Cambo

I was able to get my resonator deleted finally. Really by chance too. I got off of work a little earlier than usual so I didn't have to bee line home (wife expects me home by a certain time...if I'm not there, it's her, arms crossed, foot tapping, as soon as I walk through the door haha) ((just kidding honey if you see this)) Anyway, Meineke off of 355 in rockville was right there and I'd been avoiding them for a while because of such crap reviews they had gotten but I thought what the hell, why not see what they say. Luckily enough, they weren't busy and luckily enough again, they had just undergone a management change and were specifically working hard at fixing their local reputation. sweet! anyway, cool bunch of dudes to shoot the sh*t with, and they did it for 100 bucks flat. I was seen right away and was out the door just as fast. What do I think of the resonator delete? Yeah it's a tad bit louder, but not what I was hoping for. Again, I have the Invidia Q300 and with the resonator gone, it's rumbles more nicely at start up, but only for a split second before it quiets down to being barely audible again. And for the most part, that's how it remains under normal driving. Driving around town, I can't tell any difference. And on the highway, with the cruise set at about 70, there's no drone at all. But when I need to pass someone and get on it, the tone is definitely louder and deeper than before. has anybody replaced their downpipe themselves? I'm curious just how involved this process is. I've read on NAM that it's more easily done after putting the mini in 'service mode' but if anybody's done it without having to go that far, that'd be good to know. I just want my mini to sound like this...is it too much to ask for?? sigh...first world problems...haha

haha, no kidding! actually, I think I might've seen you today too, except I was behind a black and lime green mini. but it was mainly black with lime green accents. and it had this LED upper tail light that did the quick flash thing, kinda like how a lot of motorcycle tail lights do that as a safety feature. we were both heading down E. Gude. haha, I'm always passing through Olney though (folks live there) so I'll probably see you around often!

Here's mine after this morning. Roof rack went back on (because I finally found a new mtn bike!) and also got the resonator removed. It's a deceptively heavy son of a b!

thanks!...haha yup, if only I really tracked it. You have no idea how many folks walk by or pull up and ask me where I track it...and then the countless puzzled looks that ensue after I tell them I don't lolol.

bummer, sorry to hear about that...hope you're alright

ahh rgr that, ok, yeah I was starting to gather that it was a special/custom alignment for the mini that was being discussed...and now the excitement over this pricing makes sense!

Sorry to bring up an old thread and certainly don't mean to dog on PTuning...they sound like an awesome establishment...but if there's any folks on the Maryland side (specifically Rockville/Gaithersburg area) that ever needs an alignment, the garage I've been going to for years, Executive Wholesale Tire, does alignments for $75, mounting and balancing for $12-$15 (depending on size of rim). Great dudes...absolutely no local competition when it comes to service and pricing. The saying "you get what you pay for" certainly doesn't apply here. It's more like "I can't believe what I got for what I paid!" Wait...I guess that could stilll sound bad...you get what I'm trying to say! lol Btw, I'm assuming we're talking about just a regular alignment here...as in you hit a pot hole pretty bad and need an alignment, or you raised your 4x4 up a couple inches and need an alignment...that sorta thing...I'm not sure if this thread was referring to some sort of special alignment meant for Minis. (Mini noob here)

thanks! haha, long story short, boredom and curiosity pretty much. In-laws were over for a good amount of time and I needed to disappear

haha, here you go good sir...my freak show of a mini! In one of the pics you can see how the starter, instrument panel, and sport mode/dsc cluster are all zip tied in place lol. The orange rally stripes I ordered off of ebay and attempted myself and I did a horrible job (never messed with vinyl before)...and a i plasti dipped as much as I could black. Some have asked me why I gutted the interior so much. Folks can understand removing the seats but why the plastics? haha, simple answer is, I'm a big fan of the 'naked' look when it comes to my motorcycles...and I tried to carry that theme to this car (lol, and I'm well aware what 'naked' actually refers to in motorcycle body styling, I'm taking it further!). So...it was half inspiration from that, and half because I was bored. I may not receive any positive feedback about it, but the odd looks and doubletakes make me smile haha.

hmm...I'll check them out tomorrow...maybe I went to a different meineke...thanks dude.

yup...what he said. bummer.

haha, no freaking way! wow what a small world, that's awesome man, yeah I'd love to hear it, thanks for the offer. whereabouts in rockville are you? I'm in Aspen Hill. That meineke you referenced earlier I think was the one I went to and they quoted me 270 bucks...and I was like, thanks but no thanks lol. Where did you get yours done?

