Wrapped front grille and boot handle

Discussion in 'Cooper SE' started by fizzit, Feb 26, 2021.

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  1. fizzit

    fizzit Active Member

    I wrapped my front grille and boot handle (with some help) this weekend, gloss black with chrome over the yellow bar, and I'm pretty happy with the results.
    20210223_082433.jpg 20210226_170558.jpg

    Wrapping the front properly required pulling the front bumper, which wasn't too difficult thanks to Matt Shumaker's YouTube video about swapping out the grille. I was a little worried about the chrome wrap after reading mixed reviews on Amazon, and there are a few wrinkles since I did that part on my own, but I hope they're small enough that I'm the only person who notices. Also the middle part of the front grille is matte black because I didn't order enough gloss black vinyl.

    As for the boot handle, I technically didn't wrap it, I went with this cover: https://www.outmotoring.com/boot-handle-cover-gloss-black-f55-6-7-new-logo-rm-f56-gbk-lci.html
    [​IMG]
    It's pretty expensive for a flimsy piece of plastic but it looks good right now. I'll see how it holds up in the long run.

    Credit for the idea goes to @Lainey, who suggested this mod originally.
     

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  3. MichaelC

    MichaelC Well-Known Member

    Well done! That looks great!
     
  4. GvilleGuy

    GvilleGuy Well-Known Member

    Good job! I like the black front better than the grey.
     
  5. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

    Awesome, thank you! I will have to look into that boot handle! I still have not gotten around to calling places to wrap the front grille (was waiting for snow to go away). I do like that a lot though!
     
  6. fizzit

    fizzit Active Member

    Thanks for the kind words. Most people I've shown haven't been able to figure out what I changed, so I'll take that as a good sign.

    I debated whether to black out the whole grille and the yellow blade, or keep the blade a different color. Now that I've done it I realize it looks like the pre-2016 Model S grille. I'm still kinda ambivalent, I'm betting someone will black out the whole thing and I'll realize it looks way better.
     
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  8. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

    That was actually my plan because my blade is gray. Now I am not 100% sure yet seeing yours.
     
  9. bldxyz

    bldxyz Well-Known Member

    If you ask me, the worst design choice they made on the 2020/2021 was to not make that part of the grille body-colored.

    And that's if you accept that they didn't want to redesign the hood and how it joins to the lower apron to make it seamless like an electric car should be.
     
  10. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

    I agree really. Blacking out my grille is still a solid choice for me. I am still pondering taking it to a paint shop to color match the green. I do like it with the chrome edges to give a real nod to the original
     
  11. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I'd like to know how they made the 2022 grille body colored. Did they simply paint it? Painting the grille would make it more likely to show damage from road debris. Making color-impregnated plastic grilles in many different colors would be expensive and make stocking all the SE grilles more difficult.

    As far as "seamless like an electric car should be" goes, remember, the marketing department told the design department this car is an "S," so it must wear the same fake hood scoop as the non-electric MINI Cooper S. They probably thought they went above and beyond when they approved the design of a special rear-end panel without holes for exhaust pipes. Actually, for someone like me who keeps their cars for a long time, having the SE share so many parts with other MINI Coopers makes me feel more comfortable.
     
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  13. GvilleGuy

    GvilleGuy Well-Known Member

    Good point on the sharing parts. Helps with longevity.
     
  14. Puppethead

    Puppethead Well-Known Member

    Good point. Since chip guard typically doesn't cover grilles, that part probably won't get a protective film like the hood does.

    As for seamlessness, I think Tesla's design for the Model 3 is pretty ugly, while the Model S is okay. But how about the new BMW iX EV? They're using the new giant kidney grille for the electric models. We should feel fortunate about the muted SE frontend.

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. chrunck

    chrunck Well-Known Member

    I know this is your personal hill to die on, but my theory is that they styled it like a Cooper S to leave room for a lower power Cooper should they decide to go that route.
     
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  16. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Perhaps they'll replace the 135 kW motor with one from a sewing machine to achieve 300 miles of range to appease those single-minded critics who deem that number as the only criterion for judging a BEV. :)
     
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  17. GetOffYourGas

    GetOffYourGas Well-Known Member

    This may be true, but I'm not sure what they would gain from that. Unlike an ICE car, there isn't a lot of cost savings with putting in a lower power motor. The cost savings would be from a smaller battery, but the range is already the lowest available for a new EV (at least in the US).

    I think it's more likely that they styled it as an S to highlight the fact that the electric has very similar performance to the gas S.
     
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  18. chrunck

    chrunck Well-Known Member

    There's also that.

    I definitely think the hood scoop is a goofy design aspect even on the S, but I guess it helps visually distinguish from a Justa. I really liked the Goodwood edition that dropped the hood scoop--it was like a sleeper S.

    I didn't really think about them offering a cheaper model until I started seeing shots of the electric GP they were working on. That's when I thought maybe they'd eventually release a Cooper model and a JCW model. But like you said, maybe it doesn't make financial sense to make a cheaper model at all.
     
  19. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Six days after taking delivery of my MINI Cooper SE--the day before I took it in to receive its scoopless hood--I stuck my head underneath the hood to marvel at all the unidentifiable parts in there. The hood scoop peed on the back of my head! Well, perhaps it was just some of the previous night's rain that leaked through the fake, blocked off scoop, but that's never going to happen to me again.

    [​IMG]

    It would be great to have someone like Weber State University's wonderful Professor John D. Kelly take apart a MINI Cooper SE and explain all the parts the way he has for other cars, such as his video, Understanding the Chevy Bolt EV.
     
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  20. Lainey

    Lainey Well-Known Member

    @fizzit can I ask what you ordered? Thinking of trying this myself if only to see if I like the black grille or if a more expensive alteration will be done.
     
  21. Well you did ask here is a sample of what's under the plastic covers

    i3_diff_and_hlfshfts.jpg i3_electric_motor.jpg i3_diff_and_hlfshfts.jpg i3_diff_and_hlfshfts.jpg i3_electric_motor.jpg i3_electric_motor.jpg i3_motor_electronics.jpg
     
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  22. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    That's the naked version. Here are the gory details. I believe there's a heat pump in there somewhere.

    1[​IMG]

    I want a video that identifies every part under the hood. For example, what are these cylinders? The one at the front looks like something you'd find in the wreckage of a flying saucer!
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2021
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  23. fizzit

    fizzit Active Member

    For the black vinyl I got this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083QSL6FQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    I'd recommend at least 1.5x5ft of the black, maybe 2ftx5ft if you want to wrap the blade.
    And for the chrome I got this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072Q2GFSK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    For tools I used an Xacto knife, heat gun, plastic vinyl presser thingy, and 3M Knifeless Finish Line Vinyl Cutting Tape to do the seams on the grille where we wrapped it in multiple parts. If you haven't wrapped before I I'd definitely recommend watching a few YouTube videos or doing it with someone who's done it, the technique takes a bit to figure out.

    That one's different from what's in the SE, notice the inverter is rotated 90 degrees. Maybe it's from the i3?

    I think that one on the left is an AC dryer thing, with desiccant in it to dry out the refrigerant that's used in the heat pump/AC. Here's an example from the i3, where it's called the "battery dryer": https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw-parts/battery-dryer/64509313580/

    The big mount for the one in the middle makes me think it's a pump or something else that vibrates a lot. But from all the hoses in the first picture you posted, it seems like the heat pump is on the opposite side of the engine bay, maybe under the inverter.
     
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