[TeamF1Jr]

Hello All:

I'm thinking of adding the black grille to my Dark Silver S when it comes in, but I don't want the aero kit bumper. Just the upper grille will do for me since the bottom bumper has a black grid already.

The Cooper S standard bumper has what appears to be a criss-cross pattern to it (like this, xxxxx). Where as the accesory black grille has a hexagonal pattern to it. Am I right? If they are different patterns, how does that look? Is it very noticable like one of the grilles doesn't match and looks out of place? Or is it hardly noticable due to the distance apart/shading, etc.?

Boy I want that black grille!!! I want you to say both the existing bumper grille is hexagonal so the accesory upper grille will match!!! Thats what I want to hear, but I think the truth is otherwise. Thanks for your help!!!

See ya,
Phil

[QQQ]

From this pic OnlyS4Me posted on another thread it looks like the aero kit grille has the hexogonal pattern

[zogbogbean]

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.

So there you have it. Trust me, I really really want this as bad as anyone,
but I know when I'm in over my head - and this is definitely over my head.
I don't have a great situation with a garage and tool bench to work on...
and I"m sure I lack the right tools to get this job done well.

[PureGo]

Thanks Zogbogbean ! You have saved me from getting myself into a mess as I have been toying with the same idea of just replacing the stock S grill with a black mesh grill. I think I will just go for the aero kit and forget about trying to be fancy....when my DS-S hopefully arrives at the end of August.

[TeamF1Jr]

I'm not too keen on the look of the full aero package and certainly going with just the grilles is a lot less expensive and provides the same look.

Aftermarket companies out there, pleaaasssseeeee come out with a grille package with the same exact look that works on the standard Cooper S bumper. There are obviously customers out there that want this.

Thanks!!

[seemunkee]

I would most definately go for it. I will be looking to get rid of all chrome and have everything be black and yellow when I get my S

[Paul Simonds]

I have not found a aftermarket kit that is any better that ther aero kit so i purchased and i think it looks good

[Paul Simonds]

more pic

[PureGo]

Looking real good ! I'm sold.

[Paul Simonds]

Glad you like

[deepblue]

zogbogbean,
Can you clarify something here.
the lower grille on the S which consist of the lower chrome piece and an upper body colored slat piece. Are you saying that the lower chrome piece is easily remove by releasing the clips at the back of the bumper. But the body colored slat piece is glued into the bumper???? the only way to get it out is to saw/cut it out from the bumper???
I want to replace my upper/lower grille on my S with the chrome grille from the regular cooper. According to you, the upper grille should be a piece of cake. But if I understand you correctly, I will have to cut off the lower slat piece to install my chrome lower grille. Is this correct??

[zogbogbean]

Yes... From what I saw under there, that body colored slat found on the 'S' bumpers needs to be cut away for the aero grill to fit. I would think that the same would be true for the cooper chrome unit.

But... I have seen the aero grill sitting on top of this slat too. Somehow someone got it to fit over the top of it, but you could clearly see the slat through the openings in the mesh. In addition, it stuck out and didn't mount flush like it should. Personally I thought it didn't look good at all and defeated the purpose of installing the grill in the first place. If it doesn't look better, I don't plan on adding something to my S!

What I ended up doing was painting the chrome lower strip black and that tied it all together nicely. I'll post a pic tonight when I get to my home computer.

Good luck!

-Greg B

[pcl9097]

so you guys are looking to do something like this? I found this picture somewhere in here so don't ask me how to do it. looks pretty damn good. I think I want to do that too.

[pcl9097]

and this

[fred-guido]

In my opinion that is the best looking S so far. We need to find out who changed the grill pieces, but they seem to be the ones from the Aero kit. I thought that picture is from a car belonging to some doctor. Does anyone remember whose car that is?

[Basil]

Hmmm, it does look good.....understated.

[TeamF1Jr]

The post earlier in this thread said it will be tough to install the lower portion of the black grille by a do it yourselfer, but the dark gray S pictured shows it can be done. I guess you need the right tools. The guy who has this car posts on the "Roadfly" message board forum. I swear he said his dealer did it without a problem. Maybe they know a trick we don't, nevertheless the car looks a lot more aggressive with the black grille.

I'm convinced to go with the black grill. But will my dealer and service department/mechanics know what there doing??? I'll show them this picture to prove it can be done!!!

[pcl9097]

I'm thinking of doing the black grill except paint the surrounds the color of the car. Exactly like this:

[zogbogbean]

Yes, that guy did post on roadfly and said that his dealer did it, not a DIY project.

Good luck with yours and let us know how it goes!

[dwkane]

The Dark Silver car belongs to Beerbrewer on roadfly, and the dealer that installed was Hank Aaron in Atlanta. I believe he said the parts cost about $95, and the installation cost was about $85.