Appreciate the kind words, thank you. Yeah I do plan on joining, more so because forum membership costs pale in comparison to the wealth of knowledge someone like me (complete idiot) gains. Sooo, I look at it as a very small price to pay for the avoidance of higher trial and error costs down the road...if that makes sense? Forums for my two bikes saved me thousands in modification and repair costs! So yeah I'm all for that and will be joining shortly. I just had to find a forum to commit to and in the two days I've been on here, I'm definitely feeling a much more positive vibe...similar to that of the bike forums I'm used to. I can't say I felt that way with NAM...perhaps because the community is much much larger...but I digress... hey do you guys do any group rides to the slopes for some skiing/snowboarding? I'd be down for that! hey thanks RDGRCR! I'm actually not sure how much it weighs right now. But after it was all said and done, I went from about 32 mpg...to 36 on the highway. and in sport mode, the tires would be more prone to spinning if I wasn't careful. but, I'm getting ready to throw the roof rack back on as snowboarding season is almost back...so those figures will probably go down again.

wow...thank you all so much for the quick responses! I gave PTuning a call this afternoon (talked to Abel), he asked me to fire him a picture of the resonator that I wanted deleted and he'll gen up a quote. I definitely made mention that folks on here highly recommended this establishment...and they also give a military discount which can only help! It'd a helluva drive for me but ****...I commute from Rockville to Chantilly anyway...what's another couple miles to Manassas! just...random input here but, what I'd like to do is delete my resonator and second cat to help bring out a more throaty/deeper tone from my invidia q300. I'm on the fence about adding a WMW catless downpipe (currently on sale for 299) but I don't know if I want to deal with the hassle of swapping the stock catted version in and out before every inspection. plus...though I'm not a tree hugger or anything, I am environmentally conscious enough to know I'd be a douche for running a completely catless system...especially since I'd be doing it purely for sound and not performance. and I prefer to not be a douche haha. I'm hoping the resonator/2nd cat delete would be enough of a tone changer to satisfy me...from what I've seen on youtube, I think i'll be content. thanks again!

hey sorry to bring up an old thread, but does any one know a local custom garage that'll do a resonator/cat delete at a resonable price? I'm in Rockville but wouldn't mind traveling to a honest place. Example: Meineke is asking over $200 bucks. No way jose. Folks on NAM are saying it shouldnt be more than $60-$80. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hello all, Just wanted to introduce myself since I think I'll be surfing this site a lot more now that motorcycle season is over and my attention is back to this car. Two quick stories: 1) It was a fortuitous accident that I ended up with my mini coooper. I have an F150 that I was using to commute between Rockville and Chantilly and the gas prices were destroying me. As a result, the hunt for a gas efficient car was on. I had settled on a tried and true Honda civic and literally, while waiting for the paperwork to be drafted...I spotted a cooper s in the parking lot. I think this was at a carmax in rockville. For shits and grins I took it for a test drive while I was waiting. I was absolutely blown away at how fun this car was...like a Go kart on steroids. more fun than an S2000 I had previously owned. I was sold. But I bought the car and then it sat for almost a year because at the same time I found a great deal on a motorcycle and rode that as my commuter instead. 2) So I mentioned motorcycle season is over for me. That's because I wrecked recently on the dulles toll road and the wife has forbidden me from two wheels until our boys are grown up. haha, as much as I want to rebel against this...she's right. But long story short, this dude swerved into my lane to avoid a guy swerving into HIS lane. sigh...oh well...DC area traffic and drivers for you. Anyyywayy, alllll that to say...without a motorcycle and being forced to sell my other one...my attention is now fully on the mini. There's a few things I want to do but I have no clue what the preferred local assets (as far as honest garages etc) are which is part of the reason why I'm here! Some other things I've done to my mini: -K&N typhoon intake -Invidia 300 cat back -WMW bypass valve or whatever it's called -Rigid Industries Dually D2 fog lights -completely, and I mean completely gutted interior. There's a drivers seat, a full size spare, and a longboard haha, that's it. no kidding, my ignition is zip tied to the cd player. as is a lot of other things...lol, don't ask...I was just bored. The folks at passport mini had to ask me to come out to the service lane to point out where it was. Some things I'm looking to do: -Resonator/2nd cat delete (Does anyone know a local shop that'll do this? Preferably Maryland side? I live in Rockville) -Catless WMW downpipe. Way Motor works has it on sale for 299 right now and I'm just about ready to click the order button...between that and the above mentioned deletions...I bet the r56 can sound pretty mean. Geesus this intro is a book...sorry folks. Anyway, you can't miss me...I'm the only idiot driving a silver cooper s with gold rims (they were bronze on the website)...and now I have these ridiculous bright orange rally stripes (they were dark orange on the website). haha, perhaps I need to have my screen resolution checked. I do try to wave at other mini drivers, because apparently that's the thing but so far no such luck getting a return wave lol. Unfortunatley I'm socially awkward so my wave probably comes off as a nervous tick or something...plus I'm a big ugly guy so that might be a part of it lolol, but I swear I'm friendly! Looking forward to gaining...and hopefully one day, sharing...lots of mini knowledge! Ty

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I can't create a new thread so this thread seemed fitting to add to: Basically I removed my stock fog lights (anybody need a set?...they're working just fine) and mounted a pair of Rigid Industries Dually D2s in their place. Long story short: brighter than HIDs with better flood. couldn't ask for more...well worth the higher purchase price. Here's a couple pics from the installation...I was able to reuse the stock housing and bolts to secure the d2's bracket.

damn!