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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
Slowly getting back to trusting Barnaby as an everyday daily driver. I have been babying him for a few weeks and have been getting 24 MPG average and no overheating issues. I may not have to sell him after all!
Great news!
Did you by chance mark the mileage when you put Barnaby back together?
Did pads and rotors on all four corners. Only took seven hours, four different wrenches, a breaker bar and a screwdriver. Was gonna bleed the system but two of the bleeders are stuck. Trying to decide if I'm gonna buy new bleeders and diy it or send it to the shop. Used to be able to do brakes on my prelude with three wrenches and two hours. European cars are hard.
Did the crank pulley last weekend. Only took an hour. HU install took about 20 minutes. Seems my Cooper projects are getting harder, not easier.
I also tried the Turtle fog kit to reduce the left rear tail light lens foggy look and after 2 hours I believe the tail light lens are worse than when I started. I think I will try Maguires next time.
I go straight for the 400 grit when dealing with crappy lenses. Then 600 and shoot them with a non-yellowing clear. I've tried the kit route before too, never had much luck.
I found out that the hose clamps that BMW use are not friendly and require a special "clic-r pliers" and that North American hose clamps will not fit any of the air intake hose fittings so now I wait for a pair of clic-r pliers---no one local has them in stock. GGRRrr
Did you by chance mark the mileage when you put Barnaby back together?
And if so, how many miles since the repair work?
Thanks! I didn't mark down exact mileage but I am estimating somewhere around 2-300 miles drove since the repair. Although I was told the head wouldn't start acting up until it is fully heated up after hours of driving..the longest I have drove would be about an hour straight so far.
I will go the grit paper route, thanks for the info.
If you do decide to go sanding, I also used a soft sanding block for doing the curved lenses, I was worried I might leave finger marks. I picked mine up at the hardware store alongside the sandpaper. I got the clearcoat from auto one rust Olean enamel clear. No idea if it helps with headlight rust.
Finally got my 02 sensor replaced! (easier than I thought to do). An overdue oil change with Amsoil European Synthetic, and checked the brake sensors (light was on, but all is fine). Runs so much smoother now and the mpg went soaring back from 24 back to 29.1avg. Ahhh! The Blue Meanie is happy again!
Finally got my 02 sensor replaced! (easier than I thought to do). An overdue oil change with Amsoil European Synthetic, and checked the brake sensors (light was on, but all is fine). Runs so much smoother now and the mpg went soaring back from 24 back to 29.1avg. Ahhh! The Blue Meanie is happy again!
Glad to hear The Blue Meanie is healthy again! Cheers
Finally got my 02 sensor replaced! (easier than I thought to do). An overdue oil change with Amsoil European Synthetic, and checked the brake sensors (light was on, but all is fine). Runs so much smoother now and the mpg went soaring back from 24 back to 29.1avg. Ahhh! The Blue Meanie is happy again!
Wow, 29.1???
I am trying to be extra good at the moment and I am currently sitting at 24.5 mpg via the OBC. I just replaced the camshaft position sensor and I am now getting back to seeing if that improves my MPG. This is challenging for me.
Instead of the digital speed starring at me while I drive, I changed it to MPG so I make a constant decision to be good while driving. If I need to know how fast I am going, I can look at the center speedo. haha But I find that driving for MPGs does not require you to monitor your speed AS much as you do while driving in a spirited manner.
I am trying to be extra good at the moment and I am currently sitting at 24.5 mpg via the OBC. I just replaced the camshaft position sensor and I am now getting back to seeing if that improves my MPG. This is challenging for me.
Instead of the digital speed starring at me while I drive, I changed it to MPG so I make a constant decision to be good while driving. If I need to know how fast I am going, I can look at the center speedo. haha But I find that driving for MPGs does not require you to monitor your speed AS much as you do while driving in a spirited manner.
29 is awesome.
Yeah, I've been feather-footing lately since it's so dam hot. I will occasionally put the MPG mode on and watch the center speed dial. When spiriting around on a cooler day, I'll get 23-24 avg.
Passenger window wouldn't go down again (as it does a few times per year for the
last several years). Fonzie trick didn't work this time, so I took the door panel off and gave
the door frame over the motor a few direct light taps with a deadblow hammer and it's
going again.
Side note - the front 6.5" speaker now has a pinched voice coil (immobile cone), probably from
the door banging causing the magnet to shift - third time this has happened. Replacement
driver from Polk is $90 + shipping + tax, so I ordered a full db6501 set for $139 via
Amazon/Crutchfield with free shipping and no tax. Now I'll have 2 replacement woofers
as well as 2 replacement tweeters and crossovers if I ever need them.
Yeah, I've been feather-footing lately since it's so dam hot. I will occasionally put the MPG mode on and watch the center speed dial. When spiriting around on a cooler day, I'll get 23-24 avg.
That's damn good! I think the best I have ever got in mine was like 27 on the highway
Yeah, I've been feather-footing lately since it's so dam hot. I will occasionally put the MPG mode on and watch the center speed dial. When spiriting around on a cooler day, I'll get 23-24 avg.
My best ever was pure highway driving at 75 and got 31. It was pretty flat out in Nebraska!
My best ever was pure highway driving at 75 and got 31. It was pretty flat out in Nebraska!
I have never reached 30mpg. I'm always between 24-28 no matter what I do. I even tried driving only in mid mode between fill ups and still didn't break 30. I hate green mode, and will only use it when there's little traffic on the freeway. It's too lethargic and I'm afraid I won't be able to get out of trouble fast enough in a sticky situation. I don't consider my daily driving to be spirited, perhaps I'm just heavy footed.
My best ever was pure highway driving at 75 and got 31. It was pretty flat out in Nebraska!
I'm hovering at about 33-34 mpg in my 04 r53
Mostly highway driving! However, something is weird and it now reads "99.99mpg avg" and my average speed reads "11mph" Kinda weird... I know I drive about 65-70 mph average.
Got my oil analysis back today and everything looks fine!
Went ahead and changed it anyway before I got the analysis back, but i'll be going closer to 10k or 15k miles now that I know what the engine is doing.
There was ~8k on this oil change on a 200k motor. Very happy!
Changed oil in the 6spd transmission, no surprises---I did use the 1/2" tube and funnel from above to refill the tranny as mentioned elsewhere on this forum---no need for a hand pump.
