Remove my rear Bilstein B4 rear shocks for the damn knocking. No matter what I did. With washer without washer you name it. Installed sachs rear shock. I can hear the bugs scream as they hit the windshield. No more damn knocking. Going up for sale on market place tomorrow. Will be 65 shipped for the pair.

 

Could that have been a warranty issue with the shock? That is a popular replacement shock for MINIs and yours might have been a one off defect...

As a side note... Not all shock knocking is the shock.. I had a knock in a rear shock on the ‘07 S I had and pulled it apart at least 6 times to find the issue. Brand new FSDs. Finally, I got so frustrated that I cranked all the nuts and bolts as tight as I dared. This included the nut for the swaybar link... Turned out it was the sway bar link nut that needed to be tighter. Not sure why the spec wasn’t good enough. Maybe the paint on the tab on the shock was letting it slip?

 

The issue with B4s are they do not use the small washer from the OEM shock shaft. They give you a huge washer. A lot of folks had tried to use said washer they same way as the OEM setup. You will get a ton of knocking. So we remove the washer an use the washer on top under the nut. I did this an torqued to spec would still eventually knock. I have tried OEM rubber isolators an Powerflex still same issue. Swapped the sachs an Powerflex bushing. No more knocking an rides great.

 

Well yesterday after working on my suspension. I went over to a guys house that was selling his mini on Facebook. Was an 05 R50. Would not start. He went as far as to order another ews, ecm an key. Still not luck. So I brought my laptop with me a realigned his ews with inpa. An what do you know running. He was like I cannot believe you got it to run. Now he going to keep the mini an fix the front suspension issues. Glade I could help save a mini from a possible parting out.

 

​​​Installed some powerflex inserts for the upper motor mount on my F55. Super easy job. Jack under motor with wooden 2x4 for weight disbursement. Just a small bit will work.
​Pull headlight out. (4 screws, 1 plug). Then add a touch of hand soap to the powerflex and push hard. Seem to cut off a little vibration.

Also installed some smoked lens rear fog lights. And darker middle side turn signals
Just the Cooper S to finish and all the chrome is obsolete.
Noticed one of the brackets that holds the intercooler in was cracked when taking the dust cover off. So will order tomorrow... Next week MMR lowering springs will be here with new sway bar links for the front and back.

Also ordered a new hoodscoop yesterday then one popped up here for $30 less. So I kicked myself a time or two as well. Ha ha

 

Nice!

 

Finishing up lowering the F55 today. This weather has really been a hassle. Fitted with NM sway bar links(already swapped rear bar) , MMR performance lowering springs and had to get new boots for the struts as well.
Anyone have a link to torque specs for the pinch bolt? I'm definitely not looking in the correct places. Finding tons of info for the R56. But almost resorting to referencing common max torque specs for each nut or bolt.

 

Replaced the LF wheel speed sensor on my daughter's R52S. Unfortunately, and like so many others I read about before tackling this, I had to drill out the old one. I used progressively larger drill bits, and the a pick, screwdriver and very slim long needle nose pliers to get all the bits and piece out. I used a sanding drum bit on a Dremel to clean out the bore for the sensor, and then used anti-seize when I installed the new one.

I cleared the DTC (the Foxwell NT510 I found locally off of FB marketplace served us well in this repair) and I've driven about 10 miles with no further warning lights!

 

Trackday at Buttonwillow yesterday. Set a new PB of 2:09.152

 

Well is back into the engine again. I notice my fuel usage had gone up. An I checked. I’m getting a lot of misfires on cylinder 1. There are no codes stored for the misfires noire check engine light. So I Performed a compression check
1. : 120
2. : 152
3. : 150
4 : 154

So I’m just going to take a peak at cylinder one.
Little back story. I had an injector stick open on cylinder one causing some valve damage. So I got a rebuilt one. I did pour some oil in each cylinder an let it sit over night. All of them except number 1 was holding the same amount of oil. 1 has dropped a little. I went ahead an reassembled everything. An it ran great. But I noticed that my gas mileage was not as good as it was before this happened. The cylinder wall look good. No gauge’s or scratching on the cylinder wall.
So I’m going to pull the piston on cylinder one an hone out the cylinder an replace the rings.
Getting things all together before I dive in. So it will be next month before I get started.

