I rubbed a tire last week. I didn't scratch the wheel but the tire is definitely rubbed all the way around. I was backing up into a parking space in a lot that had a curb on the passenger side. I intentionally try to back into spots unless there's a pull through. It's a safety thing. I park close to the curbs so that whoever parks next to me can swing their door wide (like they always do) and not hit me even if they do park on the line or just over. Well, I got a little too close to the curb this time. I thought about it and I should've adjusted my mirror on that side so I could get a better angle of the curb. The good thing is I don't like these run flats at all so lesson learned on these instead of a great set!

Also, Icarus already has his first scratch. I enjoy taking people for rides but I think that's going to have to slow down a bit. Someone put a seven inch by 5mm scratch on the lower painted panel of the inside of the passenger's door. Most of it will hopefully buff out but there's a 2" x 1mm stretch that has been laid bare all the way to the plastic. I'll wait until I get the body kit painted to get that repaired since it's on the inside. -sigh-

 

Dewds & Doodettes - Go vote for Photo 13 in the December contest. RR submitted it! It's a shot of Icarus, Magoo & a straggler we picked up while motoring in Highlands, NC in Oct.

 

Woo Hoo! RR won the December photo contest! Here's to one of our own making it big. Congrats!

 

Excellent. Congrats, RR.

 

Congrats RR! Great shot!

Where are all you week 36ers? Merlin? Sassy? Moe? Anybody out there? What do you think of the new marketing gimmick by MINI; triggering LED billboard messages with an imbedded chip in your key fob (available on a testing basis in four major metropolitan areas...) I can see it now... "Motor on Minx!" I'm almost to the 6K mark. My brakes squeak. iPod adaptor doesn't work. Otherwise, she's peachy keeno.

 

kissmys - you time warped back to 3605 - careful with that flux capacitor.

 

Yeah, sometimes I just can't contain myself!

Serious question: What's the best looking, effective way to cut down on the brake dust on my front wheels. I swear that after only two days of normal motoring (well, as normal as Minx will allow), my just scrubbed, sparkly wheels are covered in gross brake dust. Any suggestions? I'm sure there's a thread or two I could search, but I'd rather read my 36ers ideas.

 

Welcome kissmys. I was wondering when one of the 2007's W36ers would accidentally find their way to this thread. Good to see life back on this thread.

Front wheel dust options:
1. Get low dust brake pads like ECB's greens. There's no such thing as NO dust pads. There are other low dust pads but ECB is the standard. Some people don't like low dust pads. They will squeak if you don't regularly brake relatively hard. That's pretty simple to address though by doing a couple of hard decelerations from 60 (ie. stand on the brakes when all is clear). If you are normally a quick decelarating driver then it shouldn't be much of a problem. You will still see dust but it won't accumulate as fast as normal OEM pads.
2. Treat the wheels with low static treatment stuff. I know you guys covered that in detail on your W36 thread. That's where I got the tip to use the FLIX stuff. I use it and dust doesn't accumulate as fast. It's easy to dust off and/or clean off. I tried spraying it down but that just causes the dust to really clump together so I just dust or clean them. I'm going to look at a product that is some kind of dedicated wheel wax from Detailers Paradise.
3. I've heard about dust shields but the downside of those is they don't let the brakes cool off normally unless you get air ducted directly to them. I haven't seen either of those solutions for the MINI but that doesn't mean they don't exist. I'll probably investigate the air ducting aspect as the body kit I have has vents to tap into as an airflow source. If that works out then I'll track down a dust shield solution to compliment it. These are not cheap solutions!
4. Get use to the dust.