[hanoi]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I noticed that the handbrake gaitor on my 2002/ONE was loose at the bottom and when I checked it, the plastic oval seating was broken into 2 U shaped pieces. They have now become unglued from the gaitor itself.

Can anyone advise which bits do I need to buy and is it easy to repair, or should I give in and pay BMW the usual small fortune to fix it for me?

Thanks in advance.

[oldnell]

Hi there

To clarify, I think you're talking about the plastic piece that the leather of the gaiter attaches to, but which is invisible when fully assembled.

It isn't possible to buy only this part from Mini dealers' parts departments. They only do the entire gaiter at around £30 or so. I didn't bother.

However, if you hunt around (maybe put a "wanted" in) you can probably find a plastic gaiter for sale from someone who's fitted a leather one.

I've also broken mine, but it's not badly broken so I'm living with it.

Oli

[hanoi]

Yes thats the bit. It has the tabs on it which hold the gaiter in place. Mine wasn't bad for a while but now its in halves.
If I spend the £30 on the gaiter is it hard to fit?

[richg40]

No, it's not hard to fit.

[oldnell]

Agreed, it shouldn't be hard at all. I'd probably take the approach of removing your old broken plastic rim (to get an idea of how fiddly that is) and then swapping just that part into your existing gaiter. Otherwise you'll have to remove the knob. See richg's post below for how to do it.

Oli

[richg40]

Dont pull the handle up very hard as this will break it. instead pull the cap off the end, by the button. there'll be a little tab underneath this. lift the tab (carefully or it will snap off)and the handle will slide off complete with the gator.

[oldnell]

Thanks for the correction, richg40!

[mikeythemini]

You could replace it with an alcantara hand brake boot - comes with new plastic 'ring' & looks lovely - £24.95 inc vat - NewMINIStuff.com
You could also get a matching alcantara gear boot - £19.98 inc vat NewMINIStuff.com

[hanoi]

Quote: Originally Posted by mikeythemini (original)

alcantara hand brake boot

Does this look and feel like suede?

[mikeythemini]

Yes

[oldnell]

This is a timely thread. I just broke my gaiter while putting on my chrome one. Whoops!

It really would be useful to find a source of the plastic bit only. Oh well!

Oli

[hanoi]

Done it.
Bought a BMW spare "M34.42.1.171 Boot" for £23.66 plus VAT = £27.80.

Old gaiter and handle slid off as described above, did need a little persuasion.

Dilemma; the old gaiter with the broken seat was fixed to the brake handle with a fixed plastic tie and I couldn't just swop over the new seat to the old gaiter as the new gaiter was glued & welded to the plastic seat (the bit which had broken).

So I cut the tie off. New gaiter then fixed to the handle with a piece of fuse wire, twisted at the join. Slid handle back on & popped the plastic seat back into place quite easily. The tab at the front needs to be put in place first, then the two vertical tabs at the rear, The others just pop into place.

Very simple. I hope the laboured detail helps someone else.
Thanks for the help and advice.