" the same thing my wife says"

 

That's the one I have. I noticed an incredible difference in the hood temperature right after installation. I check in now and then and the condition after five months is fine.

 

Finally! My car was released from the VDC this morning with its new bumper. MA emailed me 3 minutes after the dealership opened with a screen shot of dealerspeed. Ship date is October 24 with ETA of 26th at dealer.

 

Tell me about it. In theory, it docked today in NJ. Though the Aida is no longer on AIS, for whatever reason. I hope that means it docked and is currently turned off.

Fingers crossed for speedy clearance and delivery.

 

just checked the status of my MINI and it is now in production with a completion date of 10/28!
That's a great news to start my morning and the weekend woohoo!!
Thanks again guys for keeping us company through this long, arduous wait!

 

Construction started is so much better than ordered.

 

Woo-hoo! A nice start to the weekend indeed. Ten days until it's born!

 

you got that right!

 

Yes sir!!

 

Our British Racing Green MCS Convertible was finally delivered to the VDC after being on a ship for 24 days. It has cleared the VDC checks and the trucking company will deliver it to the dealer by Monday. Can't wait to take delivery next week, and be a new MINI owner!

 

Congrats!!! your wait is almost over. Once you pick her up you will quickly realize the wait was well worth it. Hope you will have good top down weather for the ride home

 

Good to hear!
I have no before to measure, but after a 150Mile drive home I could not feel any heat on the bonnet that was not the same as the rest of the metal.
It seem to work...!

Thanks:

 

RS_CUP

You will love the BR Green II, it looks a foot deep.
Post pictures ...
Good Motoring

 

what were the temps.
thanks

 

Thanks SheldonCoopr! The temps are supposed to be in the 70s during the day in Norcal so perfect for top down driving - and the dealership is 60 miles away so really looking forward to the drive home.

 

I saw that you got your BRG II coupe recently. Congrats to you! Will post pictures as soon as I have the car.

 

They don't turn them off. If it's not showing up, there is a 99.9% chance it's out of range. Not sure what the range is but the ship I was tracking went out of range for a day or two when it left Baltimore headed to Brunsick, GA. I would have thought it possible to track it as it moved down the coast and since I couldn't I am estimating the range to be only ~50 miles.

On Marine traffic, if you go to "Vessels" click on "search all" type in ship name, hit enter, pick yours from list, it will give you last reported position. For the Aida, I found last reported position on 10/20 to be 40-60 km off the coast of Ocean City MD. The vessel tracking shows it's been to NJ and left.

 

Thanks for the pics. I just pulled up yours and compared to a couple of aftermarket bonnet-mounted heat shields. The aftermarket ones are out of place!! Wonder if anyone realized that?

I don't image the aftermarket versions will work very well. Might be better off going with the one that mounts over the Turbo itself (third pic).

 

Wow! I am amazed there is that much difference between the aftermarket heat shield and the MINI version.
I have no experience with the others but the MINI heat shield seems to work. I could not feel any hot spots on the exterior of the Bonnet .

Good catch on the different designs.
I have a thermal camera (ir) and will take an IR photo first opportunity.


Thanks.. Good work on the pictures.

 

The odd thing was: for both Halifax and NYC, it was approaching the port, then <poof>, gone. The AIS website had a message that was rolling out a new website on Oct 15, which I only saw a few times. So I'll blame it on the website having fits.

According to the WW website, it's been discharged, so I'm back at the mercy of MINI for information.

Had the conversation yesterday with the finance guy, who tried to sell me on the tire/wheel and extended warranties. I'm thinking "meh" on both. I may trade out the all-season run flats for winter wheels/tires, then put the nice ones on in the spring and get spring/summer tires. Then just carry fix-a-flat or get a small donut. Also, $1095 for tire/wheel warranty (5 year/unlimited miles) seems quite steep.

As for the extended maintenance, I'm torn. As I understand it, MINI maintenance can be expensive and $1895 doesn't seem too terrible. Especially if the clutch goes.

 

IMHO i'd put that $1,895 towards the ~$3k cost of an extended warranty up to 100K (price for reputable 3rd party extended warranty. I don't know what MINI charges). Recent history on Mini's isn't so good with timing chains, thermostat housings, sensors. It might be too early to get a read on the long-term reliability of the latest 12-14 model years but why find out the hard way? ....especially if you get an S (turbo).

 

Melt skin verses cool to the touch.

 

Finally, my mini is on a boat and on its way here! It's on the Elektra, eta is 11-13!

 

All right, RavenGirl! Keep us posted on your ship's progress across the Atlantic.

 

Paceman in Starlight blue looks nice with either white or black top. What did you get?

Time to start storm tracking in the Pacific?