Less than a full week after picking up two runflats to use as spare tires and three days after getting them mounted, I noticed that the right rear on my wife's MINI had a leak. Removing the tire, I could see a nice size nail smack dab in the middle of the tread. Glad I had a spare to put on. This morning, I ordered a tire repair kit to keep in each MINI. Here in beautiful Jackson, nails on the roads are a common occurrance - I rarely had flats or tire issues until moving here.

 

Murphy's Law.. the second you plan ahead for a situation, its bound to happen. In my three MINIs I've only had one nail. Its always good to have a spare around. Luckily between my previous/current MINI(s) and my parents MINI we have many (many many) extra wheels.

The last bits of my aero kit have shipped. A friend and I have dedicated next weekend to installing the aero kit, colored trim, wheels, and many random accessories. wooooo hooooo Once my aero kit is installed, spring will officially begin, I've decided. Mother nature has no choice but to agree with me.

In other news, Grimace and I have done over 1000 miles. He's almost three weeks old and hasn't had a bath yet. Shameful! I know!

 

I will turn over 1200 miles tonight on the way home from work - piles up quick with a 76 mile round trip daily. I will have to give Emma her second bath this weekend to celebrate. I've been waiting for the weather to warm up before I installed Ian's auto-up circuit on Emma - I kind of wish that I had bought the one that includes the turn off for the DSC. I accelerated fast one time making a left hand turn from a stop and had the DSC put a strangle hold on while I was up shifting into second - it really killed the throttle.
So is Grimace shy? That must be the reason you haven't bathed him yet, right?

 

I'll hopefully be getting Maggie back late next week. While she's at the dealer, I'm having them remedy the one regret I had and install the rear fog light. Mainly just to fill up the toggle bank. I hadn't realized before ordering that there would be a missing toggle switch without the rear fog. I hadn't gotten a chance to install Ian's auto-up circuit and will be doing that first thing when I get her back. I got the DSC track option because I AutoX and know I would forget to turn it off. I will probably leave it off most of the time except when it is wet or snowing. I found it annoying and it kicked in a lot more frequently than I expected. I also got my Schroth harness in the mail yesterday for AutoXing. It feels like the production process all over again!

 

Hey, rhawth. Glad to know I had a small part in helping to save your hide!
My '02 once had nails in each of the rear tires.....at the same time. Matter of fact, I took a nail in the left rear tire last weekend. I caught it while I was washing it and glad it was before the trip I'm making to Maryland this weekend.

 

Herb:
Yes indeed, I'm glad you switched out of the runflats as soon as you did. Talk about just in time! People sure seem a lot more careless (uncaring) these days about securing their cargo - I think most of these nails and screws are bouncing out of the beds of pickup trucks. It used to be a very rare occurrance to get a nail or screw in a tire.

Wharf_rat:
Could have just put a large dummy switch there and labelled it ejector seat!

 

Forgot to mention that my attention wasn't drawn to the tire since it didn't go through the wall and no air leaked out. I just caught it accidentally, no harm or repair needed. I lucked out!

 

And yes, he is a Stevie, not a Logan.

The day was a little tough, in the sense of being bittersweet. But I brought one of my husband's best friends with me, who is really into cars ... having company helped. These little cars sure are fun to drive!

Small hitch with the XM Direct unit ... no biggie, will get it replaced by the vendor and will try again (fortunately, the vendor said I did not have to return the antenna which the dealer had already done all the hard work of installing, so I should be able to do it myself going forward.) Also, the custom stripes had not yet arrived, so - other than the Venture Tape (InvisiShield) - Stevie is naked at the moment.

Now just have to make as much progress as quickly as possible to the 1,250 mile mark! I have a business meeting in Dallas all day Monday, so that should help (normally, I fly ... but until I hit 1,250, I may drive ... it's 425+ miles round trip.)

Woohoo!

 

Congrats SweetTea! I hope you enjoy Stevie and he brings you some happiness in this difficult time.

 

SweetTea:
Congrats and enjoy Stevie. Keep us informed on how you are doing - we're all here for you. Best of luck.

 

I love that this thread is still alive and kicking

 

We're shooting for 1000 posts - still have a loooongg way to go. I went past the 1250 mile mark on Saturday - how's everyone else doing?

