Hello, all. As I’m planning for my SE’s eventual production and arrival, I’m trying to figure out the best way to do an aftermarket blackout. I love the “piano black” trim option, but I just can’t afford to upgrade to an Iconic. Unfortunately, I can’t find very much in the way of aftermarket trim for the 22 LCI. So first, here’s my list of parts I would need to find or paint to match the Iconic piano black trim. Have I missed anything? - Front and back emblems - Headlight and tail light rings - Front grill ring - Rear “Cooper” badge - Door handles - Are the side turn signals different? Hard for me to tell. Second, how much of the trim/handles would appear to fit from a 21 version? For example, I assume this grill trim from ECS Tuning wouldn’t fit due to the update, but can anyone confirm regarding this or the other trim pieces? Third, does anyone have any leads or recommendations on aftermarket parts that they know would fit? (The emblems are easy to find—I’m really searching the the other parts.) I can find a few parts through MINI, but ideally I’d like to save a few bucks off the dealership price. OR did anyone do a DIY that turned out really well? Thanks!
Seems to me someone here recently (month or two) had the dealer installed black "iconic" trim from the parts/accessory catalog, without resorting to the Iconic model upgrade. Perhaps not cost effective, dunno, but saved time and effort.
Thanks, and I’ve been following that thread, but the problem is that Tifosi is modifying a pre-LCI model. So I’m wanting to make similar modifications, but I need to source LCI parts or get confirmations that the pre-LCI parts are compatible.
Oh, well I think we’re in the same boat then. I was thinking of reaching out to ECS Tuning to see if they had any advice on whether the 21 parts would fit 22. Wish I could find the taillights from that thread… so slick-looking.
My *guess* is that the headlights and tail lights are the same shape on the 21 and 22. I think the only update there was blacking out the interior of the headlights, adding the “bad weather lights” to replace the fog lights, and making the Union Jack tail lights standard. So I think trim pieces or entire lights (if you go for the gray lights) are probably compatible. But I’d love someone with actual in-person experience to confirm that. (I don’t 100% trust the dealers in my area, because each one I’ve spoken with knows less about the SE than I do just from my reading online. They pretty quickly start asking me questions about the car.) I think right now the grill trim is the most likely to be incompatible. I’m sure in a year or two the supply chains will catch up and we’ll start seeing more aftermarket options. I’m just impatient and want to do the chrome delete ASAP.
My car is a signature LCI 2022. I paid for black door handles and badges when ordering the car. They were installed at the port. The piano black beltline trim can be ordered from Mini but I was quoted $750 and I found it cheaper here at outmotoring.com Headlight and Taillight trim can also be ordered and installed at the port but I am going the Alibaba route because it is essentially black plastic trim and BMW probably has it manufactured overseas anyway. Here is a set that that has clips in the frames vs some other versions that require stickers. Headlight and Tail Light trim As far as I know you have to purchase the black inner grill that comes with the Iconic package from Mini and either pay Mini or install it yourself. You might be able to order it and have it installed at the port. Maybe someone can chime in on that piece.
Thanks for the info, Luis. Similarly, I was looking at these headlight/tail light options from ECS Tuning (assuming the 21 version will fit): - Headlights - Tail lights left / right They’re back ordered, but hey, so is my MINI. It’s the grill trim that seems to be the trickiest to track down. I may resort to a wrap or paint if it comes to that.
I am 99% sure the headlight and taillight trim hasn't changed. Making such a slight modification to those expensive stamping dies (hood, trunk, and rear fenders) would be foolish. I think the only thing that was changed on the exterior is the front bumper bits and front fender trim. The plastic body panel tooling is much cheaper and easier to make
