randmness

You and Mark were flying. lol This was my first time participating at autocross. It was a very fun event. I was sliding around like crazy in my all-seasons. It's crazy how close we got to flying into the grass lol. I'm interested to see how this weekend goes. I went ahead and bought a spare set of wheels and summer tires. I'll be "competing" in the CS class event. I scoped out the CS, CSP, and STR classes; looks like they are filled with serious competition.

Perhaps, if you're open to a used part, check out car-part.com. Prices seem to range from $100-900 or so. However, if you're only getting 40K out of them, it may be best to go new OEM. I can't believe that they cost nearly $1200.

The car is sold. Thanks again everyone. Until we meet again.

It was nice getting to meet you guys. DCMM and CMMM are filled with some pretty cool people. I do plan to buy another vehicle later this year (after we purchase another home first), but it will probably be something larger. In regards to the car, I probably should have [listened to my wife and] bit the bullet a repair or two ago, but I'm stubborn. I thought about removing the DDM intake, but it's cold outside and I don't want to deal with swapping it out again. The price is pretty flexible. With that being said, I do have a buyer. If nothing arises between now and early next week, it will be going to them.

Basic Details: 2006 MINI Cooper S w/ 124K miles - 6 speed Manual - Sport Package (17" Wheels, headlamp power washers, front fog lights, Xenon headlights) - Cold Weather Package (Heated seats, mirrors, and windshield washer reservoir) - Panoramic Sunroof Mods: - 15% Reduction SC Pulley - DDM Cold Air Intake - JCW Front Strut Bar - 30% Tint Like mentioned above, it is lightly modded and well-maintained. In the last 5K miles, I have replaced the spark plugs, ignition coil, ignition wires, supercharger oil, transmission fluid (Redline MTL), crank pulley (ATI - stock size), water pump, thermostat, serpentine belt, engine mount, and valve cover gasket. Clutch was replaced about 30K miles ago. The Good: Drives well. No noticeable rust issues. Cylinders passed compression test. Extensive maintenance history. The Bad: Clear coat on the bonnet and roof is beginning to fail. Clear coat on the hatch has failed and is peeling. While the transmission is cold, shifting into 3rd or 4th gear can be knotchy. Carfax and Pics: https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/658588682/overview/ Price: $5000 OBO

No idea. They replaced it, and the nature of the misfire changed to cylinder 1 & 3. They swapped out the spark plugs, and now the vehicle is driving correctly again. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure if this solved the problem (I pick up the car today.) The spark plugs (in addition to the wires and coil) were replaced less than 2K miles ago. Perhaps, the misfire caused the two plugs to go bad? I'm not really sure. At this point though, I think it may be time to cut my losses and give the car up.

Did you find what wrong with your car? Just got mine back. The supercharger intake tube was broken. The car is alive.

I will try make this. I'm hoping to have my car back by then. Should find out Monday. I am planning to bring something extremely unhealthy and laden with sugar (a dessert.)

Our cars must be kindred spirits. :laugh: Driving to work this morning...my Service Engine Soon light and check engine light (exclamation in triangle) both came on. The car immediately went into limp mode where I couldn't really accelerate above 50mph. The car also seems to idle weird when in gear. Pulled the codes....P0300 (Misfire.) If I clear the code, it comes back within 1 minute of driving. Spark plugs, coil, and wires were replaced about 2500 miles ago. For now, it is sitting at the local mechanic. Probably won't be seen until Monday. 2006 Mini Cooper S w/ 120K miles

How many miles?

I might be able to make this, but if so, I won't be in my Mini. Is that ok?

I believe I should be able to make this. What would you guys need me to bring? I'm guessing this is at the same address as the previous ones?

PM'd

The pictures came out great. I thought you were a brave soul for standing on the side of 495.

Any particular places we should share photos and video?

Awesome! Out of curiosity, do people generally bring 2-way radios (walkie talkies) to these?

Hey All, I have a set (4) of new NGK Platinum spark plugs (BKR6EQUP) that I no longer need. I recently had the supercharger pulley upgraded on my R53. Since I am now running one step colder plugs in my R53, I don't really have any use for these. Price: FREE Pickup Only I will be at the MTTB event this Sunday, so ideally, I if I can offload them there, that would be great.

I was planning to record beginning to end (leaving the mall to Killroys.)

I'll bring my GoPro. I have a Hero 4 Silver that I recently used to record a run with the Central MD Mini Club.

I've only had my MCS for about 500 miles or so. It's possible that the previous owner replaced the mount already. Yea, it's not really that close (I live in Columbia, MD.) I didn't schedule an appointment so it took about a week and half from when it was dropped off. The pricing seemed more than reasonable.

Servicing the supercharger oil is pretty labor intensive. If you are having it done, you should probably have them do the water pump as well.

I recently picked up my Mini from PTuning after having a bunch of maintenance and upgrades completed. They drained/filled the transmission fluid, drained/filled the supercharger oil, installed 15% SC reduction pulley, swapped the crank pulley, water pump, thermostat, and some other maintenance work. Just wanted to say that they did a great job. I worked with Daniel who kept me well informed on the progress and any issues they that came up. I can see why they are highly recommended and I will definitely be sending my car there again for future work.

The labor looks pretty intensive. As such, I've read two different maintenance paradigms for the supercharger. A. Don't change the oil and drive it until it dies. Purchase a new/rebuilt SC and replace it then (saving the initial maintenance job.) B. Service it until it dies. Replace with reman/new. Realistically, if you're not doing the work yourself, it seems like both scenarios would cost about the same in the long run. I don't know.

I've always read a mixture of things regarding Seafoam. I'll check it out though.