Just thought I'd drop a line that around Thanksgiving I bought a Chili Red '05 MINI Cooper S Convertible for my wife. Bought it from a retiree couple in the TX Hill Country just west of Austin with very low mileage and in excellent condition. The car is pretty much loaded except for navigation with 6MT and is a total blast to drive. We sold our '04 MDX to get her the MINI, so quite a difference in an every day driver for her!

Anyway, just thought I'd drop a line to say hello. I'll be posting shortly on hard wiring a radar detector, pulling the auxiliary port, etc. Looking forward to playing with this car for a few years!

 

Glad you dropped in.....welcome to NAM and MINI motoring!! Don't be a stranger!! BTW, you in Texas??

 

What a great way to celebrate the holidays! Sounds like a sweet ride, too (easier to park than an MDX, too!). Welcome to NAM!

 

Yep. We're in Austin. I'm kind of a car nut and have frequented several other car forums over the years, so I know the benefit of a good group of folks who have already done the tinkering. Right now I'm looking at how to install the aux port myself (my wife picked up the wiring from the MINI dealer last week, but they wanted $100+ to pull it which I thought was kind of ridiculous), how to install XM using the BlitzSafe adapter, and how to hard wire a radar detector.

On Black Friday I managed to pick up a Mio C310x portable navigation system that mounts PERFECTLY into the oversized cup holder angled right toward the driver. Picks up the satellites great with the top up or down. I'd also like to hard wire that into power and the auxiliary port.

Any tips on good threads about hard wiring into the fuse box? I've done this in my S4 using a fuse tap without having to splice into any existing wiring and would prefer to take the same route on the MINI.

Thanks for the kind welcome!
Scott

 

Sounds like you have your work cut out with all your new toys. Please keep us posted on your progress. Lots of pics!!!

Welcome to NAM you will love it here

 

Welcome to NAM. Wow you are going to be quite busy with all that electrical mods. Good luck!!
Happy Motoring.

- KP

 

Many use the Add-a-Circuit device to tap into the fuse box. Enter a forum search for add-a-circuit. Here's a writeup: http://www.jayandjennifer.com/circuit/circuit.html

 

Welcome

 

This is what i did and it works great. Welcome to NAM.

 

Yep. Radar detector is hard-wired now. Gonna look into pulling the auxiliary port next. I'm going to email Mio about hard wiring the nav system, though. The power input on that device is USB and I don't want to take a chance on getting the power level wrong and frying the device.

Thanks again!
Scott

 

You could take one of the many USB car chargers on the market and modify it to be hardwired. Here's one example: http://www.overstock.com/?page=proframe&prod_id=2078930

 

Welcome to NAM! Come check out the Cabrio Forum for lots of topless fun!

 

Hey Scott,


Congrats on the MINI! I have installed a AUX input on my MINI with NAV, and I am in Austin as well, so if you need any help, let me know. It is pretty easy!

 

Welcome to NAM. Your wife is one lucky lady to have a hubby who bought her a Mini. But it also sounds like you're going to have fun with the car also!!!

 

Welcome to NAM!