Most liked posts in thread: What did you do with your MINI today?

I spent the weekend installing an RMW BVH on the GP. Everything looked good but I did find a coolant leak at the water pump flange and also had a broken timing chain guide. It's back together now! I installed the new tune file from Jan and she fired right up.

I also pulled the R52 out of storage yesterday.

 

Saturday: finally buttoned up all the maintenance issues on the MINI. Put a factory suspension back into it, due to issues that popped up during the coil-over rebuild. Going to drop it off for an alignment in the next day or so.

 

I don’t care how much gas costs. Even at $5.00 a gallon I will still drive like this weekend 800+ miles to the Dragon plus a week of Dragon driving and 800+ back.

 

Stuck on some piano black F56 badges on my R56 (both are rear badges from ol' Fish Face)

 

Going through things this weekend, forgot about this...
Found it in Chad's decal bins at MOTD, "HAD" to put it on the car.

 

Very warm water removes sap easy.

Step two, burn down all trees near your car or use your garage.

 

Today I cleaned and removed all the oil and crud from my new RMW motor and painted one side of it.

 

Had my 05 Cooper towed to Helix to have the Gremlin that has taken up residence inside her exorcised. If that is successful then we will see what comes next.

 

This was yesterday......
Was taking the Mini to my appointment at the VA this morning when the car died before I made it a mile. Check engine light and bucking like a bronco before quitting completely. Finally got it started and nursed it home where I only had to wait about 45 minutes before Mini Roadside Assistance had the rollback at my door. The driver was very conscientious and meticulous when loading my car. This was even more challenging because the car wouldn't start at all, so He had to jockey the rollback in position to pull it onto the truck backwards. By the way, those beautiful tow hooks that RaceSeng makes and sells are not just bling. They are plenty strong enough to actually tow the vehicle! It took a little while because the car sits pretty low and has that aggressive splitter. I felt a lot better when the driver told me that he tows McClarens, Bentleys, and other exotics on a regular basis. We dropped the car off and the Service Manager had a spiffy new Safety Orange Justa for me to drive while they figure out what's wrong with my baby.

The loaner. Only 1100 miles on it when I left the dealership.

 

They are small. Should be no problem keeping both in your stable. At least that's what I would do.

 

Picked mine up from the dealer today. Everything's running fine now. They must has updated/reset not just the DME, but all the modules, because I lost all my custom programming. Made sure I had the JCW Tune still installed though. Not a big deal. I'll just wait for the next cool day and take the iPad out and reprogram everything. I'm just happy that it's running good again.

 

Swapped a Dimple magnetic drain plug into the
transmission drain plug and took a sample off
from the fill plug hole for 35K analysis by
Blackstone and topped up with a few ounces of
LT-4.

Noisemaker delete (actually took out the big
plastic oem tube and replaced it with the WMW
straight metal tube and just plugged the
smaller hose to the noisemaker and firewall).
Getting the old plastic piece off from the lower
rubber hose was tedious and difficult, but
persistence won.
Quieter and simpler air path? - yes, the fake
buzzy turbo sound that got transmitted to the
firewall is gone and it is a little quieter overall.
More HP? - doubtful.
Better turbo/throttle response - not enough to discern.
Happy? - yes.

 

This is the little one I picked running across the Foothills Parkway. Rat bastard stones! 6-8 inches long.

I will have the windshield replaced after I get back from my road trip to Teddy’s Funeral this Friday in Cincinnati Ohio.

 

Yesterday, I drove to Cincinnati and today I just woke up.

 

Today after the hotel fire alarm went off in Cincinnati at 2 am I left. I had a nice 8 hour drive all the way back to the burbs of Philly. No tickets thanks to my V1 but lots of cops in Ohio. In PA I saw 14 state troops all with radar on picking off people left and right. I was not tagged today. Yippie.

Notes from Teddy gathering.

The family wanted to thank everyone that took care of Teddy on his last trip to MOTD.
OHIO ROADS SUCK.
They had great display of photos including lots with friends from the MINI community and his cars including the VW’s.
OHIO ROADS SUCK.
They also wanted to say thank everyone for the kind words and donations to Wounded Warriors Fund in Teddy’s name.

Have a great weekend everyone and remember.........


OHIO ROADS SUCK!

 

Spent a little time this morning re-programming all my bells and whistles that the dealer erased last week. Rear fogs, fog lights with high beams, auto up with fob, etc. Wondered why it had been feeling sluggish since I got it back, until I realized it was in mid mode. I removed the selector switch when I installed the CravenSpeed Shift Well Cover and have to use Bimmercode to select "Sport". All good now. I'll drive it for a while with just the JCW Tune until I'm sure my problem doesn't come back, and then worry about the BT Tune. Y'all have a good weekend.

 

When I was running my 07 with a RMW tune, the dealer had a standing order, do not touch Don's ECU or die. I had many a conversation with an SA over this issue. But the service manager at the time was an enthusiast and helped me build the suspension on that 07. It was a sweet little surprise for the big guys at the lapping days.

I do hope all were happy and well on this Memorial Day, our flag is out and soon to come in at dusk.

Don

 

Drove the family car (the Countryman) to Costco to fill the tank. At Costco in Canada in BC (North America's most expensive and taxed fuel), it cost $85CDN. It would have been over $100CDN at a "normal" gas station. If I had crossed the border, it would have cost around $45USD.

For some reason, the border line ups was over 90 minutes both ways.
Welcome back to my US based friends. Respect to those who fought (or fight) for the freedoms we enjoy. Especially those who gave their lives for us.