I hadn't pulled the bumper yet... but I had several emails
(like this one) that told me how to do it and what to expect.

Anyway - last night I finally pulled the bumper off my S. Here is the deal
under there. I absolutely wasn't expecting this. The chrome strip... is
it's own piece and comes off first by simply releasing the clips from the
back of the bumper. That slat you see at the top of this area.... guess
what... it's glued with some kind of craziness! When you remove this chrome
strip, pretty much everything else is solid bumper because that slat piece
is glued/bonded in. I held the aero grill up to this area and realized that
I would have to cut away and create a hole where this goes in the bumper. I
would also have to cut the aero grill on the back to have it mount flush.
I have a problem with all this because if I mess up the bumper is ruined and
I'm out 600 bucks to replace it... why didn't I just go out and get the aero
skirt and save the hassle? Once you start this project, there is no turning
back. Either the aero grill gets bodged in there or you buy a new bumper.
Unless you're an expert at bodywork and geometry or have some bucks to burn,
I think installing the aero bumper grill in a stock S bumper isn't viable.
I'm sure I could get it in there... but the probability of it's looking
good, correct and seamless would be low.

So, here is what I've deemed personally viable to get the same look. I plan
to order a new chrome piece from the parts department, get a can of matte
black spray paint and paint the chrome strip. I could paint my current
silver trim, but I want to make sure that I have a replacement in case the
painted grill looks like crap.

Jul 11th, 2002, 10:47 AM	#8
zogbogbean MINI2 Newbie Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Westchester, NY - US Local Time: 06:43 AM Posts: 30 Offline	stock bumper - aero grill Hi there. I too wanted the Aero grills on my S. Here's my story. I bought the two grills. The bonnet grill and the upper grill for the bumper. On the S the lower bumper grill is already black, not silver like the cooper, so I left that stock. My goal is to eliminate all chrome trims except for the indicator light area and head light surround and door handles. The bonnet grill was in place with only 10 minutes work. The hardest part was just getting the original one off. I managed to get the bolts that were on the plastic posts of the grill off by wedging a small flathead screw driver between the bolt and the plastic washer. While wedged, I applied pressure and used my 10mm hex head to run the 'bolts' (they are cheap as hell self tapping bolts) off in a new 'self tapped' thread... as when they are put on they strip the plastic so they can't go off in the same thread. You'll figure it out... this way you can re-use them to put the aero on. Yay! It's on - woo hoo... now on to the bottom portion. Ug. I've researched this for about 4 weeks now. What I posted on the roadfly forum I hadn't pulled the bumper yet... but I had several emails (like this one) that told me how to do it and what to expect. Anyway - last night I finally pulled the bumper off my S. Here is the deal under there. I absolutely wasn't expecting this. The chrome strip... is it's own piece and comes off first by simply releasing the clips from the back of the bumper. That slat you see at the top of this area.... guess what... it's glued with some kind of craziness! When you remove this chrome strip, pretty much everything else is solid bumper because that slat piece is glued/bonded in. I held the aero grill up to this area and realized that I would have to cut away and create a hole where this goes in the bumper. I would also have to cut the aero grill on the back to have it mount flush. I have a problem with all this because if I mess up the bumper is ruined and I'm out 600 bucks to replace it... why didn't I just go out and get the aero skirt and save the hassle? Once you start this project, there is no turning back. Either the aero grill gets bodged in there or you buy a new bumper. Unless you're an expert at bodywork and geometry or have some bucks to burn, I think installing the aero bumper grill in a stock S bumper isn't viable. I'm sure I could get it in there... but the probability of it's looking good, correct and seamless would be low. So, here is what I've deemed personally viable to get the same look. I plan to order a new chrome piece from the parts department, get a can of matte black spray paint and paint the chrome strip. I could paint my current silver trim, but I want to make sure that I have a replacement in case the painted grill looks like crap.