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

Boredom visited..... & finally.....colorcoded.

 

Now that's funny !!

 

I managed to squeeze in a hand wash on the 2003 Friday afternoon between meetings and rain showers when it hit 62 degrees. Back to arctic freeze 24 hours later. This winter sucks in the Northeast.

Forgive the winter wheels and ride height, changes are coming soon...

 

Just bad experience overall. Yesterday, I took my MINI in to replace the radiator fan motor and assembly. The low speed stage had stopped working...oh maybe a year ago.

I had purchased a less expensive Dorman unit to have it installed. After everything was apart, they found out the Dorman unit, even though it says it fits all R53 MINIs, the plug does not. Nor was there an adapter to plug into the stock socket of post 2003 R53 MINIs. So it got returned and exchanged for a TYC assembly. After they installed it, I got another call. The TYC unit works, but the fan blade is poorly balanced and at low speed, vibrates and hits something.

So for that learning experience, I have to return TYC unit, and buy a very expensive BMW/MINI unit and pay the labor to have another fan motor installed. The service does not recomment reusing the old 12 year old motor and just replacing the resistor pack (that MINI does not sell). So I will keep the old motor and replace the pack myself and keep it as a spare part.

An expensive lesson ($1300 cdn works out to ...what...$800 USD?) learned about aftermarket parts. ugh...

 

Ordered a set of Toyo Proxes 4 Plus'. For some reason the Conti's are difficult to get? Anyways, we'll see how "ultra high performance" these all seasons are. I have 8 days to return them after they're installed.

 

No worries. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Overall, over the years, I think I've gotten away with saving quite a bit over paying list for everything.
Even the MINI dealer gives me a near automatic 15% discount on parts and labor, so overall, I have saved a bit over the long run.

I try and maintain good relationships with vendors and suppliers and try not to rip anybody off myself. It works out okay in the long run. I think over the rad fan issue, I ended up paying about $300 more than if I just went with the MINI unit in the first place so it's a lesson learned.

Usually, the dealer will make that up to me when I go for some sponsorship for MINI club drive events and stuff like that. The last time I tried to organize a charity toy drive for Christmas charities, the MINI dealer kicked in a whole bunch of swag so it's all good.

So today, with the new fan motor working and all, I was driving somewhat spirited and noted that even though the water temperature seems to be at the same temperature as when the low speed fan motor was not working, the car was operating much smoother and I was not getting any detonation when booting up the steep slightly twisty road I use on my way to work.

 

It takes 2 minutes to replace those bulbs.

Maybe it was your Democratic problem solving skills?

 

Washed the MINI last night. Woke up this morning to thunder...Lovely.... Glad I work from home today Got my buddy Sammy keepin an eye on things out front.

 

Took the MINI for a quick bath this morning, did my grocery shopping and got it tucked away in the garage before the rain started. Now, if I can just avoid going anywhere before work on Monday, I'll get to have a clean car for the longest stretch in months.

 

I haven't checked in here in a while, but I changed the oil in my MINI today. It has been mostly hibernating in the garage since my dragon trip back in November. I can't wait for spring to arrive.

 

I started the R52 and let it warm up and charge the battery. I've also been thinking about MOTD prep for the GP, it's only 11 weeks away. Really hoping for an early spring so I can get it out of storage and start checking things off the list.

 

The window looks clearer in the first picture.

 

You mean Dave.0’s RainX treatment? All the time.

 

Mine is warming up as I speak. Gotta melt all the frost off and head for the VA for an early appointment.Should be around a 130 mile round rip. It'll be the longest I've taken since installing the ByteTronik tune.

 

My poor MINI is as dirty as it has ever been. Non-stop rain and a mud/gravel lot are making the inside and outside a muddy mess. The inside smells bad, too. It is parked outside the hotel in the rain right now.

I shot that MCS Roadster today. It is part of an estate going to auction in April. No Reserve on this collection, so someone could get a great deal. http://www.worldwide-auctioneers.com



CD

 

No. Once a car is consigned to an auction, it has to go over the block.

One of the better cars in the collection. A Ferrari California. I shot this one today



CD

 

BTW, my poor MINI is filthy, inside and out, and smells like and old pair of gym socks. A full detail is planned for the weekend.

CD

 

Installed a new Cravenspeed Platypus front plate mount.