upon further reflection, there's a bigger issue than the cheap fuseholder. it's common practice to put the fuse as close to the battery as possible, not at the amp as in your picture. Should you be in a rear end collision (god forbid), that power cable is a direct unprotected line from the battery for several feet. Should it be severed/shorted on sheet metal, the battery explodes.

 

You typically want the fuse as close to the battery as possible, within six inches is what I was told by a professional installer. I agree that the quality of those fuse holders is questionable, I don't like how they hold the fuse and I've seen quite a few of them crack, resulting in a bad connection and in one case arcing. I prefer the blocks that look like small fuse boxes that the fuses firmly clip into. Such as these:

or

For an install in the Cooper it's pretty hard to find a way through the firewall. On my friends car we wound up running it under the car (I know, not the best way to do it) along the fuel lines (It just keeps getting worse) and then up into the boot (we didn't want to drill any holes and there was a convenient one in the boot.)

 

Hmm - that is interesting... I wonder if MINIUSA knows that? Next thing you know they'll stop selling the DPSM in the USA, considering how lawsuit-paranoid they are. Hmm - those do look nice, but at this point I have to stick with what came with the kit. I have full warranty coverage for it for another ~14,000 miles. If I continue to have any problems with that fuse, after the warranty is over I'll consider trying to replace that fuse holder, although those others do appear to take up more space, which might become a problem. We'll see!

 

Should be plenty of space for them inside the battery well which as mentioned is the best place for the fuse anyway.

I saw a guy on teh side of the road with smoke cioming out of his car. I had an extinguisher so I pulle dover and when I looked in there was a black line along his floor carpet where a wire ran to a sub amp. Something got shorted somewhere and the wire caught fire and burned the carpet too. Luckily, it was still basically smoldering and we were able to diconnect the battery to stop it so I did not have to spray the dry checmical all over the interior to add insult to injury.

 

Good point - I'll definitely take note of this for a likely post-warranty small mod.

 

you are going to leave an improperly fused power lead in place for warranty purposes? I'd almost go so far to say the power lead was installed backwards except it appears to have a barrier spade on it for the amp.

 

I would most certainly change that despite the warranty, leaving it like that would be like leaving the original bolts in the rear bumper of a Pinto because of the warranty. The dealer doesn't have to do much warranty work to a burning car. I don't call you crazy for undertaking this project, people have their tastes, but I would call you crazy for not insisting on this small change for safety.

 

PGT, you're absolutely right.

Edge, I believe if you review the install instructions from MINI for the DPSM you'll see that this fuse should be in the battery box just a few inches off the battery terminal. I'm 99% sure I've seen a photo in those instructions showing this to be true.

EDIT: I just reviewed the install instructions and they do show the fuse holder in the location that it's currently in. I must be remembering a picture from something different. However, it looks like the fuse holder is screwed into the mounting bracket and not just loosely lying on top of the amp, so that's a relief.

 

it's still bad, bad, bad install practice and a huge liability IMHO. I would never let a car leave my hands with a power cable installed like that.

 

Best not to have an accident, then

GPMINI is installed identically to Edge, and hasn't caught fire yet!

 

and won't unless you get rear-ended. that install doc is contrary to ever bit of 'best practices' I've learned in 15+ years of car audio. take that for what it's worth...free advice is free after all

 

WAHOO!! Enjoy your stay at the ocean.

 

Am I crazy or doesn't the MINI have a cut off at the battery that lets go in an accident. Maybe that lets them get away with this without problems.

 

ok, where is that amp and fuse installed at in the car? back/front?

cuz isn't the battery in the back, and that point wouldn't that make it ok, if the fuse is in the back??

Also, i don't know if anyone noticed, but I saw JCW leather dash pieces in one of the pics with blue stitching! Haemish, when did you get that?! niice!
and of course expensive.

 

did you miss my diagram????

 

Yes, for the next 14,000 miles or so (i.e. end of factory warranty), this is how it's going to stay. I don't even want them to bat an eye if I have any problems with the system and I want it fixed!I do understand, and I'm thankful to have knowledgeable people like yourselves to inform me of this design shortcoming... and as I said above, this mod will be something I look into at 50,001 miles. While I don't disagree, I do find it surprising that this design has passed muster for installation on MINIs all around the world, including super-lawsuit-paranoid MINIUSA!Yeah no kidding! (even WITHOUT this cable issue)And I do value your input very much, Dan.Not sure, that would be worth knowing. Does anyone know more about this?I had it installed in late November 2006... here's the thread I created on it:

JCW Dash in Lapis Blue - Pics

No, it wasn't cheap, but it looks sooooo nice. Just as Gabe didn't try to defend this "100% bling" mod in his R53 MINI (red stitching), I won't either.Thanks, I am. Not checking in here as much as usual, of course!

 

That's what I was thinking.

 

yea, i like the leather dash. i wanted it for awhile, but it really won't match my interious (sigh) I love the look of a leather dash. Especially with stitching (example: E39 M5)
oh well. less money spent for me. haha.

 

yea, didn't really look at it. i just read everything real quick and responded. i'm at work, that's all i can do.

 

The JCW Leather interior (dash & downtubes) is available with the following stitching colors:

Panther Black *
Chili Red *
Lapis Blue
Green
Gray
White
Yellow
Brown
Beige

* Only colors available directly via MINIUSA, because they cheaped out and didn't bother offering the others... other colors must be ordered from outside the USA, like I did for Lapis Blue.

Now, wouldn't the Gray one be close enough to silver to match your interior?

 

Haemish....realoem.com shows JCW rear seats. Start saving your pennies

 

Way ahead of you man... I've always had it in my head to buy BOTH the front & rear JCW seats in Lapis Blue, if they can be ordered somehow and shipped here. When? I don't know... but they're on my hit list (along with a few other items ).

 

Any updates?

 

Going out there tonight, stay tuned.

 

UPDATE: SUCCESS!!! WOOHOO! No, I don't have the car back... but the DPSM is fully installed and working. After all of this, it just feels so damn good to know that it did pay off (expensive as the pay-off is...), and the strategy... and decisions on wiring harnesses, etc. turned out to be the correct ones.

The tech took me out to the car and demoed it for me - it sounded awesome... even with a whole bunch of boxes and loose stuff in the car. The new soundproofing still kept things from shaking or rattling, so I'm even more sure that it will be even tighter once everything is back together. The main dilemma now is reinstalling the Bluetooth kit. Apparently it's a bit more tricky now with the BT ULF box (i.e. the brain of the kit) having to be crammed in there with the additional DPSM connections & wiring behind and around the head unit. Once he gets that sorted out, he'll reassemble the dash and start to put the rest of the interior together...

...only he won't be working on it tonight. Poor guy. In the same day, the trainee tech is off (because he had requested time off), another regular MINI tech is out because it's his usual day off, and yet another MINI tech was fired... today. That means he's the only MINI tech on duty tonight, so he'll be busting his *** just to get through the jobs. I was just grateful that I could talk with him for the 15-20 minutes I did.

Still, things are looking pretty good for me to get the car back by the end of next week. YAY!