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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.
Replaced my 9yr old battery finally and had to re-register it on Bimmercode and Bimmerlink and cleared my dumb high discharge code. Changed my spark plugs. Took off my rear badges and installed my vinyl one instead. Uninstalled my new cluster, reboxed it and shipped it back out for a refund. Also put a polarized filter on my front dashcam.
Ziggy threw a CEL and reduced power warning today for a misfire situation. Quick plug-in of the Bimmer Tool light app and a cylinder 2 misfire was the culprit. Swapped the coil with cylinder 1, misfire followed. Borrowed a coil from my wrecked E46 and we're back in business until I pick up a new one.
Replaced my 9yr old battery finally and had to re-register it on Bimmercode and Bimmerlink and cleared my dumb high discharge code. Changed my spark plugs. Took off my rear badges and installed my vinyl one instead. Uninstalled my new cluster, reboxed it and shipped it back out for a refund. Also put a polarized filter on my front dashcam.
It was having some software issues. It would display fault messages but I wasn't able to access and clear them with the left turn signal button. I would have to reinstall the old cluster in order to access the system. They seller sent me a video of which menu to access on the cluster but that menu was not there. It was also doing a weird speedometer needle sweep randomly when driving. Only happened a few times but for the money I'm spending, I don't want any problems. So I returned it and I'll put the funds to a Borla exhaust, haha.
When I replaced my coils, after diagnosing which one was bad, I hung on to the other 3 in the trunk. This way if I am on the road and have an issue, I have a backup with me. Too easy to change and keep going.
3 1/2 years ago my R56S with extensive modifications was destroyed when my garage caught fire. Last week I picked up an unmolested GP2 that has been a California car all it's life, it's so nice to be driving a manual transmission MINI again!
When I replaced my coils, after diagnosing which one was bad, I hung on to the other 3 in the trunk. This way if I am on the road and have an issue, I have a backup with me. Too easy to change and keep going.
This is my plan, as well. New Delphi coils are on their way from FCP Euro.
Dropped my JCW Aero kit off at the painters today, and now I realize that I also want to get the left and right underside paneling. Gonna have to nickname my mini, "Cha-ching"
3 1/2 years ago my R56S with extensive modifications was destroyed when my garage caught fire. Last week I picked up an unmolested GP2 that has been a California car all it's life, it's so nice to be driving a manual transmission MINI again!
Swapped out my front wheel bearings Friday. Taking my time, it took me 3 hours start to finish, wasn't to hard to do at all. Driver side axle wanted to fight a little, wd40, 3lb sledge, and 18mm socket popped it free. Passenger side was a breeze, but i had replaced that axle about 10k ago. Put new studs in them and let the loctite set for 24 hours. Saturday, wheels back on and drove my typical route to work, totally a different car, everything felt back in line and tight, quiet ride, no wanting to walk over bridge expansions, everything just feels right. This morning, 45 degrees, and typically she would make a little growl when first starting to move for the day, usually gone within the first 1/2 mile from house, well that wasnt there this morning, just a smooth ride, well as smooth as Indy 500's can be when cold. Im sure the years of being towed from Florida to Tennessee and running around with that tow setup up front did its toll. If you are wondering I picked up SKF wheel bearings, no trifecta.
New coils finally arrived from FCP. Longest I've ever had to wait for them to get parts to me.
My last shipment from them (last month) took a long time and an email to prompt them to get it sent. Hopefully these are just outlier experiences, as I've always been happy with them.
Today, I did 2wo things to my Mini -
1st) I added 1 gal of windshield wiper fluid...
2nd) And most importantly ~ ' discovered how to disable my anti-theft alarm through my Foxwell NT510 Elite OBDII scanner.
What makes that a big deal? - Ever since I owned the Mini, new, it had this annoying ,quirky habit of having the car alarm go off everytime the temperature dropped below 55°...
or if the wind changed direction.
What makes disabling the alarm siren even more important is due to my recent relocation.
Not today but 2wo weeks ago while taking an extended drive, I stopped and asked my Mini, "Where should we go next?". Yep - "we" both agreed: "Anywhere but here!"
