Found a great shady parking spot while out buying Birthday presents for the kid. Came out to find the most egregious bird splatter all over the (just washed Sunday) roof. Whipped out a baby wipe and made it all better.

Lovely.

And God no, I would NOT admit to doing that in the Detailing forum.

 

This afternoon, I made a little change. I swapped my DDM Works Street intake....



for a NM Engineering Carbon Fiber Hi-Induction Kit.



The DDM Works intake now resides in my wife's 2010 MCS.

 

The saga of the oxygen sensor continues:

Today I replaced the original sensor, which replaced the replacement sensor that immediately indicated a sensor malfunction. Third time's the charm? I hope so.

I'm waiting for the sun to go down a bit more to take it for a test drive, since it's ***stoopid*** hot here today.

C ya,
Dutch

 

Baby wipes are miraculous.
They should know about them on the Detailing forum but they won't hear that (and a few other things) from me!

 

Speaking of o2 sensors..

My CEL has been throwing a code off and on between driving cycles, and it's the o2 sensor. Need to get that fixed...I heard replacing the spark plugs *might* help? I dunno...

And yes, I'll have to agree on the heat. I'm already tired of it!

 

Have you gotten the code(s) read? I have access to a code reader that can also clear the codes. I'm also pretty quick at the oxygen sensor swap now, what, with all the practice. So far, new sensor has not thrown the dreaded P0130 faulty sensor code like the "universal" one (which was $100 less) did....

Certainly replacing spark plugs is never a *bad* thing, but I don't know how much it will do for the oxygen sensor's performance.

HTH!

C ya,
Dutch

 

Took this picture with a couple of my teachers...

 

No luck getting the DDM intake to not hit the JCW bar? I removed the bar on mine as it was driving me nuts.

 

Yeah, I had O'Reilly check the code, and it is the P0130 code. He said it's throwing the code twice :/

 

That's the bad code. You need a new oxygen sensor. Luckily, O'Reilly has 'em. The engine computer defaults to running a bit rich to protect the engine when the oxygen sensor is not working. Putting in a new one should help your gas mileage and performance a bit. They're pretty easy to remove/install. Basically, you unplug it, unclip the lead from any clips that keep it away from hot stuff that will melt it, then loosen the sensor. You'll need a 22mm crow's foot wrench and a ratchet (good) or a pair of channel-lok pliers (not the best way, but will get the job done). The "oxygen sensor wrench" most places sell is useless in the cramped area where the pre-cat sensor lives. It'd be fine for the post-cat sensor, but a crow's foot wrench works for both....

HTH!

C ya,
Dutch

 

Dropped the car off for an early first oil change (@10,000km on the odometer... still 10,000km before the first official oil change interval). Also hoping to get some trim clips replaced in the rear hatch, loose door stay bolt fixed and sunroof rattle.

I was quoted $101 for the oil change which sounds low and makes me wonder if he made a mistake or I misheard. The tech seemed doubtful he could fix the sunroof rattle. My last MINI had the rattle on and off for years.

The dealership STILL had a JCW hatch sitting on the lot from October 2011.

 

100 bucks sounds insane to me.....for 30-40 bucks you can do it at home.
equally insane to me is 10k oil change intervals.

 

Consider a shop rate of about $60/hr, that and with parts it sounds reasonable.

Dave

 

I would like to know where you buy your full synthetic oil and a filter for $30-40 self-install I was suggesting the $101 was reasonable... Usually they charge $150.

The local lube shops that charge $60 for regular oil and cheap filter is insane. $100 Canadian for synthetic at a dealership sounded reasonable to me.


The regular oil change interval on my car was 24,000km which is a little nuts. With my driving it has so far dropped to 20,000km intervals. I think 1/2 point is reasonable compromise. The next oil change will be free.

 

WalMart has the oil (Mobil 1 full-synthetic) for about $25 in the 5-quart bottle.

O'Reilly has the filter for less than $10.

HTH!

C ya,
Dutch

 

didn't know we were talking loonies. oil might be cheaper down here. I buy filters 6 at a time from Way or out motoring, oil from Walmart, and change every 6-7k miles

I think the houston mini dealer offered me 300 for an oil change, I asked him if i got to keep the gold oil jug it came in.
as my dad always says "do you have more money then time or more time than money?"

 

Not quite $30-40, but my MINI dealer is about $45 out the door for 5 quarts and filter, all MINI branded. About $7/qt for the oil. They give a STL MINI Club discount, which helps.

My local Autozone doesn't carry the R56 filter I need. I can do a little better on oil there, but not on Mobil 1 in 5W-30.

 

On a completely different tangent: if Way Motorworks and Outmotoring merged, would they be "Way Out Motoring"?

Back on topic, to ljmattox:
The oil doesn't have to have the MINI brand, it just needs to meet or exceed the specs set forth for oil used in the MINI engine. If you want to pay more for the same oil, it's your right, but it isn't a requirement....

 

lol

 

My Mini is still in the free maintenance period so I can't comment on it but I had to change the oil in my '08 GLI recently and heard that the filter was a huge PITA so for the first time ever I decided to pay someone else to do it. I looked up what kind of oil was recommended by enthusiasts for that car and to my surprise Firestone looked up the car and decided to use that exact oil! They were running a special too so the price was only like $25! I assumed that was the labor and the material would add to the final price but nope, that's all they charged me. I couldn't do it myself for that cheap so I likely won't be changing my own anymore lol.

 

That looks like the price for regular dino oil to me. If I could find a place to do it that cheap with the correct oil (full-synthetic) and filter, I wouldn't be doing it myself either. Best price I've found locally for the correct oil and filter is about $68 or so. Heck, even if they just increased the cost of the job to accommodate the more expensive oil, I'd likely get my oil done by the oil-change shop, but they charge $40 more than for the dino oil change, which is ***way*** more than the difference in the cost of the oil. That's $30 or so that I'd rather pay myself, which pays for a couple happy hours....

C ya,
Dutch

 

i had my mini completely cleaned inside and out and waxed today by my next door neighbor...Yup im lazy and paid him.....lol

it still counts right?

 

Tried my hand at wrapping with the 3M 1080 Carbon Fiber.......very impressed with the results

 

I agree, $25 is too inexpensive for an oil change using full synthetic unless they used the cheapest they could get and it wasn't european formula. Autozone had a special, 5 qts Mobil 1 European Formula, 0W40 with Mobil 1 filter (not made for MINI) for 34.95 . I found the MINI filters on Ebay for 12 ea. My neighbor changed my oil in exchange for the Mobil 1 filter. Cost to do it myself was around $50. The question is how often do you change your oil. Me with high quality Synthetic every 7- 7.5k miles. 15k is just too much of an interval.

 

Love the Steering wheel, me so want....