I love my Nuvi. And when something better comes out, I can upgrade....
How happenin' is that in-Dash GPS going to seem in 10 years?

I just think built-in electronics really make cars seem old, fast. Electronics changes faster than I want to change cars. Radios are bad enough.

 

I like the integration of it, but I am envious of things like the TomTom series -- on the fly updates, better plotting, etc.

Maybe Christmas one year....

 

I have the simple but self contained Garmin C330. It does all I want in an automotive GPS and I use it a lot. Especially on those dark open country freeways at night. I can now anticipate upcoming curves. The person sitting in the passenger seat now becomes a real navigator. How much fun is that.

 

^ Hey JJ... that's an aftermarket add-on, yes? where did you put it? do you have pictures of where you installed it? just curious.

 

I don't know about JJ's, but here's how I did my Nuvi install (the Nuvi is the slimmer brother of the C330).

 

thanks blimey!

now... about those cupholders... are they the MINI Fini? Do they basically turn to align over those "other" cupholders?

i don't drink much while I'm driving, but bringing the occasional meal home from takeout can be a challenge if it includes a drink and that has to be the one area they really goofed on in this car... i know... i know... nobody does takeout on the autobahn

 

See, I know funny, and that's funny.

I wish I had a photo of it to share, but there's a billboard (billboards are rare, BTW) that the German government puts up. Shows a guy driving, with the photo from right alongside his car, from the next lane. His window is down, he's smoking, eating, and drinking. I don't think he's talking on the cell phone, which is already illegal unless hands-free, but he might be.

It asks, "Who's driving?"

And Paul, very nice write up. As usual, too. That's one of the things I like I about this site -- finding a nice write up, with photos, and then getting that foolish sense of false bravery about undertaking some insane DIY project for the car. False bravery is, I suppose, better than no bravery at all.

 

^ hi abuzavi... didn't mean to be a smart aleck... (part of me is just envious about driving on the autobahn... even though I'm sure I'd be intimidated by it)

i actually think it makes sense that people shouldn't be drinking and eating and talking on their cell phones... believe me... that last one makes me so mad! when I lived in New York, hand's-free headsets were the law, but in California and now Tennessee, they aren't... and more peple are driving and talking on their cell phones.... ugh.

 

Yep - they're MiniFini cupholders. Love them. They do rotate through a pretty wide arc - over the little ones, and all the way out into the footwell space.

I have two OEM ashtrays that I use as coin cups in the OEM cupholders - easily accessed by rotating the MF cupholders.

Art - thanks for the kudos.

Also - I got Live at Leeds for Christmas - finally got around to listening to it. Awesome. Entwistle was DA MAN. I saw him live with 3/4 of the Who a couple of decades later, but he was already on a different spectral plane than other bassists back in the early days...

 

Getting back to post productions GPS installs. For My Garmin C330 I took the dumb round adaptor disk that has adhesive on the back to stick to your dashboard (bad idea) and did the following.

Removed the adhesive backing from the dumb round adaptor disk .

Drilled a hole dead center in the dumb round adaptor disk and countersunk that hole.

Cemented a flat head bolt into that hole so it was flush with the surface of the dumb round adaptor disk and sealed the other side with a drop of hot glue (or silicon) for air tightness.

Placed a fender washer and then a wing nut on the bolt now protruding through the dumb round adaptor disk .

I then removed the rubber piece from the bottom of the hated OEM dash cup holder.

Slipped the disc over the U shaped bottom of the wire frame of the hated OEM cupholder with the washer and nut under it. Hand tightened the wing nut.

Licked the suction cup on the Garmin C330 bracket and dropped it in through the top of the hated OEM cupholer onto the dumb round adaptor disk and turned the GPS screen to a good viiewing angle for either the driver or navigator then flipped the suction lever.

Reverse the above procedure and you once again have the hated OEM cupholder and a Garmin dumb round adaptor disk with a bolt through it.

I'll post photos. It really is a very clean install (and uninstall). I need a beer. Bye all.

 

Love it.

 

In the mail yesterday was my new Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS. It straps on your wrist like an oversized watch, and records all kinds of data as you hike, run, or bike. For a little test drive, I took it out for a 15 KM run today -- 9.45 miles.

Way, way cool. Neat, neat tool. Great ability to break apart the data afterwards, to include uploading to Google Earth (my favorite).

If you're into things like hiking, running or cycling, this is the way to do it. Decent size, not intrusive, and neat data read-outs afterwards.

 

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.