 

Attempted a Bootmod3 tune yesterday but need a benched unlock for my 2015 F55. So going to deal with that this afternoon. Bootmod3 says you can try to force flash it. Not a great idea. Lol. Lesson learned. But had all requirements correct. We shall see.

 

Had a little time this weekend to do some maintenance on my GP. I changed the oil and filter, and bled the brakes with some DOT 4 fluid in preparation for a couple track days I have planned for this season. I have a Motive power bleeder and bled the brakes very quickly. Really saves time over pumping the brakes, or doing a gravity bleed. Looking forward to warmer weather!

 

Took advantage of decent weather the last two weekends: interior cleaning (no car wash/wax yet ) two weekends ago and an oil change/tire rotation last weekend.

 

Re-insured it with Haggerty again this year, and driving it to work for the first time this year. Insurance is a bit pricier than otherwise, but I get to set the value so that a ding or fender bender won't lead to an automatic total. Value is currently set at $20k, but I might increase it a bit next year.

 

A few years ago I get insurance from Haggerty. I have it covered for 60k and it cost me a $100.00 a month.

 

Aren't there limitations on how you can use it and yearly mileage and the like? Just had to go through my e46 touring being totalled from a debris impact that bubbled a tire, bent a strut, and blew a side curtain airbag. The airbag deployment is what did it in. I bought it back and will be fixing it, but I'm not happy about the valuation of the car.

 

I think you would probably pay more for more mileage as they do ask you about the type of use. I tell them occasional use for errands, driving to and from work etc. Last year I remember giving them an estimated mileage of 6-8000 miles per year - they didn't ask this year. I only ended up putting a bit over 2.5k miles on last year. Not sure if they will insure your car if it's your primary driver for like 20k miles per year tho.

I have a no-questions asked set value for my car at $20k, so it cannot be totaled unless the estimated damage is over 15k. And I have the extra part of the policy that if the car is totaled, I get the full payout and I get to keep the vehicle as well. Again, it's pricier than Progressive, but for those of us who are fair weather garage queen owners that plan on owning our cars until we can't own anything any longer, I think Hagerty makes sense. You can specify OEM parts as well, including glass.

 

Yeah, I'm trying to find something agreed value that allows daily use. I don't put 20k miles per year on it, but do tend to average around 15k, and it's the family road trip vehicle. What sucked about the valuation was that they wouldn't take comps from outside my "market." Regular insurance doesn't understand trying to replace a low production vehicle in an enthusiast driven market. I flew halfway across the cou try to buy this car because they only made around 1200 for the US market. You can't find comps because they don't exist. Especially a rwd/manual trans wagon in the NE, which is the land of awd. I may look into additional coverage for "aftermarket parts and accessories" after I complete the drivetrain swap from 2.5L/5 speed to 3.0L/6 speed. Plus the suspension, wheels, etc. I should have something more pedestrian for daily use, but just can't stand the idea of driving a boring appliance everyday.

 

Needed a battery anyhow - mine is going on 8 and needing constant attention. Why not shed 25-30lbs as well?

 

How about a MINI for a DD?

Or should I say... another MINI...

 

I had no such limitations, but if your car has been in an accident I don't think they will insure it. The only thing I had to do was send in some pictures and tell them how much I wanted it insured for.

 

Check with Lockton Insurance. They do my track day insurance for my JCW. They seem to be more “flexible” and less expensive than Haggarty. They may have something for your BMW. Can’t hurt to check.

 

Finally got around to doing the front control arm bushings on my wife's 06. What a job. Did it the reciprocating saw way and cut the sleeves out before putting the new Powerflex ones on. Took significantly less time than dropping the subframe though. It is tight getting a reciprocating saw in there though. No good angle on either side. Really tightened up the steering. Her original basically fell apart when I took the control arms out of the holders. It was bad.

 

Opening Weekend at The Glen!

 

And it looks like typical early April weather for the NE...

I am guessing you had a great time in spite of that...