Replaced the coolant overflow with a polished aluminum tank.

 

woke up to a dead head unit....

 

Can't wait to see a picture of those on your car.

 

Replaced my old hazy tail lights with new ones, new side marker light to replace a broken one, and a new 3rd brake light to replace broken one. Thanks to the post on here, made all these changes extremely easy!

 

YOU'RE GONNA THINK I'M LYING
I took my '13 JCW to its first track day yesterday on a lark. ( I usually track a '12 Mercedes C63AMG ). I was nervous about getting my doors blown on the straights so I signed up for "Novice". But then the heavens opened up! Perfect. I thanked Him and switched to intermediate but still lined up back of the grid. I was surprised then amazed to find myself working up through the field to near the front ! I was on top of almost everything* and forcing a "wave by" including a 2 Corvettes, and a Shelby Mustang ! ( *no 911s present) A Mini Cooper ! They must have hated me ! The foloowing 2 sessions I lined up closer to the front. About 16-18 cars in the field and not one could pass ! Last session I caught a BMW M4 and we diced it out for oveer 10 min. I was all over him in turns and technical sections and though it was fun I think if he'd done the sporting thing and let me by after several laps of that I could have lapped faster and pulled away. He was dropping me on the big straights ( still only by 3-5 car lengths ) but after the first turn I was back on top of him. That's the most fun I've ever had on track day. I almost laughed out loud to think my $16K ( used ) Mini shamed so many badass cars. I almost felt I was misbehaving or like a street punk crashing High Society. And got good gas mileage doing it, LOL. ( I filled up before the event, and made it all the way home, 3hrs, on one tank !). People took notice. ( I don't see Minis

3 great loves Mini Mountain Bike My Jack Russell ( trail partner )
@ track day often.) Several asked "What have you done to your Mini ?" Now I'm thinking of selling the monster C 63 and putting a little more $ into my Mini. It could be real track day giant killer.

PS: I think I'll post something to seek advice on further mods
'13 JCW
SMS tune
catless downpipe

 

I wasn't going to do much, but I got bored around 9 PM and went out to check my tire pressures at the local Wawa. They were all over the place, so I set them all to 30 PSI and then set the spare to 60 PSI. I then went out for a drive, and probably drove 20-30 miles. When I got home, I took the center of the dash further apart for cleaning. While the interior was clean when I got the car, there was a sticky scum in all of the cracks, buttons, etc. that just didn't sit right with me. I had already cleaned up the climate control and toggle switch panels but there was debris where the chrome center gauge met the black backing panel that I would not stand for! Upon removal, I also found where what I hope was soda had puddled and dried out inside the ducts, so I cleaned that all as well. I also polished the chrome trim as best I could before reassembling the panel and installing it in the car. Then I turned my attention to the power mirror switch. It would not let me tilt the mirrors up and as I had just disassembled it and cleaned it, I figured I should take it to my lab and see what was up. I found no issues, so I cleaned the contacts again and reassembled it. This time, it worked! Sadly, the chrome trim around it is cracked, so I did not put it back on. I will have to see if I can buy that piece at the dealer when I get down to the last details.

 

You might check with Allmag Auto Parts, one of our sponsors that carries an extensive inventory of used parts. A lot cheaper than the dealer.

 

Nothing sexy. oil change (might go back to my oem dip stick- not a huge fan of my cravenspeed one) steel wool to ignition coil pack and new grease. 1 and 4 were ok- 2 and 3 had a bit of corrosion/surface rust per usual.
washed exterior and cleaned the bay a bit.

 

What kind of grease and where?

 

I use spark plug wire boot grease- single packs at auto parts checkout counter ~$2
a little 0000 steel wool on contact (red circle)
blow off with air gun and apply a pea size of grease blue circle. Hope that helps.
I can tell when they start to get dirty because it almost feels like a slight misfire (tapping) when I mash it.

 

Terminal 3 is always the worst.

 

I was going to say, Terminal 3 always sucks. lol

 

Changing my headlights to 05 bi xenon. Instead of the flat style bi xenon on my 04. Just restored this one tonight. Second one will be here tomorrow.


Instead of this style.

 

I love the bixenon projectors on my 2003 e46, crazy light output!

 

Not sure what type of grease that is but a lot of people mistakenly apply dialectic grease on the contacts thinking it helps. It is actually an insulator and is meant to keep moisture out. It will inhibit good electrical contact.

Isn't that the truth about #3 though.

 

Flushed the radiator. New forge coolant hoses. Oil change. Found a small crack in my coolant tank.

 

It is dielectric grease, but should be applied to the area beyond the contact to help seal the boot, and it also help keep it from sticking so badly. There is also more than enough voltage through the plug wires that a little bit on there really isn't going to hurt it.

 

 

Finally!!
swapped the stock brakes/rotors off my 13' R57S ...i picked up everything you see here right on these forums!
I rattle-can painted them to match the wheels and installed with the EBC red-stuff pads. + everything was ceramic coated to keep them easy to clean.

New Rotors and pads + rebuilt calipers - still bedding them in.

rears -New Rotors and pads + rebuilt calipers

the original OEM (56K) calipers will be posted on the classified pages here soon... I also have brand-new (40 miles) front rotors and brake pads I will be selling as well.

 

Yes that is correct. But air is also an insulator. A well designed joiner has enough tension to wipe the insulator off the mating faces. Most of them have enough to bite through any oxide layer to the clean metal. Applying a reasonable amount of dielectric grease shouldn't be a problem, and having grease instead of air surrounding the joint should reduce oxidation and water damage.

All our underground telecommunication joints over here are made with grease filled connectors. It is only when the joints are old (decades rather than years I was told) and the grease degrades that they become susceptible to water. The joint functions perfectly except when the pits fill up with water.

James

 

Installed some Bilstein B4 struts and ECS tower defenders to my R52S. Well, it was yesterday actually.

 

Thanks! Not much of a routine. Since the car is still young (3 years and 31k) it's not had time for corrosion to start making anything ugly. Simple Green all purpose cleaner, scrub with a nylon bristled brush, rinse with water. Go into nooks and crannies with an old microfiber plush towel I don't care about, working out the sticky grime, using more simple green as needed. Rinse again. Then start hitting things with ONR diluted spray and a fresh (but still old) microfiber for the final pass. Optionally grab my bottle of Prima Hydro Max and spray on plastic bits, buff off gently with a clean microfiber rag.

Doesn't really take long; it almost takes longer to describe than to do! :-) I do this once or twice a year, and it keeps things looking nice.

 

I fixed the loose cable that was keeping the passenger's inside door handle from opening the door, and installed a new speaker on that door as well. Ignoring the issues with the noise in the transmission, this means that I have now restored all major functions to the car. It has ice cold A/C, the windows and doors work, it runs great, has no steering or suspension issues, new brakes, 4 decent tires, radio and speakers, and all fluids and filters have been changed except for the brake fluid ( I need to figure out how to bleed it before I tackle this one). It even has cruise control and a lack of squeaks and rattles!

 

Went from this ......



.... to this thanks to wikdr53 for a great deal.

 

bratling - thanks.