And so it begins.

Again.

Meet Milton. Little Milton (in fact the full name would be Gerald "Little Milton" Bostock). Replacing Dirk, my previous R56 (btw - Dirk from Dirk Diggler, not Dirk Novitzki).

So - long story short. Check Engine Light not fixed in time, after multiple attempts (despite my dealer's laudable efforts). Soooo - exchanged the car. Radical measure for a radical situation (I'll spare you of details) that requires 24/7 100% operation of the car. Anyway... (MINI (USA and abroad) gets an F on how they dealt with the situation. My dealer - an A.)

Why did I still buy a MINI? because - ultimately - this forum is a proof that the car works, that the car is reliable and the car is a blast to drive. Sooo... despite a bad car (a "lemon") and a less than supportive MINI technical support (c'mon, 3 months and going for a "computer update"?), the dealers and the users compensated for all that.

(Few things - for the ones that still debate S vs non-S - my previous car was a non-S Auto, this is a S manual. Go for it - the price difference is insignificant on how radically different the cars feel. I do now understand the grins that everyone mentions after bringing the car home).

Anyway - I started a new thread not for all this intro - but for three pictures. Not as artistic as the others - but picturing three things that I did not find in other threads: JCW Gear Shift Indicator(200$ - not really worth it but I'll get back to that), the rear bumper protection strip (30-some $ - worth every penny) and the Thule Xpedition Rack - a nice fit (some might disagree) for the shape and the size of the MINI.

So - here they are:









Thank you,

MMM

 

Very nice! I too am going to need some sort of roof rack system for skis/bikes/etc. Is your base system from Mini or is it all Thule? I was going to get the Mini base system and then add Thule boxes/carriers to it. I agree with you though, the rack system flows well with the runabout.

 

Beautiful MINI...congrats! Although it sounds as though you've been through alot with the first one, I'm very happy for you that things worked out the way they did. You sound happy Not to mention, it's reassuring to hear that your dealer did what dealers need to do - took care of you

 

Base is
MINI (OEM by Thule as I was told). Fits the slide-in accessories from Thule (as the Xpedition is). Nice fit (I have the touring bike accessory from
MINI and the reminding things from Thule - basket/kayak and so one).

MMM

 

Congratulations! As you say, now you know why we S drivers have a grin on our faces--not to slight Cooper drivers, of course...

Here's to many happy and troublefree miles!

 

WEll, my light came on @ 600 miles, went out @ 781. Back on again @ 1000 miles. Dealer says it wont hurt anything, gave me no gas cap runaround.
Im going with the its not going to hurt anything story. I also noticed that the exhaust was smoky with the light on. Dont think its feeding the gas right.
Hope it gets straight up fixed.

 

And Milton, is beautiful!!

 

What exactly is the action like on that special turn signal indicator?

The new car looks great - happy motoring!

 

Has 11 LEDs - actually it is symmetrical - works from center outwards in both directions.

The sequence is

R-R-Y-Y-Y-G-Y-Y-Y-R-R

or



...where R/Y/G are the colors of the LEDs. Thus – it has in fact 5+1 steps. The green (center) LED is on all the time (btw - the JCW GSI can be turned on and off). They are rather bright (the intensity cannot be turned down or up - a small disadvantage - up to a point - read below).

Now - you (I mean the installer does it for you) define a SET RPM (in my case 4250 - I choose it as where the torque plateaus. The yellow LEDs start to light up at 85%, 90%, 95% of target RPM (in my case approx 3600-3800-4000) and the red ones at 4250 (100%) and 4400 (105%). All the LEDs blink when you reach the 110% of the RPMs. (4600-4700).

Or something like that.

Now – about the utility. I wondered why to have it – if you already have the tachometer. Well – for two – maybe three reasons. One – I don’t see ½ of the tach screen (because of my position in the car – the steering wheel masks the upper half of the tach (from 2000 to 6000 RPMs). So – sometimes … I need it (as much as you need your tachometer – I drove for ages cars without one). Next – you are not a true driver if you don’t feel the car with your rear end – they say. Well – I don’t. And I sometimes “blunt” the auditory feedback … the music is sometimes too loud. Next – and that is most probably the most interesting – because of the brightness of the LEDs – you see them peripherally – you don’t have to take your eyes from the road to see where your engine revs (again – if you care about it).

Is it worth 200$? Absolutely not. Is it worthless – as many say? Well – that is debatable – for me it is not – for the reasons mentioned above. I’m not a pro driver – I might need some feedback (I drove manuals for ages but my last car – for almost 10 years – was an automatic).

BTW – there is not a whole lot of info on the JCW GSI in the forum – hence the picture and the brief explanation.

Hope that helps. Happy motoring,

MMM

 

Thanks - I had no idea!

 

I have the factory roof rack on my '06 MCS and also had it on my '02 MCS. I thought it was a great system, incredibly solid and very easy to install and remove. I got to the point where I could either put it on or remove it in less than 5 minutes.

I just have a few questions about the new rack system.

How easy is it to put on and remove the basic cross bars of the '07 roof rack system?
Does it feel solid when mounted?
Does it ride quietly at highwya speed?

Thanks for your patience.

 

...it's ok..


See these threads:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=93743

and - to a lesser extent -

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=102589

Hope that helps - I wrote tricks to install/uninstall the rack. 10 min - by yourself.

MMM