Update: 10-16-2021

Ordered a few parts for the R52 the other day...probably won't see them until late November. I also need to order a PRW dampener as well, that's next on the list of things to get

Also picked up a brand new half-top cover for the convertible, never used, still in the carrying bag....which I will never get folded back correctly to put it back in

Bryan

 

Did you get the dash tray new?

I have been thinking about one of these.

 

Yes....just ordered a new one from ECS....they have a kit that includes the rectangle plug for the upper left corner, but I wasn't gonna pay $10 for it...I'm putting my driving light switch there anyway. I also have some tool box drawer liner that I will use in the tray as well.

Bryan

 

Cool. I'll wait for your review. Right now all of my car budget and time is going to Mustang work.

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Update: 10-24-2021

Couple things here....I ordered a set of these outside door mirrors today...have heard that a lot of people have them on other cars and they like them, so I will see what happens when I get them installed

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26341822311...53.m1438.l2649

Also, I finally started to play with my INPA program that I got two years ago....and I am having issues with it. Turns out that it won't work with Windows 10 operating systems....so now I have to dig out one of my older laptops with Windows Vista and see if I can get it working on that computer. If I still can't get it to work for turning on or off coding items in the BCM, I'm just gonna give up.

Bryan

 

I have a pair of the Helix-branded (IIRC) mirrors like that, and having convex glass on the driver's side is pretty nice. Actually, I have two pairs. The plastic clips that hold the mirror on weren't cast correctly on at least one (but maybe two? I can't recall) of the four, so I ended up buying the second set. I also had to re-glue the glass on at least two of them.

 

Update: 10-30-2021

My mirrors arrived the other day, just have to wait for a break in the weather to put them in. Just hope I can swap them out without too much trouble...and I hope I don't break anything in the process

On another note....my order that I placed with ECS was supposed to ship out on October 28th, now it's been pushed out 2 weeks. I just hope my parts are not floating around the ocean in one of those shipping containers that fell off the boat

Had to order a new set of rear Euro tail lights...with all the rain we had here over the last week, I had to drill a small drain hole in the right rear tail light because it had about a half inch of water inside

Bryan

 

one more quick update......I was finally able to get my INPA program installed on my laptop. I tried to install it on my main laptop that has Windows 10...it won't work with that operating system. I was able to even talk with the person that I got the program from, he said that 95% of the time it won't work on that system. So, I dig out one of my older laptops that has Windows Vista on it....I deleted a lot of my programs, apps, documents, and pictures from that laptop....and loaded the program on that computer...all went very smoothly.

Next step is to plug the cable into the car and he says the proper screens will come up for my car and what I want to accomplish with the program.

Waiting for the weather to break here for me to do that

Bryan (and the entire INPA program on the CD is in English)

 

Update 1-13-2022

As most here know I have been fixing everything that has been broken, not working, or just plain worn out on this R52 JCW car......abut the only thing that has not worked on the car since I got it up & running is the key fob to lock and unlock the doors.....when I got the car, I took the key to my local Mini dealer and asked them to check it for sending a signal, they said it was working fine. I had tried most everything to get the fob to work on the car. Tried different programing steps, all proved to not work...I was convinced that the receiver inside the rear view mirror was bad, seems to be a common problem. Having said that, I was not going to pay $750 + shipping for the Homelink rear view mirror from Germany

I joined a few Mini groups on Facebook.....met a guy overseas that was having similar issues with his car. He replaced the battery inside his three-button fob and got his locks to work. So I bought a new battery from eBay, carefully took the plastic fob apart, de-soldered the little battery on the circuit board, soldered in the new battery, put the electronic board in the plastic housing and glued the two halves of the fob back together. After the glue dried, I went out to the car and tried the programing steps....took me about 4 times to get it right...you have to be fast enough and push the buttons on the fob quickly and in the correct order.....after you push the last button in the sequence, you have to wait a few seconds, (seemed like an eternity), then the doors will lock and unlock......and it worked....

I now have a working key fob for the car.....(doesn't take much to make me happy on this car anymore)

Now I need to replace the damper with the PRW one I have here, along with the burl wood grain dash pieces, new Euro tail lights, and a new air bag module (hope that module takes care of my air bag code of no communication with the module itself from my scanner

Bryan

 

Getting something to work that's taken a long time is one of the best feelings! Congrats! I will be doing that soon on my 3 button fob as it only unlocks when you get really close to the car!

 

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I know, I'm still smiling because the fob now works.

