Phantom, did you use the Epic on all of the chrome, plastic etc? Any advice on the black wow? Did you really need to wash between the Wow and the Epic? Tips?

Another vote for the Nero. I used it on the interior two days ago and it looks wonderful!! Not shiny, sort of a satin finish on some parts and more matte on other textures, but it all looks really great where before it was sort of dry looking. Especially the "pebbly" areas. It's only been on three days, but hasn't disappeared like Armorall does.

Great car Kechman! Does he/she have a name?? Same for Lauren?
Tinker, Lucy is a peach!

 

Just couple photos of my MCs I took delivery on 9/11 from Irvine Mini.

 

Some Better Photos:

 

Lauren, great photo's!! I really need to learn how to use my camera better!!

I taped the black off, and did the black wow last.. I think I was fairly easy, and I did end up putting 2 coats of Epic on. I am glad to have her waxed and protected, and I too keep her garaged and will do this again come April/May. For now, I will use Banana Gloss, Hydro and that other Prima one (can't remember the name) for 'dusting'. I still am getting a lot of brake dust but have read good things about the Wheel Armor.. so I'll give that a try. I also purchased the Clarity for the glass - it's GREAT, but as I was reading I read where people used Epic on the windshield rather than RainX.. so I gave it a try! It's nice and clean, and I'll know better how it works once it rains on on her next bath! I think I did put in about 4 hours .. and it's been very hot and humid out, which makes it tough!

 

gbsim, how did Ike effect your location? I am thinking Sikamini must be without power... as he is a faithful poster! Hope Hilla is okay too!

 

Yep, I think most of Houston except the places with underground utilities are out of the loop.

We are about 30 miles north of BR and just got some windy gusts over here in eastern LA from Ike. Thank goodness, many of my friends are still without power from Gustav.

I've probably got about 20 more truckloads of debris to bring down to the road from our pasture. And of course we're trying to make decisions about the rebuild of our horse barn which was flattened by a giant pecan tree.

I drove the Clubman for the first time after dark and wow..... I've got to adjust the headlamps! I can't see a thing on the low beams. They light up maybe about 5 feet in front of the car and that is IT!! I did a search and apparently it is a common thing for the xenons to be adjusted way too low. Seems very easy to fix.

Love the blue Lauren!!! I've got the Laser, but the Lighting is sooo pretty too.....awwwww they're ALL pretty!!

 

gbsim,

Yes, I used Epic on the chrome and the black plastic pillars (exterior A, B, and C pillars (the B pillar is really small). Used Black Wow on the plastic trim around the bottom of the car, the black strip under the wipers, the wiper shafts (front and back) and the black plastic where the outside mirrors attach to the car. I think that's all.

The reason I was given for washing between BW and Epic is to remove any extra BW so it doesn't run, etc. I think if you used BW carefully and used only a little (spread it really thin) then you are most likely OK. I didn't scrub the BW areas when I washed... just gently went over them with my wash mitt.

I'm sure your detail routine was just fine. I'm happy with how Phantom looks, too.

 

LaurenC,

Very nice photos! Beautiful car!

Now that my detailing is done, I'll post some new pics tomorrow if I have a good day to take them here.

Congratulations to all those west coast folks who have their cars or have an appointment to pick them up this coming week. Don't forget the pictures.

 

Very humid here, too. I think I lost about 3 lbs while doing the detailing today. I'm also happy not to have to do the full routine until next Spring. I did put Wheel Armor on my wheels. I'll see how it does. As everyone has discovered the amount of brake dust is incredible! Now, I will just wash and use Hydro on the entire exterior (a good routine for the non-OCD like me). Oh, the Prima QD product is called Slick. I have that, too, and will use it as needed.

I detailed my wife's Camry last weekend. Going to visit my Mom next weekend and will detail her Beetle. And then I have to do my 1989 Prelude in preparation for selling it. I'm going to get a LOT of practice with the Prima products. Oh, as you can imagine, the paint on the Prelude is faded and oxidized. Heather at Detailers Paradise suggested using Banana Gloss on it instead of Epic. I'll see what happens. I plan to follow her advice.

 

Thanks, gbsim! His name is Trooper! My clear bra date is two weeks away and I need to order some racing stripes for Troop. Anyone have recommendations on third party sites to order stripes?

 

Phantom - I hope you have a porter cable to do all that detailing work!! Even with the PC, I was pretty drained after claying, Swirl, Amigo, and two coats of Epic on my Lexus, plus the inside with Nero, Nourish, cleaning the windows, washing the floor mats, and vacuuming the carpet!! Very satisfying afterwards, though.

 

Day two in my clubbie (ok, Trooper - still need to get used to calling it by name):

Took the kids swimming early am and got to drive 10 miles of twisties up and down the mountain to their swim school. Wow that felt great. I want more twisties! Just too bad I couldn't push the accelerator too much during break-in. After running errands, took Troop to a party with family in tow and on our way up to the house got my first wave from what looked like a black Cooper S with silver bonnet stripes. The driver had his window down and stuck his entire arm out of the window to wave at me. I of course returned the wave. Here's the amusing part: my wife has thus far laughed at my attempts to educate her on the ways of Mini (bonnet, not hood, boot, not trunk, make sure you wave back at other mini drivers). When the other driver waved at me and I waved back, I gave my wife a quick look and said "remember it's only polite to wave back", and she burst out laughing. She then told me that she thought I was pulling her leg with all this stuff. Now she believes me! She really didn't know what she was getting herself into, but I think she feels it's kinda cool now. Anyway, got to the house where the party was and drove right up to about twenty of my friends and relatives around the grill that was going. Oh, and we did not tell anyone about buying a car, much less a Mini. The look on everyone's face was priceless. Needless to say, Trooper was the life of the party. I've read about other people's experiences, but actually experiencing it for myself was kinda cool.

