Hi,

I've seen plenty of people who've put a Cooper chrome grille on their One, but I wondered if it was possible to put a colour-coded Cooper S grille on a One? I guess it is, they can't be that different can they? Alternatively, how easy would it be to take the grille off and spray paint it? I've got a pure silver car and wondered whether it may look good with a dark grey (the Cooper S colour) grille. Any thoughts?

It's a straight swap. :)

The early One grille has 1 more slat than the MCS, the black plastic will need bumper style flexible paint I would think. A MCS grille is a straight swap as said and one (probably in your colour) could be found on ebay or perhaps these MINI specialist breakers:
Mini Spares UK - Home (http://www.minisparesuk.com/)

MiniMatt|BMW|MINI|Modifications|Parts|Spares|Servi ce|Tuning|Repairs|Racing (http://www.minimatt.co.uk/)

Thanks guys, one more question: is the grille in 2 parts? ie. the bit on the bonnet and the bit on the bumper underneath that? It's just that a lot of the ads on ebay seem to just have the top bit only.

Yes it is 2 parts but the bottom part is only a stick-on cover strip for the lower bumper slat available seperately, it levers off carefully. The top and bottom chrome grille outer surround is also stuck on and clipped. Early one has ribs, later facelift one is smooth but interchangeable.
Top Grille section:
RealOEM.com BMW R53 Cooper S Grille, hood, Cooper S (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=RE32&mospid=48020&btnr=51_4279&hg=51&fg=20)
Bottom Section:
RealOEM.com BMW R53 Cooper S Trim panel, bumper, front Cooper S (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=RE32&mospid=48020&btnr=51_4402&hg=51&fg=15)

Put a blanket over engine when you undo the grille nuts incase you drop any. They also need a bit of help with a screwdriver to lever up as you undo them on their small plastic pillars.

yea should be a straight swap. i had an s grill on my cooper but also had the s bumper.

youll need the lower trim and grill, but leave your trim on the bonnet.