Hey All,

Just got my Cooper S last week. Worth the wait +1!

Two quick questions:

1 - I want to tint and got lots of great advice re: NJ law. Now that I understand and have a plan, are there any satisfied customers out there w/ a shop they'd recommend?

2 - I want to change my oil early. Probably will have it done -- following MINI Manual Factory Spec of course. Debated DIY, but I'm banned from ever doing it again at home . Thought about finding a patch of pavement from a friend. But also contemplated buying the filter/oil and having a shop do it. Can anyone recommed a shop in Central NJ? Def will not have Jiffy Lube do it!

Thx in advance.

 

Yeah where are all of you getting your oil changes that aren't covered by the dealership?

 

Im sure Don over at DMH Motorsports in Califon would do the oil change for ya. http://www.dmhmotorsports.net/mini-tuning.html

I plan on making an appointment with him soon for oil change and Obx header install.

 

Oil changes can be done at Don's Jaguar in Flemington (owner has a MINI), and New Vernon Coach & Motor Works between Morristown and Bernardsville on Rt 202. personally, I do my own...it's pretty easy and I know for sure what oil goes in it and where the filter comes from (dealer) when I do it my self. I understand not everyone has the place to do it or the inclination, so I'd try one of the two above, both of which I've had work on other cars (but nothing has gone wrong with either of the pair of our 2002 MINIs yet).

 

If you decide to do tint, 35% is good enough shade where the cops won't bother you. I also recommend to get the 25% strip that goes across the top of the windshield. That helps alot with the sun on route 78.

 

Marco, KS and Grillhands,

Thank you for the great advice. Don H. is around the corner from where I live and Don's Jaguar is around the corner from where I work. Don H. has already responded.

Great tips.

Also great tips on tinting. Was thinking 20% rear hatch window, 35% rear sides and 50% front sides. That would show a contrast from rear to front. But if 35% would pass all around, that is something to think about. I'll have to see what they look like.

Thanks!

 

Don from DMH is really good guy. You can learn alot from him.

 

How much is Don H gonna charge? Is he going to use OEM parts?

 

Careful with the tint on the front sides...50% may get you in trouble. For what it's worth apparently NJ state law is 0% (zero) tint on front side windows. Also, NJ law supposedly prohibits aftermarket tint from even the top of the windshield, but allows the factory GM style tint...go figure. On a non-MINI, I was warned once by a cop many years ago (over 20), a friend did get a ticket and had to scrape his tint, and I got one reject from NJ inspection as a result of tint on the top of the windshield...my sides windows had no tint then.
I doubt they would pull you over just for the tint, but if you otherwise misbehave, then they just add it on. Inspection is a different story unless you pay for local inspection and skip the free NJ inspection...then you can get away with it if you pick your place carefully.
I couldn't find the actual reg, but did find an exception to it that allows tint anywhere if you have a medical exemption: page through to NJ 39:3-75.1 (it's a lot of paging to get there)
http://lis.njleg.state.nj.us/cgi-bin...Doc_Frame_PG42

 

I used a guy in northern NJ to ting out the back 3 windows of my wrangler when i got that new in 2001....i called the same guy and he is retired....so i am going to use a friend of his....i was hoping to use the same exact guy cause the tints on my wrangler are still holding up....almost 7 years later...not one bubble, crack, peel....

the mini is getting tinting next week....going with %5 on the back three windows...i am used to it cause that is what i have on the jeep

to bad i can't use the EXACT same person to tint the mini as the wrangler.....

ill let everybody know the results and my experience when i get it done.....

adam

 

whoever you get to do the tinting, make sure they use lifetime gauranteed tint. 3m is the best...

 

So the way tinting is done, they don't actually change the glass right? It's just a film put over it?

 

correct. that's all aftermarket tinting. The ceramic tints are very nice and very $$$$. Factory tint is in the glass and not available stateside.

 

If you need any work exhaust work or maintenance work done, MaximumPSI in Linden will do it. Owner has a mini and most of their work is in the turbo BMW market. They also can check engine codes.

Contact is turbomike@maximumpsi.com


-Sean

 

I had 50% tint (Huper Optik) on my front windows and no problems in NJ for 3 years. I did have it put on in Pennsylvania and only used private inspections, however. I regretted not using heavier tint in the rear, I would go at least 40% next time I do it.

If you are ticketed for tint, my experience is the courts will require that you remove it, the shop can also get in trouble if it is in NJ. You need a documented vision problem and a Dr. to say you need tinted windows to have front windows legally tinted (aftermarket at least) in NJ.

 

Thanks William and welcome to NAM!!

Good advice.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

On my OP re: oil change, I ended up doing it myself at 1500 miles w/ a MityVac Topsider. Glad I did as the oil was black as sin. It was a very easy job using the oil change threads on NAM. This is a great site.

 

Anybody have a place in NJ that fills in the dot-matrix for the back windows? I have a place in NY that does an awesome job tinting, but they won't bother with the dot matrix and on my old car it bothered me to see that semi transparent line around the tint.