Girlfriend's parents got me the MCAW for Christmas. Put it in today, what a pain! You should see the back of my hand, looks like a cat went to town on it. First off, the unit does work well, as advertised, and was a cinch to program. But getting it in was a total pain that took nearly an hour. I ended up having to remove the switch panel all together to straighten some of the pins that were bent when I was struggling to get at it by feel. Honestly, I am good with stuff like this, and maybe my hands are just a little to big, but I can't see doing this safely and easily without some dash and downtube disassembly.

TJM

 

what's a MCAW??

 

http://www.mcaw.info/

Or it could be a bird

 

I installed mine yesterday, and fortunately I have small hands so there are only a few minor scratches.

This install certainly comes under the category of "the first one takes a long time, and the subsequent ones take only a few minutes". I took the advice from another posting and kept the cable on when installed the module in the car - otherwise I think I'd still be working on it. Also, I wish the instructions had been more clear about the flip down latch holding the wired connector in. You also tend to get disoriented about up, down, in, and out when you're underneath your dash - that would explain why I also accidently removed the connector for the AC.

But I would certainly recommend this mod to every Mini owner. You don't realize how much enjoyment this module provides until the first few times you use it. Everyone should get one. It's great!