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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.
Not today - but yesterday.
After putting over 5,000 miles on my overly weighted down Mini; I finally had the opportunity to purchase and replace my rear tires.
Due to the weight, my rear camber had been become negatively severe. Beyond what might be considered safe nor rational.
Ultimately throwing off the rear toe and rounding out the insides of my 15,000 mi Continental Extreme DWS.
In an effort to try and save a few $$ - I ordered a new pair of 205 45 R17 Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 through Wally World (aka: Walmart).
No one drives my Mini but me. There was no way I was going to leave my Mini in the hands of Walmart service dept to even drive my car into the bay. Or even allow them to hammer
down the lug nuts so I could never break them loose in the event of me having a flat tire.
I took it upon myself to jack up, remove and roll the wheels off my Mini into their service bay....
Whilst the rear end was up on stands; I decided it might be a good idea to dial down my Bilstein B14's coilovers to stock ride height.
Unfortunately, as expected, the tire replacement wasn't without collateral damage to my S-Lites....
Wheels back on wrapped in new Continentals...
Bilsteins re-adjusted, a few rolls back 'n' forth, appears to have helped re-align/center the rear camber a bit....
Time again for another alignment $$---
Last edited by Here2Go; Jan 15, 2025 at 05:08 AM.
Reason: 5,000 miles not 4,000 miles
I washed my JCW getting ready to sell. I am new to the Website trying to post it for someone who might want to care for this baby. -Marco After it’s hand wash last week.
Took it in for its annual maintenance. Found a broken motor mount. It doesn't need to replaced today but they said I should start budgeting for it ($1700). Will probably target doing it after the holidays.
Got this done (actually yesterday). Shop came in $60 below estimate, which was nice.
Needed a new battery this week.
Last one (Diehard Platinum AGM
H5) only lasted about 4.5 years,
so I got the same kind in H6
size this time.
At least it didn’t crap out in 2
years like the Odyssey one I
had before that.
The H6 went in just as easily as
the H5 size.
My JCW weekend canyon carver can drain the battery in 30 days. The PO had replaced it multiple times in the last few years since he got another car and stopped driving it. I’m keeping it on the Ctek trickle charger but this battery is not healthy.
Do you have anything plugged into your obd2 port ?
Originally Posted by Krunch2020
My JCW weekend canyon carver can drain the battery in 30 days. The PO had replaced it multiple times in the last few years since he got another car and stopped driving it. I’m keeping it on the Ctek trickle charger but this battery is not healthy.
One of those nasty trackers? I had one in my old heavy avalanche that I discovered. Stealth dealer installing discovered a few years later .. battery was an issue if I let it sit as it was not a daily driver
All My MINI item are at the BMWCCA Museum in Spartanburg SC for the MINIs to the Max 65 years.
This is right next to the Spartanburg SC BMW plant and BMW Performance Driving School. I would make a trip if you can while its there! Open to the public!
BMW CCA Foundation, 190 Manatee Ct, Greer, SC 29651
Most of those item in that case are mine. They did not display all my items, i gave them too many lol. In fact over the years of BMW stuff I gave them more items then anyone they have seen. That includes all BMW owners.
I gave them some of the rarest MINI items ever made and some were ONE... one per dealer.
1. Euro Picnic set
2. Dealer only tea sets in black and yellow, displayed in the case when first 50 dealers opened.
3. Hey Horn
4. MINI Motorer 'Rat fink" design banner that only got one per dealer, these were in the showroom and only in service, the set i bought was from the company that originally designed them. I bought them from the design companies manager.
5. MINI Gas cap - one per dealer
6. many other rare items that should be in a museum.
MINIUSA donated some items but my items were more rare. As most were internal or dealer level. MINI and MINIUSA did not keep as much as I have. They must have thrown some stuff away.
If you ask if I am a collector of MINI stuff... I am the collector. lol
Originally Posted by gauss66
I need to visit !
Just got my stuff back thanks to a local MINI and Mini collector that had his Mini 30th on display. He transported it for me so i gifted him a 30th edition collector card from the late 1990's.
