[spikeyadrian]

I need to remove the passenger side aero side skirt from my 2004 cooper.
It does not fit very well,apparently this is not uncommon,but my dealer does not seem that interested,and i dont trust them to do a good job.Please can someone give me some advice how to remove it.

[Bosh]

be carefull!, the top part is held with double sided body tape and the side clips will break if you remove the sill, you'll have to get some body tape and new clips to refit. Clip are readily availabvle from the dealer but the tape will have to be bought from a body shop.
Good luck

[spikeyadrian]

Thanks for that Bosh,
Im concerned with the plastic on the side skirts, that holds the plastic clips to it, breaking when i try to remove the side skirt, is there anything i can do to minimise this, other than taking my time!

[Bosh]

the side skrts are pretty durable and flex a lot, the clips are brittle plastic and will (or should) break before the sideskirt mounts will. Saying that I have seen some standard side skirts with broken mounts. It probably better ripping them off as quick as possible rather that pulling it slowly... thats how I took my original side skirts off and non of the mounts broke.

[Rakey]

if the dealer fitted it then they should refit to get it right

this is a common fault, and it can be made slightly better, but never totally like the drivers side

[spikeyadrian]

Thanks guy's, i'll have a go. Will do my best not to make a complete hash of it (now im sure i've said that before)!

[spikeyadrian]

Great news, i managed to remove the side skirts without breaking anything! You were right Bosh, i gave the side skirt a sharp pull when i had removed the clips, double sided tape etc and the other clips all snapped off as you said they would. Put the side skirt back on again after trying various things to mininise the gap, the gap is smaller, but still there.Does anyone know if the gap can be removed completely?, if so mind sharing your secret.

[Trophy160]

From my side skirt fitting experience . . . .

The gaps on the skirts possible depend upon the clips that are used to attach
the skirt to the car.

On a cooper use the big black clips and the white clips near the back arch.

For a cooper s convertible, use 1 black clip at the front, red clips in the middle and
yellow clips at the back.

The red clips are longer than the black and yellow are longer than the white.

Hope this helps !!!!!


Paul;

[spikeyadrian]

Hi Paul,
Yes im using the 3 large black clips, then the 2 white smaller one's toward the rear wheel arch. The problem seems to be the large black clip next to the 2 smaller white ones. this does not seem to hold the side skirt tight to the body, do they do a smaller version of this clip, so that it would reduce the distance between skirt & body?
I know people have managed to solve this problem, it's so frustrating!
Im getting to the stage that i can't help looking at the gap every time i go near the car!!!!!
Thanks,
Adrian.

[spikeyadrian]

Problem solved!
There is a way to solve the gap problem, it involves nothing more technical than making a slight modification the standard clip (part No M07.13.1.480.419 for mini cooper 2004)
The problem is,as many of you will know, there is a gap between the skirt and the body.
This is due to the clip holding the skirt away from the body by about 5 - 6 mm (in the case of my car) after i modified the clip, gap gone!!!!!
I will try to get a picture of the modified clip as it is rather difficult to explain how i did it.
And as they say 'A picture is worth a thousand words'
Adrian.

[Maaij]

Quote: Originally Posted by spikeyadrian

Problem solved!
There is a way to solve the gap problem, it involves nothing more technical than making a slight modification the standard clip (part No M07.13.1.480.419 for mini cooper 2004)
The problem is,as many of you will know, there is a gap between the skirt and the body.
This is due to the clip holding the skirt away from the body by about 5 - 6 mm (in the case of my car) after i modified the clip, gap gone!!!!!
I will try to get a picture of the modified clip as it is rather difficult to explain how i did it.
And as they say 'A picture is worth a thousand words'
Adrian.

Cool. Cant wait to see the PICS. How often did you remove the skirt?
Did you place new dubble sidded tape each time you remove the skirt?

[spikeyadrian]

Hi maaij,
Removing the areo side skirt is very simple it goes as follows:-
1. remove all 9 expanding rivets from the underneath of the skirt, remove 1 philips screw that secures the skirt to the wheel arch trim (rear)
2. CAREFULLY prise up the part of the skirt that covers the sill, i used my fingers so as not to damage any paintwork.
3. starting at the rear wheel end, give the trim a ''sharp'' tug, you will hear the plastic clips break, they are designed to. there are 2 small white ones and 1 large black one in the area underneath the rear quarter panel.
4. move to the front of the skirt and give another ''sharp'' tug here, there are 2 large black clips here.
5. the skirt can now be removed from the car.
I replaced the double sided foam tape with halfords 12mm x 1.5m trim repair tape, very good quality and only £3.99, use 2 'runs' of this as you do not want it to come loose later and have to refit the whole skirt.
Adrian.

[Maaij]

Quote: Originally Posted by spikeyadrian

Hi maaij,
Removing the areo side skirt is very simple it goes as follows:-
1. remove all 9 expanding rivets from the underneath of the skirt, remove 1 philips screw that secures the skirt to the wheel arch trim (rear)
2. CAREFULLY prise up the part of the skirt that covers the sill, i used my fingers so as not to damage any paintwork.
3. starting at the rear wheel end, give the trim a ''sharp'' tug, you will hear the plastic clips break, they are designed to. there are 2 small white ones and 1 large black one in the area underneath the rear quarter panel.
4. move to the front of the skirt and give another ''sharp'' tug here, there are 2 large black clips here.
5. the skirt can now be removed from the car.
I replaced the double sided foam tape with halfords 12mm x 1.5m trim repair tape, very good quality and only £3.99, use 2 'runs' of this as you do not want it to come loose later and have to refit the whole skirt.
Adrian.

Thanx for the info but I already know how to replace it. But I also have a little gap so I wonder how you fixed it

[Rakey]

bump

[RVW]

Quote: Originally Posted by spikeyadrian

Problem solved!
There is a way to solve the gap problem, it involves nothing more technical than making a slight modification the standard clip (part No M07.13.1.480.419 for mini cooper 2004)
The problem is,as many of you will know, there is a gap between the skirt and the body.
This is due to the clip holding the skirt away from the body by about 5 - 6 mm (in the case of my car) after i modified the clip, gap gone!!!!!
I will try to get a picture of the modified clip as it is rather difficult to explain how i did it.
And as they say 'A picture is worth a thousand words'
Adrian.

BUMP