I want to take a little more time experiencing everything before sharing my thoughts, but one conclusion I have made already is that the HiFi system is not as horrible as people make it out to be. I think there are a lot of discerning audiophiles who may think the HiFi is disappointing, and I am pretty picky about audio, too, but I think the HiFi is just fine. I did try out my music player (I have a Zune and an iPod, tried the Zune first) and do feel that the dynamic range is greater using the music player via the Aux - puts out a bit more bass. CD playing is nice, too. Music from the radio sounds the worst - but that is the case with all radios. I think the HiFi system is not as nice as the audio system from my Lexus (which has a separate subwoofer under the seat and probably as many speakers - never bothered to count), but the HiFi is more than satisfactory. I'm not even going to worry about swapping out speakers, etc. Thought I'd share that in case anyone else still waiting is worried about the HiFi like I was.

 

I got my first wave yesterday, too. I don't see many other MINIs around here, so don't have much chance to wave, but yesterday in the Post Office parking lot there was a nice BRG mini, and we exchanged waves. Nice!

Based on one week's experience with the HiFi system, I would have to agree. It will be more than satisfactory for my needs.

 

Nope, no PC... just have to do everything by hand. But as I've mentioned, I'm not OCD, so I'm probably not quite as meticulous as some of the rest of you.

BTW, Kechman8. Congrats on Trooper! I didn't check to see if you've posted pics, but will do that next. If you haven't, you know what you have to do.

 

I've been watching news coverage from Texas of the effects of Ike. I hope we hear from sikimini soon, and I hope he and his family (and Hilla) are OK. I suspect they are, but are without power. Just heard an estimate that as many as 3 million people are without power and it could be weeks before all power is restored.

 

We live in Sugar Land, suburb of Houston. We got power back around 5 last night. I hope sikimini is ok too...I doubt they have internet even if they had a generator.

This is the third weekend that something has happened that I cannot drive the (unnamed still) Clubman. My wife drives it to work and I get it on the weekends. The roads around here are still full of debris so it's staying in the garage.

 

Kechman, wow - Trooper must look sharp with all that detailing!! I didn't clay the whole car or use Swirl and Amigo... hope I didn't miss any important steps!!

This is the bizzar thing.. as I mentioned before, I am NOT a car person in any way what-so-ever!! As I was washer and waxing her, I was trying to think back on the last car I ever washed and waxed... I think it was more than 20 years ago!!!! Have this ne MINI has actually made me OCD!!!

Thanks for sharing the story on your wife and the party - very cool, and hope she remembers to wave!!

As far as the HiFi, sounds pretty good to me as well, but I am not a audiophile by any means!! I am happy that I have the HIFi

As far as stripes, a lot here seem to use aestheti creations their site looks great and I have order a few little things from them... heard they will make magnetic strips too and I am thinking about it, because I am torn.. stripes or no stripes!

 

zouzou - glad to hear from you!! You have power - that's a good thing! Clubby is okay, another good thing but it must suck not to get him/her for 3 weekends in a row!

 

Wow, right after I sent that we had two power bumps and my weather radio anounced flash flood warnings for my area. I think I will stay quiet about things....

 

No ive never named a car before I havent a clue where to start. For now its just called Mine

Stupid question for my fellow S owners, I had my last car for 7 years and I am having some trouble getting used to the S. For one my old car always felt like it was going FAST and the S feels like im not going very fast but then I look down and I am over the speed limit, it creeps up on you where as my protege you had to like force it to speed up. Also the Protege was really touchy, so you barely touched the gas and it went so with the S i feel I have to have a heavier foot. Im also freaked out by every sound.

But to S owners, when you get home does a fan in the engine run for a bit after you turn off the ignition?

My family keeps freaking me out cause I didnt think anything of it but then everytime I pull in teh garage they are like "why is it still running?"

 

The fan running is normal and is designed to help cool the turbo. Mine occasionally runs for 5-10 minutes after the car's off, but I don't live anywhere especially hot.

As for going fast, the MCS is a quick machine with lots of power for its size, so it's easy to go fast without knowing it. If you drove a Ferrari or something similar you'd probably experience the same thing even moreso. If you're finding yourself speeding a lot, try turning off the Sport button (if you drive with it on).

 

I have justacooper and am already finding the same thing... I don't think I'm going very fast, but when I look at the speedometer, I'm over the speed limit (sometimes considerably). I have found it helpful to put my current speed in the display on the rev counter so that it's right in front of me. Seems to be easier for me to look straight ahead than to look over to the right to the speedometer to check my speed.

 

I do that as well, and I have a Valentine 1 above my mirror.

 

I ordered my XL Racing sripes from Cooper Flags - I have friends who have ordrered their graphics there and were not disappointed. I haven't had mine applied yet as I am still waiting for "Rupert" to be delivered, but they do suggest having a professional apply them.

MsBrit

 

Here are a couple quicky shots of my JCW. The dealer still has to swap out the black driving lamps for chrome with white caps (the VDC screwed that up).