2nd Gen R55 Clubman Most liked posts in thread: Thin Paint

The shape of the MINI front end has a lot to do with rock chips. My GTI doesn't have any after 3 years on the road. Not that the paint is thicker it just isn't as exposed to rocks.

 

Mine's a 2009 and I have 1 maybe 2 paint chips...
I'm very aware who I drive behind... I stay well behind trucks or get in front of them...
If I'm on a gravelly road I'll put some distance between me and the car in front...

And yes, MINI's paint is quite thin...

 

My 2006 looked like it had been through a meteor shower with all the chips acquired from 126,000 miles of life . I just used a paint pen & called it good enough.

 

A CLEAR BRA solved ALL the front end paint chipping on 2 of my MINIs [an '06 MCS and an '03 MC], and it is proof positive when one looks at my wife's 2006 MCS. Like Chuck said, the MINI IS otherwise a stone magnet.

 

All factory paints are thin, thanks to robotic painting. That's why paint-sticking a used car will show you possible wrecked areas. No human can apply paint as thin and evenly as a robot can.

All the chips on my 2007 are on the front half of the hood, where that big curved surface of painted metal is.

My last few cars have had Clearshield on them, but my MINI already had a bunch of chips when I bought it, so I didn't have it done.

Look at the bright side, back when I was a kid, paint was much thicker, but came from the factory with orange-peel, and even some runs.

CD

 

I look at such blemishes as hash marks of miles of roads less traveled.
Now, the door ding is another matter, a real pisser.

 

Heh...

 

I think the quality of the oem paint is of a higher quality than most resprays ^.

 

Just have some truck bedliner sprayed on your car -- they can match paint colors. Of course, your car will weigh an extra 200 pounds, and the looks are "subjective." :skep:

But, it will never chip.

(yeah, it is actually kinda' popular in Texas) :frown2:

CD

.

 

Hah...
If you can't afford one of the new trucks.... At least get the bedliner...

 

Mine is just as bad, so much **** on U.K. Roads


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Wonder if Dave has any pictures of his front bumper after the Dragon Donut run in 2015? [emoji15]


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My first MINI, 2006 R53 Astro Black, I was too cheap to get the clear bra and what a mistake that was. I went through many Sharpie's trying to hide the paint chips. My second car a 2012

R58 Midnight Black I spent the money for the clear bra and still don't regret the cash outlay.

 

I bought a Clearbra for my MINI, it is a fancy version that also has protection on the headlights, fog lights, mirror backs, the finger cups behind the door pulls, and the top of the rear bumper. It has worked great, the only ding I have is on the front of the hood, where a golf ball sized rock that shot from between the rear tires of a dump truck that was about a thousand feet ahead of me, it bounced once and hit right next to the the MINI emblem. there was no avoiding it. The car seemed to ring like a bell when it hit. It left a small dent about half the size of a dime and pierced the Clearbra, but the paint didn't chip. I'm glad I bought it.

 

No, but I can say it was 100% worse that Nathans picture above. :lol::lol::lol:


If you don't want paint / rock chips is you MINI don't tailgate people and get some Paint Protection film the XPEL.

Don't tell me you don't tailgate people because rocks do not jump off the ground themselves. The paint is fine it's your poor driving that is causing the issue. :mad5:

FYI you are driving a MINI with the aerodynamics of a brick and not a Corvette. :ihih:

 

I agree 100% on this. Many of the dragon pictures I've seen are nothing but tailgating. The one I saw of the first donut run looks like a MINI-centipede.

I was on a drive with a few friends & one told me ____ broke my windscreen. My reply to him was why do you have to follow so darned close. It's your fault not his.

 

I agree with the paint protection film and the aerodynamics.

As for driving right, well, where I live, you can't avoid getting hit by stones. The DFW metropolitan area roadways are really hard on a car. Lots of construction, everywhere. Leaving room between your car and the car in front of you results in cars immediately filling that gap.

I'm a big proponent of paint protection film. Like I said before, my car had enough chips to make it not cost-effective to add it to my pre-owned MINI.

CD

 

Leave the gap open between cars and take your time. If someone jumps in front of you, re-establish the gap. It's just that simple.

It's your paint your are protecting.

 

That only works with rocks in your same direction of travel....

Rock that are coming at you from the other lane of traffic don't play by the same rules... And they hit harder....