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

Took my wife to lunch today in Columbus, Ohio to the South Village Grille...
Tuesday special was stuffed peppers for $12.00... Excellent lunch...
Split a salad with her... There were pieces of savory goat cheese and dried currents and almonds... Very tasty...

 

Drove around picking up items for Thanksgiving dinner. Discovered that new hatch struts will be needed in the near future. Also driving the little guy around just never fails to make you smile.

 

Took the 11 Countryman out for a local store run, second 4 inch snow since Wednesday eve, it was 15 degrees and not so nice roads here in Colorado All 4 tires went to the low pressure on the service computer and the battery is tossing the low charge idiot light, car on hoist message. Will mess with it when I get back from Virginia. Maybe we will get a 50s day in December when I get back. MINI is going to stay dirty, hope it starts when I want to fill those low tires.

Btw, happens every year, was hoping I did not need a new battery since I was hoping to make it to Spring and change of the 11 to something newer.

Have some safe trips for the Holiday season and Merry Christmas to all.

Don

 

Snow tire day for both my MINIs..

 

I think it depends on the quality of the vinyl and how much sun/elements the car sees.

My first set was cheap vinyl and the car was outdoors more in the beginning and they lasted 7 years.
My current set is better vinyl (from Toddsmods.com) going on 13 years.

It is a pain to remove the old stripes, but with some heat and elbow grease it can be done.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ernestovumbles/albums/72157624232616639/

 

Went to retiree breakfast and ran some errands and in the brisk December air the car ran great.

 

The battery on my 2018 Countryman died the other day. Left the wife stranded at her workplace. I went over with jumper cables and was not able to get the car started. So I called AAA to bring a battery replacement. AAA guy came and had this portable battery thingy and it got the car started right away. I'm going to have to get myself one of those. He told me he knows these cars and he will NOT be able to replace the battery on my car. So I drove it to a non-dealer MINI specialist that I trust. Trusted mechanic got me a new AGM battery for $300. Dealer charges $500 (regular price is $650, I think) + install. Here's the trick. Before recertifying the battery, my friend mechanic told me you have to reset ALL the hidden codes a dead or dying battery will generate. Otherwise, it will supply a lowered current to all the areas that the unreset code measures. Many of the dealer mechanics do not know this. It took about 30 minutes to get all the codes reset. My friends device showed A LOT of codes. Then the recertifying. After that, he started the car and it ran smoother than even when new. The F60 Countryman is not an easy battery replacement. You have to remove the air filter box and a bunch of panels to get the battery out and a new one in. The battery has to pull forward instead of lifting it out. My mechanic friend told me AGM batteries are required due to the start/stop system in the F series of MINIs. They are much heavier than the regular batteries we are used to seeing in cars.

Replacing a battery in a Countryman is not for the faint of heart. I learned a lot.

 

Today i swapped parking brake consoles in my r53. Got one (r56) with an armrest from the u pullit for like 12bucks. Went in perfect.

 

Below zero today in Chicagoland..
The car started fine, but I made a mess that I wont be able to clean off for a while.

 

So today I changed the thermostat and housing (aluminum), and replaced a few of the small coolant hoses with silicone. I bought the hose kit off amazon for cheap and they actually look and fit really well. Found some PO bodges, harness side O2 sensor plug is a mess and the map sensor has both ears broken off (but still works I think). Have a Creator C310 scanner coming wed so I'll know more later this week. Accumulating parts for when I pull the motor this spring to do the clutch.

 

I do love the look of them.. Had them powdercoated in the same white in 2015 when they became my winter wheels instead of my all the time wheels, and it has been holding up well.

I like the extra width and openness of my Enkai summer wheels, but the narrower and lighter holey wheels do make for quicker steering response

 

Smart move to stay home in those conditions.

I always make sure one of our cars have true winter tires. What worries me are the people driving in the snow with no clue and the attitude "I have four wheel drive, NOTHING will stop me". Now that I'm retired I just stay home until the roads are clear.

 

How about a nice summer day and a twisty road.

 

The Clubman gets new rear brakes and rotors, and unfortunately a new rear caliper.. the other side caliper stuck and was replaced 4 years ago.

 

In addition to the coolant leak,
also going to get the timing chain
and guides done. Only 61k miles
but it’s 14 1/2 years old and never
been replaced.

 

Got my mini back from coolant leak
repair ($) (water pump, crossover pipe,
and thermostat gasket replaced) and
timing chain and guide replacement ($$$)
(was doing ok but was 15.5 yrs old).
They put down on the invoice that my oil
level was very low but I know it wasn’t
since I checked it just before it went in
and it usually takes about 1500 miles to
consume 1 quart.
All set for lots more miles and smiles.

 

Passed another emissions test.. The guy had a hard time finding the OBDII port.
The rules in Illinois used to be they would only test for 20 years, but they have now changed the rules to test for the life of the car.