 

I can see it too! "Cast your spell Merlin" or "MINI Magic works. Ask Merlin" With my luck it would probably say "Merlin, call home. Your wife wants to drive now".
We went for a drive up into the Rockies on Monday. My wife got to drive first. I backseated that poor woman to death. I'm suprised she didn't throw me out of the car and make me walk home. She is a pretty good driver though. I don't know many people who can hit a dead deer at 70 MPH and only ding up the license plate in a MINI.
Last Friday I did a road trip by myself from Denver to Grand Junction on I-70. In Glenwood Canyon I was doing about 75MPH and a wild turkey almost flew right into Merlin. I know I caught some of his tail feathers. Scarred the Be Dickens out of me. Mother Nature is messin with poor Merlin. If this keeps up I'm going to have to host a road kill chilli cook off.

 

Good to see that kissmys got Minx's flux capacitor repaired and made it back safely from the 3605 thread.

 

Damn! I did it again, Blimey! So I'll post here what I posted to the 3605 thread this morning. That flux capacitor needs a thorough going over. But didn't Merlin say that all 36ers were special and blessed and stuff like that!? Sheeeit!

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.

 

Easy -- lay off the brake. Mash those gears more!

I made a nice drive today, from one small village, through a few more, to my final desination. Could have hopped on the autobahn and been there in half the time, but the drive was 10 times better this way. Would have been better only if there was snow.

 

Yes. All W3606 ers were blessed by the Four Druid Priest. Even the W3606-07ers are blessed regardless of how dumb thier center consoles look and thier lack of the fantastic, banshie like, SC scream.
I hear there are products to reduce MINI brake dust but I carefully collect the stuff and sell to MINI wannabes. They treasure it like fairy dust.

 

For the brake dust about the most effective thing is to change out the pads. On my Z3 the dust was terrible, I changed out the pads (can't recall hte brand right this moment axxis I think) and reduced it by more than 50% for sure... however the trade was very squeaky brakes (though that might have been installer error as my dad did it for me late one night in his driveway under protest)

Other than that I have had a very tiny success with the "Wheel Wax" its not that it keeps the dust away but it does clean off much easier, however putting the stuff on and layering it up is probably more work than simply cleaning the wheels w/o exposure to the wax.

 

I just got a Garmin Nuvi as well and am loving it! One of the best things I've bought for my Mini. Now I've just got to figure out a better mounting solution then the suction cup on the center speedo

 

uscfan

Check out my Dumb Adaptor Disk modification to the Hated OEM Cup Holder post to this forum a few days ago. Some people are carrying the idea further and removing the cup holder but fabricating a frame for thier GPS, Ipod, satelite radios etc that will fit into the bracket for the Hated OEM Cup Holder.

 

JJ

Yeah, I saw your post. But fabricating a custom mount is beyond my abilities. Knowing me, I'd probably end up screwing it up!

 

Brake pads. No question. I use Wheel Shield and Slick and, and, and.... but it doesn't stop the production of the dust... only pads will do that.

I just got a set of Hawk Ceramics, which a number of other miniacs (including Clo) have testified worked wonders for them with no squeeking when installed correctly... hope to install them this weekend...

 

Thanks Blimey! Will research Hawk Ceramics today and get on it. Let me know how your install goes...

Kiss

 

Installed my Hawk ceramic pads yesterday - drove a little while last night with a bunch of panic stops to bed them in - so far, so good. I figure I braked last night almost as much as I have in the 5000 miles I've had the car - I'm not kidding, I'm usually really light on the brakes, and last night I did about 30 full speed panic stops. Even with the inevitable initial wear/dust that comes with bedding in the pads, my wheels had an almost imperceptable amount of dusting when I was done. I think these are going to be MUCH better.

I followed OctaneGuy's how-to on the pads - no issues on the fronts. His how-to doesn't cover the rears, any those are a bit of a bugger, but I got it done. It helped that my original pads are still pretty new, so the pistons weren't extended much and I only had to push them back in a tiny bit. If doing your rears, remember to release the handbrake after you have the car up on stands (I forgot, and wondered why the &@*&#@$ it was impossible to remove the rear caliper after taking the bolts out). I figured it out in about a minute and a half...

I cleaned the calipers well while I was at it - unbelievably dirty for only 5000 miles. I was going to paint them red with the G2 kit, but it needs to be at least 56F for that and it's cold here right now... so that will have to wait til spring.

While I was at it, I also installed a set of the clear/smoked side parking lights from ebay - these really dress up the car to get the orange and red reflectors off. I used orange and red bulbs inside (which you can't detect when off) so when on, they still emit the "right" colors...

And I installed custom union jack door sills from Aesthetic Creations.