I also found out that once I unlocked the car with the fob, if I press the unlock button again and hold it down for maybe 5 seconds, all the windows open and the top goes down....... now I'm trying to figure out if I can get the windows and top to close with just the remote as well

Sometimes it's just the little things that make me feel better about this car

Bryan

 

Seems like I remember something in the owners manual about closing similar to being able to open everything.

 

It's a coding option. Mine didn't come that way from the factory, but I coded it so that the windows will close by holding the lock button. I assume you can do the same for the top, but I've never checked since I have a hardtop.

 

everything I have read & heard over the last few days since I got my fob working is that closing the top & windows with the fob button is not possible on the convertible. (yet I can hold the key in the lock position in the door and everything will close up)

Now, with that being said, there is a module for convertible owners that allows one touch complete open and one touch complete close of the windows & top.....it's called a Smart Top module...and it's rather pricey....I'm not going to get it

Bryan

 

A quick search turns up some posts like this one where people claim it’s possible. I’m pretty sure it was never officially offered in the US, probably because of liability. The same goes for just the windows like with my car. If I have the time, I can take a look at my BC1 file; I suspect it still includes the cabrio options.

edit: Yeah, it looks like the KOMFORTSCHLIESSUNG_FB option includes the convertible top. At least that's what NCSDummy claims (screenshot below). Occasionally things don't work like they seem like they should, or an additional option has to be checked. For example, auto-up works on my driver's side window but not the passenger. I did actually see something I want to try for that as I was scrolling through the file looking for the comfort close option.

 

Interesting that it does show that it can be done on the R52....now whether it actually works or not is another question

The Smart Top module has this for the car, but again, rather pricey. I also have a module here from another member that allows one touch up and down for windows, but I think the module only fits the R53 cars, not cars with 4 power windows.....

I did find out the other day that if I stab the "window down button" on my R52 header panel quickly, all 4 windows on the car will go down....but nothing happens when I stab the "up" button real fast....

I don't think I'm going to worry about any other comfort access to the car anymore than what my fob can do.....it's just more things to go wrong with the car...and I'm trying to get everything working again as it should

(The auto up on the windows would kinda scare me if someone was in the passenger seat or the rear seat of the convertible and maybe had their head, fingers, hand, or arm out the window when you pushed the "auto up button")

Bryan

 

Coding (done properly) shouldn't cause anything to go wrong, and it's easily reverted anyway.

I wouldn't be surprised if auto-up doesn't work on the cabrio for the reasons you described, but I've never done any research into it beyond the hardtops. I've actually coded out several safety "features" on my car. I turned off most of the annoying warning beeps and bongs, and I disabled the interlock that required the clutch to be pressed to start the car. It's pretty nice to have access to those options since there are actually quite a few that can be changed or adjusted, e.g. the on board computer, alarm system, fog lights, service interval, etc. I even removed the offset in the digital speedometer.

 

Auto up is only functioning on cars that have the .C03 BCU module. All afterwards the auto up is still an option to code but it won't work.
The .C03 modules were fitted around 2002/2003 in R50 and R53 models. So after 2003 you can be sure that it won't work.

 

Interesting. It works on the driver's side window in my 2006.

 

I think it doesn’t work for both windows unless it’s the older module. I’ve seen similar posts on the UK forum, but don’t remember if it’s the same non working window with the newer module, UK drivers/US passenger, or still the passenger side for the whatever hand drive the car is.

 

That matches what I recall reading years ago.

 

Update: 1-24-2022

I got my polarized door mirrors installed the other day....now, with that said....I have noticed that the drivers side mirror has the reflection of the cars distorted, like most of the passenger side cars here that have the sticker that says, "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear"

I had mentioned this in s Facebook group I belong to....I said that the people who put the "L" & "R" stickers on the mirrors must have messed up......a member replied that the mirrors are possibly for a RHD car...which makes more sense.....I asked the seller of these a question about this issue on ebay...he's out of the office for a month

Pictures below....first picture is the stock OE mirror

Bryan

 

Edit: I now see what you mean with the normal section of the new drivers mirror being wider than the original. I thought the issue was the new mirrors having the wide view on the outer thirds.

 

Both of the new mirrors have the line for the wide view on the outer thirds of the glass....it's in the exact same position for both mirrors....I checked before I put them on. But my issue is the first two thirds of the drivers side mirror acting like the newer mirrors on todays cars.....which leads me to think that these are for the UK cars

Bryan

 

I have a set of those. They're intentionally convex on both sides.