Convertible Top Swap

[Gazzer1uk]

Hi all,

Hope in the right place. We bought a Hot Orange Convertible Cooper S or rather I did as a surprise to the wife. She is thrilled but it has a blue roof and she would prefer black......

I posted on hear asking about how to do this and had a few bits of advice, and thought there might be interest in my experiences of swapping the roof over etc.

So to date, I managed to find a roof being salvaged from Mini Spares off Ebay. It has come off a 2007 model Cooper, and with personal delivery from teh breaker it cost me just short of £500.

I am taking it to Gary at The Hood Guys in Birmingham for fitting, in fact the roof is being delivered directly there.

I am used to web shopping but this is a new experience. I have spoken with both suppliers and checked out as much as I can but both are still a bit of an unknown, but so far I am very happy with the conversations, knowledgeable, customer oriented and give the comfort I was looking for!

A new roof quote from a dealer was £1100 plus fitting so I reckon somewhere in the region of £1600 - £1800, whereas the fitting quote from the hood guys is £200 plus vat. This should mean a saving of a substantial amount maybe as much as £1k, but there are risks!!!

So if anyone has any current experiences with these guys or the process and can advise what I should look out for, I am keen to hear from you.

I shall update this thread as I go, as if it works out as I hope, it might save a buck or two for some others in the future and alternative sources of quality are useful in my book!!!!

Cheers,

Gaz

[dalboyne]

Hey Gaz - how did it go? I assume you have the new roof by now???

[MINIMANIAUK]

REPLACEMENT HOOD - RED (CONVERTIBLE ONLY) - MiniMania.com

Why would you get a used roof when you could of got a brand new one? fitting is about 2-3 hours labour

[rainbowdreamer]

Most interested to hear how you got on.

[dalboyne]

Quote: Originally Posted by MINIMANIAUK (original)

REPLACEMENT HOOD - RED (CONVERTIBLE ONLY) - MiniMania.com

Why would you get a used roof when you could of got a brand new one? fitting is about 2-3 hours labour

Sounds good! I followed your link, but can't see a photo of the red hood?

[Gazzer1uk]

Hi all,

Sad to say no pic yet but were now sporting a black roof and all rather happy.

Maybe the narrative will answer some of the other posts.

The reason for the change was vanity!! However, I have to say I prefer the black roof too, the good lady is right. Maybe its because the plastic trim is black, it just seems more punctuated.

I bought the roof from Minispares on Ebay, a Mini salvage specialist. Very helpful, friendly and I would reccomend the service. People talk of cursed cars, I prefer to think of them as donors.

My research with BMW showed the cost of a roof at over £1,100 so buying second hand appealed as purchase and fitting has come to half that exactly.

I had the hood fitted at The Hood Guys, Shaw Windridge in Kings Heath Brum, Gary the proprietor is one of lifes traditionally nice blokes, very helpful and communicative. He inspected the hood, removed it from the frame that came with the roof, removed the blue one and replaced with the black all in a few hours. It is not something I would contemplate as being inexperienced, but this worked, it was all cleaned and wonderful. I drove home in a rainstorm, no leaks either!!!!

So for me this has worked out perfectly, and I now have a Blue Canvass Roof for sale!!!

Minimania, thanks for your input, I also saw you had kindly posted earlier in another thread how to do the task which made it sound quite sensible and not too complex, but I am ham fisted!!! I reasoned that the saving and risk would be worth taking and the supply of the roof for £350, fitting for £200 + Vat gave a saving on a new roof let alone BMW labour rates for fitting, of such an amount, it was worth doing. Had their been an insurance claim, then potentially I would have gone the dealer route.

However, I am chuffed with the results, all is so far wonderful and I feel in good hands should something go wrong.

Keep watching the classifieds and the Forum for the blue roof or PM me!!

Cheers,

Gaz