Not quite yet but VERY soon: apply large custom white skull and crossed sword vinyl to cover the panoramic sunroof that my wife had designed for "Calico Jack". With the black roof, he will have a "proper" Jolly Roger. Will be VERY cool... I mean... Arrr! Will post pix when it's on.

 

I finally got around to having the windows tinted. I came across a deal on Groupon for $150. When I went to pay I got an email from Groupon about an additional 20% off which dropped the cost to $120! The shop did an AWESOME job...

I did 35% all around to keep legal with Illinois laws. After putting the MINI sun screens in the rear windows you can barely see into the car. Thankfully I can still see out just fine.

 

No, didn't cover anything, just pray it freely everywhere except over the coil and the battery terminal beside the Air Intake.

 

Looks great!

 

I have been running MSD for about 1000 miles now as well.

 

Nice! I just joined the MSD crew this week as well.

 

Cried a little tear....traded in the MINI over the weekend. Sad to see it go, but it was having too many back-to-back issues and was my daily driver.

 

What did you trade for? I'm finding no problems now, but may think about this if it happens to me. '05 MCS nearing 100k running fine...for now.

 

Bought an 09 Infiniti EX35...AWD fully loaded

 

That is quite the change

 

Yeah...but I will definitely be looking for a project car soon. Have to tinker with something.

 

Awesome and congrats. What color STP plates did you get and pics are a must installed.

 

I went with the black to go with my black and red theme! And as soon as this cold snap roles through Kansas I will be sure to install and show some photos!

 

Awesome , thanks. Yes, this cold weather is holding off projects for a bunch of people.

 

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Tires glued to the road sounds like a really good problem


What I did to my mini:
I installed a DIY intake. Cost me a grand total of $36.00 Doesn't look too bad and it seems to work pretty well according to the seat of the pants dyno. Gas mileage went up just slightly too (up to about 32 MPG). Granted it was low lately (about 30.5) because I think the stock filter has about 65K on it. It did not restore the mileage to what it was when new (33.5+), however. I love the BOV sound. It installs really fast so can switch back and forth in minutes. No CEL's. I tried a long time ago to use the filter directly to the MAF sensor and got a CEL. SO I was very pleased to see it work by adding the reducing elbow.

I got the silicon reducing elbow (2.75 to 3") off Ebay for $8.50, and a 3" no oil Spectre filter from Pepboys for $26.00 and a 3" plastic coupler for about $1.50. I had the clamps from an old project. The elbow slips on the MAF sensor (perfect fit), coupler partially slips in the 3" side of the elbow and filter. Everything is ziptied down (that big yellow thing). Later Ill make a Alta style mount to secure everything down.

 

Today marks three years since I got my 2002 Cooper base silver/black. I've put on less than 20,000 miles in those three years, installed Firestone Indy 500 radials, K&N Typhoon intake and Magnaflow catback exhaust, plus given the spiderwebbed silver a brand new coat of paint. Had planned to wash her today but we were too busy all day long getting work done on the road (and it's supposed to rain this weekend).

 

First, I washed my car as it has been sitting around while it rained and rained and rained....


AND THEN! Went to go see my little Nephew that was just born... and murdered a raccoon with my front bumper... Guess it's time for that front end repaint I was planning on doing this summer?

Good news, my furry friend managed to completely avoid my splitter so I won't have to replace that again!

 

Wait until the outside temps are reasonable again. Cold temps hurt fuel economy in about four or five different ways.

 

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I sympathize with all you cold weather peeps as I grew up in upstate NY. However, it's 50 degrees here in FL today, so I can't complain.

Today I finally got visibility on the temp of my engine! I have the chrono dash on my R53 and the coolant temp gauge is broken (doesn't move). I tried hooking up an Edge CTS last week and they aren't compatible with the R53. Returned it and just received an Ultra Gauge today. Install was super quick and easy. Now I can see coolant temp and much more. For less than $100, this thing is wicked awesome.

 

I'm running around in #24 today Playing in the Snow... Brrrrrrrr! it's a bit cold today.

Motor on!

 

Wow, I wish I had only put 20k on mine in 3 years! Im at 52k over 3 years and I haven't driven it much this year now that I have a second car!

 

Not sure if anyone has tried this, but I put one of my OEM wheels in the boot and used a couple of my old compression straps to secure it. It's in there real tight and the lid closes perfectly. I used the four tie-down brackets for the straps. Here's what it looks like with the hatch open...



Here's a view from inside of the spare tire uncovered with the hatch closed...



My sweet wife gave me a black placemat to cover (hide) the tire and it looks like this...



Went for a ride and I can't tell it's even back there. And I really like the sense of security it gives me!

I don't have any spare compression straps or placemats, but I have three more black wheels with run flat tires on them if you're interested. They're listed for sale here. (I compared the overall diameter of this 16" spare with my new 17" wheels and there's less than 1/2" difference.)

 

I'm a journalist who writes about cars when I'm on the road so don't take my Mini on long trips... use the OGC instead (other guys car) and write about it!