cmcveay

Hey Chris, sorry for the delay in a reply. I would consider the wear sensors as a consumable part and replace them with the pads. If you go long enough, they do actually wear through and need to be replaced. There are only two of them, left front and right rear so it takes some of the "sting" out of replacing them.

Rich, Yeah, advancement as a NUC comes to a screeching halt at E-6. I don't have any pictures of them in Archi, just never did any interior pictures. If you'd like to "try 'em on", it's not a lot of effort at all.

Unfortunately, the "chip upgrades" like Uni-chip" and others have been pretty unreliable in the second gen cars. Your best, safest and most proven options are with either Jan at RMW or the guys at Alta. in a few weeks, I'll be putting my R55 on the dyno and we can all see exactly what the Alta tunes will or will not do.

Hey everyone, I have a pair of Wet Okole seat covers that came out of Archi and I'm not going to be putting them into Merlin. They were in Archi for just over a year so they do have a little wear but no tears. Your seat warmers will still work just fine with these seat covers. These covers are all black and they include the seat cushion, seat back and head rest. Both seatbacks have zippered mesh storage compartments and they are airbag friendly. I also had the extra flap included on the lower cusion covers and that gives you a very handy place to store things that are otherwise uncomfortable when driving. Those with CCW's understand what I mean. I had a different set of these before (remember the blue hibiscus?) and they now reside in a first Gen Cabrio so I know that they will fit/work in a 1st or 2nd Gen MINI. I can bring them to an event if you'd like to see them and the first $100 offer will own 'em. PM or email me if you have questions about them.

The Hawk pads fit the stock caliper and some of them allow you to keep the brake wear sensor. If you go to the higher end Hawk pads, you can just tie the sensor back and then keep track of the brake wear. Mach V usually has the pad in stock.

I think I actually ducked when I read that post! From personal experience, it's doubtful that you or your insurance company will ever get a single penny from the owner of the truck. After my "run in" with a dump truck on the beltway, I learned that lots of companies have a convoluted system of registering and insuring their trucks so it's hard to get to the actual responsible parties and on top of that, the drivers will simply deny that they were in the area when the incident occured. I'm glad you are safe and the damage is minimal. Not sure who your insurance is but if they will let you use Pohanka (Alexandria), my wife and I have both had work done there in the past year and they turn out first rate stuff.

You'll get lots of help from this gang if you are looking for ideas. A great idea is to come out to events when you can so you can meet people and see what they have done and get their thoughts. When I started down this path, I had many of the same questions and I got some great advice from a former member and it makes sense when you think about it. For safety's sake (yours and those on the road with you), consider improving braking, handling and then performance - in that order. Mild performance mods mixed in with those would be fine but BIG things like a tune or upgraded supercharger could put you in a situation in which the car doesn't have the ability to control more power. Just my .02 on the order of things.

That's awesome to hear and thank you very, very much for taking the time to post it here for us.

Did I mention Mach V out in Sterling? Local, good service AND they are a DCMM Vendor too!

Count me in as a helper this year - if you need volunteers that is.

Slotted or drilled rotors won't do anything for reducing the amount of brake dust, they just help the rotors/pads work better and cool better in hard use. Many people don't care for drilled rotors as the holes may be a weak point where cracks can start. Personally, I think our technology has reached the point that it's not actually an issue as it was when the idea was new and standard rotors were drilled. There are lots of choices in brake pads and I will say that I prefer Hawk because I have used them on two different cars with great results. It would be a good idea to do some research to see if you can find ceramic pads that will accept the OEM brake wear sensors. Don't forget to replace the sensors when you replace the brake pads and it wouldn't hurt to flush the brake lines and put new brake fluid in.

As if you can even compare... How many Canon bodies will that lens work on? Our Nikon lenses will work on EVERY Nikon SLR and DSLR body... Go ahead there Stone Age, play with your Canon.. You know I'm kidding, right? Fiddy is a pretty good tool.

Thanks everyone, we had a great time seeing everyone and hanging out for a little while.

Thanks, I was going to look that up. There are still several tuning options for the 1st Gen crowd though.

Don't forget Mach V and they are local, a vendor and they do installs. Way Motorworks Realoem.com Helix Detroit Tuned M7 NM Engineering autoXcooper That should get you started, let me know if you've still got anything left in your wallet and I can probably name a few more!

