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1st GearNew members: make an initial post and introduce yourself as you shift from Neutral to First Gear. Current members: meet some of the new members.
I think this is like my 3rd post ever. The first was inquiring in the for sale area for a JCW! The 2nd in the JCW Garage. But I wanted to say hello properly here to the community!
First, how I got here... the basic gist is I sold my e92 M3 last Nov, bought a house, and have outstayed my welcome in borrowing cars. From EVERYONE. Rational considering its been 4 months.
Therefore I wanted something small, fun and affordable to own. Civics and corollas first came to mind. I told myself, as long as it had a stick, fun enough for me... WRONG. My neighbor toyed with the idea of selling me his 2013 Fiat Abarth. I drove it for a week and it was fun! However, its SUPER stiff and considering the quality nightmares on their forums, I kept looking. I test drove a JCW and this changed everything!
I found 2 JCW that I really liked.
First was a well optioned 2012 JCW that was enthusiast owned. Living in SoCal, this car was 66 miles away. Already a trek to take home, bu the car was nice. The guy that owned it put in heated seats and a craven adjustable short shifter. Michelin PSS and chrome was all blacked out too. We agreed on price and was set to give him a check Tuesday of last week, however that didn't happen...
I found the 2nd JCW was a 2013 with 33.6k miles on Thursday afternoon. Well optioned, but was 1200 miles away in Kirkland Washington! I wanted to hedge my bets as I absolutely needed a car by today (Monday), so I asked the dealer to make a detailed video. Afterward, I haggled for a decent price and put down a deposit.
On Friday (next day), the 1st JCW (enthusiast owned JCW) backed out, so I booked my flight for Washington and hastily prepared a 2nd set of underwear, shorts, tshirt, and sunglasses for the ride down to SoCal. I flew up Saturday. Checked out the car. Much cleaner than I expected. It drove well and still has warranty! Check was signed, papers signed, driving permit prepared, I was on my way home by 2pm that Saturday.
I took exactly 4 stops.
1) for lunch and a trip to the mini dealer to get a hat, keychain, and flash light - the mini flashlight sucks!
2) a stop for dinner in Portland.
3) a break just past Medford Oregon for a 2 hour nap.
4) breakfast with friends in SF for a couple of hours.
I've since learned a couple of things.
1) This car has really good gas mileage! Even with the AC on the whole time, I drove from SF back to Long Beach with 1 gas take and ~ 100 miles to spare in the tank!
2) High speed in this car is much more frightening than in my M3. When I first hit 90mph, I was a quite worried, but got used to it. I even let go of the steering a bit to see how well composed the car was.. I found it to be super stable. Whereas the M3, I wouldn't worry until 120mph+.
3) Bugs hate this car! The windshield was covered with them! I could barely see by the time I got home.
4) The trip odometer only goes to 999 before it resets to zero. My 1224.8 miles registerd as 224.8 miles.
I hope to spruce up the car with some gauges, home link mirror, and maybe even a manic tune! So yeah, that's my story. I can't wait to get more involved in this community!
Congrats and wow, i really like the leather / alcanatara dash, wish i had that option in my R58 JCW. Top is leather, bottom is alcanatara , knee bolster is alcanatara
About the MINI LED Lenser flashlight.. I don't think that the R56 LCI center console port makes correct contact with this particular flashlight model. I've verified that the port works with other things like a cigarette lighter and universal usb charger, but not the flashlight.
I've switched out the flashlight 1x already. So I'm hoping its user error or I'm going to get a different flashlight.
It looks like the oem source usually supplies an adapter, but the Mini package didn't come with it.
I inspected the socket. It appears there are 2 white shims on the very bottom of the socket. They rest on either side of the hot 12v contact. On most 12v adapters, there is a spring loaded positive lead that makes contact between the shims easily. I tested a 12v usb adapter with a spring loaded positive lead - works like a charm.
On examining this flashlight, the concave bottom is relatively flat and does not appear to be able to contact the bottom contact in the socket. The side contacts are fine. I think the shims are hard plastic and prevent any contact even with pressing down hard.
I guess this flashlight is a no go for me. My guess is the newer cars have an updated socket design where this works??
I inspected the socket. It appears there are 2 white shims on the very bottom of the socket. They rest on either side of the hot 12v contact. On most 12v adapters, there is a spring loaded positive lead that makes contact between the shims easily. I tested a 12v usb adapter with a spring loaded positive lead - works like a charm.
On examining this flashlight, the concave bottom is relatively flat and does not appear to be able to contact the bottom contact in the socket. The side contacts are fine. I think the shims are hard plastic and prevent any contact even with pressing down hard.
I guess this flashlight is a no go for me. My guess is the newer cars have an updated socket design where this works??
Tabs looks bent out a hair more then usual. If you mess with it , make sure you have the main battery cable off ( disconnected ) so you dont get shocked on bending the tabs, or blow fuse, then you need to push it down all the way till the base side hit those side tabs at the bottom. Then it will charge. Spin it while you push down and plug it in.
Either that or you dont have power in the socket from a blown fuse ? It happen when people drop metal or coins in there by accident.
I figured out what was wrong. If you look at the r56 and compare the rear 12v port to the center dash 12v port, there is a clear difference.
My center dash 12v port has extra plastic shims. This prevents usage of a cigarette lighter plug. Also makes it so the flashlight cannot charge here. The rear 12v in the boot has no such shims. I'v found I can charge the flashlight fine in the boot. In addition to testing a friends cigarette lighter too.
Whoever ordered the car must have requested some type if cigarrette lighter delete in the cabin.
Yea, its a different design because its a non smoker package. But it should still make contact on the sides, not the bottom. MINI made this to fit all hose 12v sockets.