One of those nasty trackers? I had one in my old heavy avalanche that I discovered. Stealth dealer installing discovered a few years later .. battery was an issue if I let it sit as it was not a daily driver
Thanks for the idea. I checked yesterday and there’s nothing plugged in or directly behind the OBD port.
I think the car had so much deferred maintenance that it was parked for an extended time and the battery voltage got so low it can’t be fully restored by the Ctek charger.
It was time for her first Florida oil change and tire rotation. Start to finish took about an hour, having a garage and everything right there is nice. No lugging it over, in the wife’s car, to the carport. Wife and I are off tomorrow and high’s in the 80’s, we plan on a trip down to Barefoot Beach. Since I have to drive down a private drive to the nature reserve 😁😉 had to make sure the R53 looked good as well.
Looking good Jason! Also looks like you need new bonnet and hatch emblems - looking a little faded
She will get them when she gets wrapped or painted. Not something that’s high on the priority list, I find we are driving her more down here than back in Ohio. For one it’s just too damn nice not too, and let’s face it these parking spots near the beach aren’t very big at all, had to fold the mirrors and let the wife out before parking a couple of times.
the Tiguan is close to her 100,000 mile service, every fluid gets swapped on an awd vehicle, and it going to the dealership for that, not looking forward to that bill at all, but it’s her car and it’s just easier to say yes dear and pay the toll. Brakes and oil easy peasy, it’s the rest I kinda don’t even want to mess with. Plus this visit will show up on the carfax, which will help us in the future, would love to trade her in on a countryman or maybe a convertible. Only reason why we would need the countryman would be for the dogs or visitors, but driving with top down heading down the coast wouldn’t be so bad either.
1 can CRC GDI intake valve & turbo cleaner through the intake manifold (by vacuuum hose. BG 44K in the tank BG EPR in the crankcase for 10 minutes, then oil and filter change. No real issues; I just do this every 15-20K miles (every 3-4 oil changes) to keep things cleaner.
New rotors all around and changed out pads from EBC red stuff to yellow stuff. V5 Front rotors for the JCW, nice think they are ECS branded from Zimmerman - quality. Rear carrier bolts are an absolute pain - BMW / Mini uses blue Loctite and with the lousy access, breaker and sledge are your friend to get started. Red stuff on old rotors never really felt as “grabby” as I wanted. Too early to tell on the yellow stuff just ~50 miles.
Also changed out the plugs and coils for NGK and Dinan coils. Word of warning - the porcelain champions are “fatter” on the porcelain part and do not fit all 14mm thin wall sockets. Did not break them…but what fits the NGK may not fit the Champion… in my case had to go to a different 14mm thin star socket. Simple job but this could complicate for a few.
Also put in the FitCamX for Mini. Very simple, quick and fits well without screaming “dashcam”. Also adjust my Bilstein ride height ..560mm rear and 565mm front measured from lower rim lip on RSE05 17” rims to top of wheel well trim. Interesting observation…I need to to adjust my passenger side spring seat “looser” by about 1/2” than the driver side - need to compress (“lower”) less to get equal…figure due to transmission and other weight on drivers side. I really need to corner weight this car.
Just another day out here in the wasteland amidst the wind-blown dirt and tumble weeds.
Still not able to work on my Mini in the parking lot where I'm currently residing - Today, I replaced the rear brake pads on my Mini, in a seemingly remote, industrial parking lot overlooking the valley....
Strange that seems to me, that the rear brakes on my Mini always wear out faster than the fronts.
I decided to go with PowerStop again. I'll be replacing the front pads after I return from an 800mi roundtrip, joy-ride set for tomorrow.
Well, it was yesterday, thought it would be fun to take Albert, the JCW, on a road trip. The roads around here have dried from the slush storm last Sunday and most of the salt has blown off. The sky was blue and temps were just below freezing, so little chance of thawed snow wet roads and salt getting into nooks and crannies. Backed Albert out of its hibernation cave and stopped him in the sun at the end of the driveway to finish getting ready. All set, ready, go…
No. Message from Albert - “No Key Fob found”. WHAT? I just started the car and just turned it off. The key fob is in my pocket. I checked. Tried again - “Put key fob next to the steering column”. Nope! What is going on? Tried again.