I spent a "few" years as an avionics technician and I can tell you that problems that can't be recreated are nearly impossible to resolve and that's as frustrating for the technician as it is for the owner. Hopefully, this is the end of the issue for this owner and it sounds as though MoBC did everything possible to resolve the problem in the customer's favor. Thanks for the update though, it is appreciated.

Someone else remembers that guy... We were just a car or two behind him and it was a spectacle to watch! I thought Jeremy Clarkson was driving it - seems like he wanted to practice drifting through every turn... Including into/out of the parking lots.

Although we didn't have very many people submit photo's the last time, those that were submitted were really, really awesome! It would be fun to get more photo's as we could then use them to update/refresh the images on the website - there are soon to be three new MINI models on the streets that aren't seen anywhere on DCMM - and we could look at doing a club calendar as well. Any/all ideas are welcome, as is help setting up/coordinating.

Since you've got access to the auto hobby shops at Ft. Belvoir or Bolling, the torque arm insert would be really easy using the lift and their tools. With regards to the WMW Diverter, I'd be glad to look over your shoulder for that little project. Our schedule is kind of busy at the moment but it's not a tough job to do.

Hey Chris, If you have an idea for a contest or event or a theme, let me know! It's great to get members involved in making things happen.

Chris, If you are looking for a 17-35 f2.8, I've got a lead on one.

I should be there - it just depends upon my progress with replacing the coax in the entire house...

Yeah, the problem is that more sound from the rear end usually equates to more sound inside the car. The drone can be pretty bad. You can work with that though. If I were to do it all over again, I think I'd visit a local exhaust shop and have them drop my OEM exhaust and replace it with a slightly larger diameter pipe. It would have a resonator that's slightly larger than OEM and it would run back to a high quality muffler. I'd wrap the entire exhaust in Thermo-Tec wrap to retain the heat and help kill the sound and then I'd install heat resistant/sound insulation between the exhaust and the car - down the entire length. Overall, it would cost more than any aftermarket exhaust sold but from my experience, it wouldn't make as much noise inside the car and it would have an awesome exhaust note. If you decide you want to take Celia up on that Boorla, I will offer my help in doing the install. If you want to do the exhaust wrap, it's easier to do before you put the exhaust in the car! P.S. Edge is 100% correct, the 2nd Gen factory JCW and dealer installed JCW package are very different. When I was ordering Merlin, I was second guessing myself on the JCW option and Lona finally told me to order it because I'd be wishing I had later. It goes without saying but I have a very wise wife who knows me all too well and I am a happy camper with the JCW package.

Pretty darn easy... A small handheld device that connects to the OBD-II port and it talks to the "ECU". It'll make a copy of your ECU and then upload the tune that you select. There are three stages of tune with a couple of variations within each level based upon the mods that you have on the car. In a couple of weeks, I'll be putting my big intercooler and Cold Air Intake in Merlin and when I do that, I'll upload the Stage II FMIC tune. If I put a larger diameter exhaust and down pipe in, I'll step up to the Stage III tune. The tunes that come with the device will allow you to tune for 91 octane fuel and maybe even 89 but I'd have to check. The Access Port will also act as a code reader so you can find out why you have a Check Engine Light. If you like, you can clear the codes and you can even do an ECU "reset" which makes it "forget" the things that it's learned over time. You can also do live monitoring of a bunch of engine operating parameters. All in all, it's a very handy tool to have around and, if you get rid of your current MINI, you simply uninstall it and re-install it in the new car. I went from a2009 R56 MC/S to a 2012 R55 JCW and it just swapped right over, recognized the JCW ECU and uploaded the correct tune. Take about 5 minutes. If you'd like to see it, remind me at our next event. I keep it in the car.

Bill - yep, that appears to be a stock MC/S exhaust. If you'd like to improve the sound and probably gain some efficiency in the exhaust, there are shops around that will do some work with/for you but they aren't cheap. You could have the muffler changed out for a new one that flows better and sounds better. I am a fan of Magnaflow mufflers but others here on the forums have experience with other brands. The VIP design exhaust that I had (now in RyanBlue's R56) used a Magnaflow muffler, stainless steel pipe and I had the 2nd cat removed for the install and the exhaust had the a resonator delete pipe installed. Basically, I ended up with a single cat and a muffler. Even with the single cat, the car will still pass smog and the exhaust won't stink like some do when the cats are removed. You may want to keep the resonator to ensure you maintain your nuptual bliss - the interior noise can get rather bothersome.