mikev

Came across a couple of MINIs last night on my way home from Sterling... One was a 2nd Gen Justa, don't remember the color... the other was a BRG 2nd Gen S, license plate R56 RCKT. The rocket and I went back and forth a couple of times as we progressed west on Rt. 7 and onto Battlefield Pkwy, before I broke off for home.

I'm sure part of the equation is whether you have the Harman/Kardon upgrade or not... there's a separate amplifier and additional speakers with that upgrade, and the issue is likely whether the amp communicates over the CAN-BUS network like so many other things in our cars do (i.e. turn on the radio, a CAN-BUS message gets sent to the amp to turn on, rather than just an electrical signal). If it works that way then I can see an aftermarket system not working right unless you also replaced that H/K amp.

I believe if it's just the standard radio, it can still be replaced (I've seen black plastic filling the spaces where the controls and the wide display usually are, with a single or double DIN head unit below the speedo where the CD slot usually is). Not sure about Nav/Connected. Here's the dash kit that's available with the double-din opening: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_120999309/Metra-99-9309-Dash-Kit.html?tp=3121

I believe that's the cost of the windshield stripes... $25 if you're getting the rest of the car tinted, $50 on its own. If I had to guess, he can use extra film not used in the tinting of the windows to do the windshield stripe... hence the discount. Otherwise he's cutting a windshield-wide stripe out of his tint roll.

The largest dimension of most image formats can be no more than 800 pixels; PNG can be up to 1500x800. There's also a 5MB size limit on images too. Many prefer to upload to a third-party site, then link back to them in their posts. That way you can upload a higher resolution version.

$20 for 12 oz can of spray paint matched to your paint color code... http://www.automotivetouchup.com/spray_paint_matched.aspx They also have a 12 oz can of clearcoat to finish for gloss/protection, $8 for that... http://www.automotivetouchup.com/spray_paint_clearcoat.aspx

There are a number of them in Arcola, between Belmont Ridge Rd and Loudoun Co Pkwy. Most have been patched over numerous times, making the resulting mess probably worse than some of the original potholes.

After being there yesterday for scheduled maintenance, I'm pretty sure I know why they wanted it pushed back. They're doing some serious remodeling! The MINI part of the dealership is now adjacent to the Service side of the building. The MINI side has quite a bit more space now too; they actually have SIX vehicles in the showroom, where they could only have three before, I think. While it looks like much of the work may be done on the MINI side of the building, there's definitely still work being done on the Rolls Royce side. I'm guessing that they wanted to have all of the work done before having an event. I'm putting myself as a Maybe for now... hopefully I'll be able to change it to a yes soon!

If auto wipers are present, it's possible that the rain sensor might be preventing putting the top down since it senses rain.

Not quite. Since I have a 2nd Gen, it's not right where it would go, but pretty close. Photos attached of just the mount as well as the phone/phone holder on it. The phone holder is made by Bracketron, it's just one of their universal holders.

I have a Pro Clip mount holding my iPhone 6 Plus... It sits just to the left of the glove compartment button in a 2007-2013, or on the sides of the center radio/HVAC console in the 2006 and earlier models. http://www.proclipusa.com I got the mounting bracket from them, then have another company's universal holder attached to it, so I can't speak to how their own actual holders work or fit. But the mount itself is in a good position where you can see the phone, and doesn't block your view of the road.

Tennessee is banning vehicles longer than 30 feet from traversing US-129/SR-115. Signage will be posted mid-January. http://jalopnik.com/big-rigs-banned-from-tennessees-tail-of-the-dragon-1667428609

BMW has moved across the street, so the service department at MOS is nowhere near as busy as it used to be. I would be surprised if getting an appointment is a problem still.

I've been there only a couple of times... worked with a different person each time... haven't been around enough to get to know anyone in particular but didn't have any issues either time. But then I haven't handed them anything difficult either...

There's always Big Meadow Wayside... between US-211 and US-33... right next to the visitor center.

I ordered a beltline kit... I would think that the adhesive on electrical tape would be not quite intended to handle the elements as much as automotive-grade vinyl.

Two words... Red Beltline. Took a bit to get done, but had a beautiful day to do it. It's not perfect if you look close, but I'm happy with it and that's what matters!

Bluetooth audio streaming FTW. Yes, I know the newer R56's have an aux jack... but who wants to plug and unplug cables from their phone all the time? Having a power connection is bad enough! I put a Belkin Bluetooth Car Kit in... nicely mounted the button on the dash, hid all the wiring (it plugs into that aux jack and the cig lighter)... push a button and now my music plays from phone through stereo! Yes, the MINI already does phone calls... and it still will. I don't intend to use the Belkin for that purpose (it got poor comments for its lack of noise cancelling anyway)... I just wanted wireless tunes! And for about half its retail price, a great deal too!

Sunday is going to be cool... a jacket would definitely be a good thing to have with you! The NWS Recreational Forecast says that Sunday's high temperature will be in the Low 50s! But it will be mostly sunny, so it will be nice!

Past vehicles I've taken to LA Tint in Sterling. Not the cheapest, but they do good work. They use FormulaOne tint films. They also have other locations in Manassas (their main location) and Woodbridge. 3M tint films are available at a place in Fairfax called TintFX. They also have SunTek films available. As an aside, they also provide PlastiDip services, if you'd rather not DIY. I've never used them myself, but they have five 5-star reviews on Google.

It's as easy to enable as it is to disable... If you want the time and temp back, it can be done!

Made sure the computer still talks to the car this afternoon... fortunately it does. Ready to go... is it Sunday yet? Here's my own slightly more organized coding list than the one at NAM... has things grouped together by module, cleaner descriptions, and whatnot (also had to do a little homework for some of them). Available for viewing at http://go.mikev.com/minicoding. If you know of a setting that should be added, let me know the details and I'll add it.

Here in VA, it is illegal to have fog lights on while your high beams are on. I suppose there are some states that it may not be, but I wouldn't recommend doing this one unless you live in one of those states. The speed "overestimation" is one thing that I really hate. It's the first thing I disabled. The fact that the car tells you that you're going 65 when a third-party GPS says you're actually going 62-63...annoying. One side-effect of disabling this setting though... if you frequently use cruise control, it will continue to refer to the over-estimated speed. So if your cruise control says 70 MPH, you'll really be going 67. another note... this only affects the digital speedometer, not the large analog one.

Er... just realized you need to be a paid member to read the post I linked to. Quick summary here... There are a variety of settings that BMW/MINI doesn't allow changing through user-accessible means. Some may be for safety, others actually add some nice convenience. These can be changed by those in the know with a laptop and some software, and a special cable to go between the car and laptop. A small sample of things that can be changed... - Comfort close windows/sunroof (possibly top if convertible) with remote (hold lock button) - Two-touch sunroof (one touch tilts open, a second touch opens fully) - Always show digital speed on tach (for some years that instead showed Time/Temp in the middle of the tach) - Remove safety warning from Connected/Navigation - Auto-unlock doors when removing key from holder (may not work if you have the comfort system) - Disable various light bulb checks (i.e. if you have LED turn signals, brake lights, etc.) - Disable auto/int wiper icon (moves trip odometer back to bottom line next to regular odometer) And more. A longer list is available in a Google Docs spreadsheet linked in this NAM post. Even that list isn't complete, but at least things there have been tested by others.

I'm going to bring my laptop and would be happy to do any coding if anyone wants some otherwise inaccessible settings changed in their MINI's computer. See this post for more info about some of the things that can be done. All of the R-models should be able to be coded with what I have. I'm sure the F56 has newer data files that I would need to seek out and obtain to work on them, so they're out for now.