 

I'm at just about 2000 miles right now, enjoying every chance I get to take it above 4500 rpm....although below 4500 isn't too shabby either. Just tonight, when I had a friend riding in the car with me, I ran second gear from maybe 2500 all the way up to redline, he said "WOW..this thing pulls FOREVER!!" I am definately digging the broad, smooth torque curve!!

Jason

 

. . . s l o w l y but surely . . . 765 miles. I'm so happy with the car below 4500 rpm I must be kind of dragging this break-in thing out a tad. Unrestrained acceleration is gonna be NUTZ!

 

1600 miles and counting! Changed my oil & filter this morning...piece of cake with all I learned here on NAM. I was not about to go 10k miles without a change of break-in oil & filter.

I've added the euro shelf, added the aux. input to the H/K system and the MCAW module to get the window auto up feature. I have anthracite interior, so I added chrome line interior...but cheated by buying the $78 kit from EBay and then added the chrome surrounds for the dimmer & hazard ***** from My Mini for another $25. I also added the rear seat pull up straps...a great little addition...plus the glove box organizer.

I also waxed mine yesterday...because the pine pollen is getting really bad here in S.C. with the early Spring weather. The Zaino guys will probably howl...but I used Eagle One nano wax...and it looks great! All I wanted was a little extra protection over the factory wax until I need to clay bar and then I'll have a go with Zaino.

 

Crossed 600 miles tonight. But picking the car up in Dallas Friday, driving back to Austin, and now driving back to Dallas tonight for work is helping significantly with the mileage.

The drive totally sucked ... for some reason, I-35 was bumper to bumper on a Sunday evening for 75% of the 200 miles. But I was still happy to have a manual transmission (my former car was an automatic) despite that, so it's all good. I will definitely return to flying for work, though, as soon as I cross that magical 1,250.

And then ... vroom! vroom!

 

First extended trip yesterday.....260 miles round trip to Maryland and back.....over 900 miles now. I gunned it on the way there.....80-90 mph and got 25.5 mpg. On the way home I tried to maintain a speed of 70 mph and got 30.5 mpg. MPG around home seems to be a bit better with each new tank of gas.....the last was 19.1 mpg while pushing the rpm's a bit. I considered my MCS broken in upon delivery.

 

I'm still at about 950 miles. Surprised everyday how peppy the Cooper is. The CVT is taking some getting used to. It "jumps" like a manual when you're only gently touching the gas.

My wife loves driving it too, she never got to drive the Cooper S we had because it was a manual.

 

To the guys who ordered from Classic - has anyone received their title in the mail yet? My temp plate is running out in less than a week and I'm still waiting on the title so that I can pay sales tax and transfer my plate. I have a big MINI event next week and if I can't drive Grimace I'll be bummed

Grimace and I are up to 1400ish miles. Aero kit, wheels & accessories are going on this weekend. I'm getting (more) excited!

 

I received my memo title in the mail last tuesday. I went to the BMV weds during lunch to order my personalized plates, and I received them yesterday by mail. I would imagine your title will show up real soon, I would think someone at Classic can tell you if it has been mailed or not...

Jason

 

Tomorrow I'll be in the Mini capital of the Western Hemisphere.....San Francisco. Won't be back until April 4. It's sure gonna be hard to be there
without the Silver Dart. I may develop some serious motoring withdrawal.

 

Herb:
That's one way to keep your mileage down . Except for the MINI-withdrawal, you should have a good time - SF is a neat town.
Catching up to Grimace on the miles - right around 1400. Almost all highway and averaging right around 28 MPG while doing mostly 75-80. Hopeful that will increase a bit over time - I'd slow down (ya, right) but I'd get run over .

 

Attached is a pic from my pickup on Friday of Stevie, from Moritz MINI.



He's missing his custom bonnet and boot stripes, so he's a bit naked at the moment!

 

You and Stevie have just about the same smile! You're right on schedule. Newborn Mini's often don't begin to show their stripes until a few weeks old or so. Enjoy!

 

Looks good, SweetTea - be sure to update us with pictures when Stevie gets his stripes.