I've had the Mini for about 2 weeks now and a LOT has happened. I've found a few issues I'll need to address...

1. My HK amp is missing and the radio is wired to the HK speakers directly
2. Passenger front strut mount is cracked
3. Driver side tower is very very slightly mushroomed
4. One license plate light cover and bulb is missing
5. Driver rear marker light on wheel arch is burned out
6. Passenger reverse light is burned out

I have purchased a JBL MS-8 to replace the factory HK amp. I'll be tackling the wiring and setup next week.

I purchased new Lemforder strut mounts & bushings along with Bilstein B4 struts to install.

I had Momentum Mini SW do an oil change and multi-point inspection - they said all is good other that the strut mount and needing fluids flushed as part of the 66k service. I also have a recall on the passenger seat sensor I'll be getting done next week.

Plus I grabbed a Kinivo BTC480 Bluetooth Hands-Free Car Kit since I'll be keeping the stock HU for now...

I also had all of the tint removed and had Llumar FormulaOne Pinnacle Ceramic tint installed all around. 35% in the front and 15% in the rear. Love it.

Here's some new pictures!




Fresh tint!



Cruising around downtown Houston, random shot



Cruising around downtown Houston, random shot




What's left of the HK amp...Hacked up wires :(

 

Also, how do I make the headlight washers spray??

...ordered new rear lift gate struts, coolant tank, and LED license plate light replacements

oh and some Cadillac 4 note horns...I run these on all of my cars, they sound INCREDIBLE!

 

Mine spray any time I use the windshield washer function while the headlights are on. I don't know that it does any good, but I do get to see little fountains of water around the headlights.

 

Do they work when in auto mode, but on?

 

No. Only when you pull the stalk for the windshield washer, and then only when the headlights are on.

 

Cool thanks!

Another thing I'm trying to figure out is how to turn off the auto volume increase on the radio when the road is loud. Anyone know how to do that?

 

You should be able to set it by holding the music note next to the FM button. When it says Tone, press the note until the speed vol setting comes up, then turn the **** to set. If you have NAV you can set the instruction volume with the note button by selecting NAVI.

 

Perfect - thank you. I figured there was a settings menu somewhere. It gets REAL loud when I get on the freeway and I don't want that.

Oh, Also - is there a way for it to display the volume number? when I turn the volume up and down, I get no feedback in the form of a number or bar showing me how close to max volume I am...I've never seen that before. Since I'm adding in a DSP and high end audio equipment - I want to know that the radio starts to clip when the volume is at 38 of 40 for example.

 

I live in Houston and as you probably know we just got slammed with flooding waters. I'm high and dry, so I had extra time to wrench on the Mini...

DDMworks intake installed

 

Replaced my front and rear emblems

 

Finally, since my HK amp was missing and the wiring was hacked up, I decided to install a MS-8. This sweet box is a digital signal processor the can take the two channel input directly from the head unit and turn it into 8 channels. This allowed me to keep all of my factory equipment, but control time alignment, crossover points, etc. It sounds phenomenal. I haven't seen anyone else do this before, so heads up - this is a great alternative to the stock amp.

How it started
They just connected two channels from the HU to the 8 channels of speakers. Soooo bad.
Figuring out the wiring and labeling
All labeled and organized.
Stripping, twisting, soldering, and shrinking
Testing. Found out the front left door and the rear left speaker have the same color wires!! Arrrgh.
All tested, wired, and mounted up!

 

double post.

 

Before. Ripping out old blown struts and replacing ripped strut top caps.
All cleaned up and fresh Bilsteins installed
Added Cravenspeed UTI's and STD's.

 

Where'd you find the new emblems? mine are starting to get a little ragged looking, but everywhere I look they cost an arm and a leg.

 

I got mine from WMW, they were $64 for the pair...

 

Question: since my Prod.date is 2006-07-15 I have the M14 lug bolts, correct?

I'm trying to purchase new front brake rotors and it seems that it matters...

 

I ordered PowerSlot rotors and street performance pads + Motul RBF 600 fluid for a flush. I might grab some SS lines before I flush... We'll see.

 

Not sure how the auto dimming mirror works but I wouldn't be surprised if it were a LCD (liquid crystal display) of some kind... probably wouldn't leak out though... probably...

 

Since it was brought it back up, here's a link to one of the many that can be found if you google "auto dimming mirror leak" http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=296091

It's not limited to BMW's, but it seems like BMW had a known issue with this around the years of the OP's car, and MINI is owned by BMW. That's why I mentioned it when the question came up of what's an auto mirror.

 

To answer my own question - YES.

 

 

Finished up my MS-8 install



Replaced the original coolant bottle that had started to leak



Ordered a WMW 15% pulley, belt, and plugs...

 

This is absolutely an issue. I have seen 3 different BMWs with destroyed center console trim from the fluid that leaked out of the auto dim rear view mirror. I had a Volvo with the same problem. I do not know if this is a recurring problem with MINIs, but it is worth checking.

 

What a beautiful R53. Nice attention to details. The sound systems looks like a super clean install.

How's the ride with the new struts?

 

thanks! The ride is nice, especially with the 16's, 55 series tires, and 30 psi. I love it!