Damn Mice! Must have chewed something. No, wait. That’s not likely, everything was just working fine.
Need to get going, but Albert is blocking the driveway and it is uphill to get it out of the way. So no way to get one of my other cars out to take this road trip to meet up with a friend.
Ugh!
Then a dim lightbulb goes off in my brain… Dead fob battery? Fortunately, I had this discussion with my SA a few months ago and knew how to change it. Even more importantly this happened at home and not at the end of my road trip where I would have had no chance of changing the battery. Equally fortunate, I had a replacement battery. Why? I don’t remember, but they fit something else that I have. Someone is clearly looking out for me and wanted me to take this trip.
While I already knew how to replace the battery in the fob, I thought this might help others before they find themselves stuck. MIMI posted this on replacing the battery:
Drove it 250 km home. The road noise was crazy but, you’re right over the wheels so it’s expected. The only thing that kept me sane was the Harmon Kardon factory stereo setup. Lots of speakers for a really small car.
I also undercoated it yesterday. That too will assist with noise abatement.
Unbelievably difficult to change the oil filter.
:(
Will update when it’s all done.
(I’m also going to do the doors and floor when it warms up. Was also going to do the roof too but the headligner removal appears to be almost impossible
Not today - but a couple of days ago... The Short Version:
I gave my Mini a well deserved spa treatment.
Why?
Nobody Told Me There'd Be Days Like This.... The Longer Version:
After enjoying a nice long 2,000+ mi drive cross country, from the South East coast to the mid South West; I've been out here in the desert for about 4months now,
Let it be known,,, The desert wastelands of the South West can be brutally unforgiving to the preservation of a car. Especially my beloved Mini. With the amount of wind blown dirt - It has been a futile attempt to keep my car clean
on a daily basis. The other day, I decided to take a "little", leisurely 300+mi cruise from Rio Rancho, NM down to El Paso, TX. Big mistake - I certainly picked a bad day to take a long distance joy-ride. Unbeknown to me, the forecast had called for dangerous wind-storms with gusts sustaining up to 65mph!
After traveling several grueling miles under zero visibility conditions; I found it necessary to pull off at the next exit I could find.
Whilst my Mini was being sandblasted by the 60mph sandstorm, all I could do was have the presence of mind to brave the storm by getting out and stuffing rags into the open hood scoops
Riding the Storm Out: The Aftermath:
After finally finding my way to a DIY car wash; I proceeded with the long task of dirt remediation.
During the final process of wiping and waxing, I was dismayed to discover the blemishes and water spot I had previously worked so hard in removing last year, reared its ugly self.
Nothing I'd tried in the past (e.g: clay bar, high speed polishing with Gringots, various wax, polymer treatment etc:...) would thoroughly remove or obscure their presence...
I can only imagine the lowbrow head shakes that I'll receive as you read what I actually used and which worked (for the time being) in this recent instance...
Being a drifter at heart;. I've cruised many, many miles across state lines and spent many nights sleeping (albeit, sleepless) at truck-stops behind the wheel in my Mini.
In the morning after every nights rest, I slap on some deodorant. This morning was a little different. With deodorant in hand, as I happen to look upon those annoying blemishes on my 21y/o hood; some unknown force
possessed me to do something odd....
That's right. Just apply a slight squiggle of Arm & Hammer deodorant over the offending spots - and buff to a brilliant shine.
Silly I know - But honestly, no amount of product or effort I put into removing these spots EVER worked as easily as this ("stoopid") unthinkable and unconventional method!
In the absence of compressed air and as much as I was tempted to pressure wash the dirt from the engine bay - I felt it would be in my safest yet best interest to hand detail.
Armed with just a spray bottle of water, a few rags, Mequires ultimate plastic shine, a small make-up and toothbrush for the hard to reach nooks and crannies - took 2.5 hours just to clean the engine bay
A cracked and pitted windshield, dozens of recent rock chips and a ridiculous amount of airborne dirt taking its toll on my nerves and Mini...
I'll soon be moving on from the wastelands - Never looking back!
No, wait. That’s not likely, everything was just working fine.