3 days and 2,000 miles later....
From the sweet sunny seabreeze tropics of Florida, to the hectic craziness of metro Atlanta to the lush mountainous woodlands of "hootenanny haven", of North Georgia...
We are now calling this "home"...at least for now.
The snow capped mountains are a pretty fair sign as to how cold the temps will get in the coming months. It'll be nice not to have to deal with my siren going off every 20 minutes.
2nd) And most importantly ~ ' discovered how to disable my anti-theft alarm through my Foxwell NT510 Elite OBDII scanner.
What makes that a big deal? - Ever since I owned the Mini, new, it had this annoying ,quirky habit of having the car alarm go off everytime the temperature dropped below 55°...
or if the wind changed direction.
What makes disabling the alarm siren even more important is due to my recent relocation.
Not today but 2wo weeks ago while taking an extended drive, I stopped and asked my Mini, "Where should we go next?". Yep - "we" both agreed: "Anywhere but here!"
I didn’t think it was possible to activate or deactivate the alarm, or any other options, on a 1st gen with a Foxwell or Schwaben scanner. Any details on the procedure?
My last shipment from them (last month) took a long time and an email to prompt them to get it sent. Hopefully these are just outlier experiences, as I've always been happy with them.
Yeah, this was a first. Tracking data kept showing the label was created but USPS hadn't yet recieved the package. All in it took 8 calendar days when it usually takes 2-3.
Thanks, I'm still waiting for customer service rep to get back to me about missing pieces from the JCW Aero Kit. The description says it includes the brake duct kit but it was missing.
I didn’t think it was possible to activate or deactivate the alarm, or any other options, on a 1st gen with a Foxwell or Schwaben scanner. Any details on the procedure?
I'll admit I'm not at all completely savvy in understanding all of the features of an OBDII reader. With regards to "deactivating" the alarm siren in my Mini via my Foxwell 510 Elite - It may have just been a fluke or something had changed the behavior of my over active alarm siren?
Here are the steps I took navigating through the Control Modules menu to access the alarm...
In the Emergency Power Siren screen - I selected F1 to activate/test the siren
When the test finished successfully (siren works) - I noticed the 'Deactivate (F2)' was still in bold.
Honestly, I would have assumed selecting 'Deactivate (F2)' would stop the test mode but I decided to select F2,, just to see what happens.
I closed out/unplugged the reader, locked the Mini with the alarm set as usual (blinking light on the stalk). I let the Mini set for a while. It was a windy 37°.
Normally under these conditions, the alarm would go off within 10-20min afterwards and would continue to reset if unattended. I left the Mini sit over night as the temps had dropped down to 32°.
The next morning I noticed the light in the stalk was still blinking steadily as if nothing had gone off over night. So I shook the car and sure enough the headlights began to flash as if there was an attempt to move or break in. But no alarm siren.
Being in the situation I am in (Motels), made me a little uncomfortable not having the siren go off in the event of theft. I went back and through the steps with the Foxwell and left things as they were before.
Interestingly enough; NOW the alarm siren no longer goes off at random! And only if an attempt is made to move or disturb the car as it was intended to work in the first place!
21 years of having that alarm siren constantly go off at random now works after all this time
Thanks, I'm still waiting for customer service rep to get back to me about missing pieces from the JCW Aero Kit. The description says it includes the brake duct kit but it was missing.
If so the brake ducts are included as you can see, but they are not like the old full brake duct kit that now nla. They are just the front portion as seen in the pics.
The full brake duct that goes to the wheel well is NLA from MINI and the suppliers never made that connection kit. What you do is trim the wheel well fabric like the old JCW brake kit MINI used to sell. Maybe i bit larger. You just dont have that short brake hard plastic section.
The trim pieces that come with the kit fit into the bumper grill, the ducts linked here clip to the back of the trim pieces, then your existing rear duct sections are reused.
Finished putting everything together and installed Aeroforce gauge instead of the digital cluster. Painted the grill-headlight-taillight trim same as body color.
