Hey all, just figured I'd stop in and say hello. My girlfriend and I are relocating to Southern Cal from Denver, CO in about two weeks. Seems like there are a lot of you guys running around out there judging by all of the sightings I've had when visiting over the past year. We will be living in the Carlsbad, Vista, San Marcos area. Hope to see some of you around.

 

Thats a way south from where I live but welcome to California!

 

Whatever dude.... Al's already better than you anyway, we didn't need you.

 

I'm in Vista, CA. =] I work in Carlsbad.

Let me know when you get out here and we can get our motor on. =]

 

Forgot to check this thread - I made it. Loving it so far.

I'm currently working down in San Diego, but can be found in North County during the weekends

 

1. Rice Canyon Road
2. Couser Canyon Road
3. Palomar Mountain

=]

 

So here's a question for some of you San Diego guys...

I have an old contact back in Colorado that gives me a great price on parts, so I'm thinking of ordering a few parts (mainly rear brakes). Do the dealerships around here (namely Brecht or Irvine) install parts that are provided by the customer? All of the parts will be OEM MINI parts, but I know some dealerships can be absolutely retarded about this kind of stuff.

Also, does anyone know the hourly shop rates these dealerships charge? At Ralph Schomp in Denver (where I used to work and also bought my MINI from), it was over $125 an hour and rear brake labor was about $189.

 

Everyone is so expensive... I bit the bullet and decided to do all of my work myself.

What do you need to do to your rear brakes?

 

I have all of the parts, but all of my tools are packed away and I sold my jack, ramps, jack-stands, etc. when I moved here. I'll call around to see what they have to say.

 

Well I've got a jack, stands, pressure bleeder, torque wrench, breaker bar if you feel like coming out Vista to bang it out. Brake pads or calipers? I just did the calipers a couple months ago.

 

I'm in San Elijo Hills right now, so I'm not far from Vista. Haven't done brakes on the MINI yet, and I've only helped out with a brake job once before, so I don't know how much help I'd be. I've heard the MINI requires a special tool for the rear calipers.

BTW, I'm doing pads, rotors, and sensor...