[searocko]

Quote: Originally Posted by Johnny L

I'm closing in on 2k miles. I have check the oil once, and it seems to be very clean at the middle of the dip stick.

Dave, Larrry, April, Ken, Debbie, Kellzir, Tom, Tux, et al--what say you?

Hey Johnny,

I just crossed the 4K mark and my oil is still clean and at the full level. Is it me or isn't the dipstick harder to read than on other cars??

[gaminicool]

Quote: Originally Posted by Johnny L

I'm closing in on 2k miles. I have check the oil once, and it seems to be very clean at the middle of the dip stick.

Dave, Larrry, April, Ken, Debbie, Kellzir, Tom, Tux, et al--what say you?

Recently checked the oil and it looks good...although with this weird dipstick it's hard to tell if you need to add oil

I'm at 900 miles and no problems - except some roof wear marks - been posting in the Convertible thread on that one

Its one great car

[gaminicool]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pamlico

Seeing this got me to call my insurance company to see how badly I'm getting nicked even though I'm also in the "mature" (grrr) class. For once a pleasant surprise - 6 month premium is $270.

Slowly putting miles on the car - 6.5 weeks and all the way to 800 miles. I'd been trying to avoid driving on rainy days, but the weather's been more bad then good for the past month so I gave up and drove it yesterday in the rain. One quick lesson learned is that BRG/B shows all the dirt. My '02 was DS/B which did a pretty good job of hiding the schmutz.

Guess I'll have to wait a few years for the deal you are getting Although 40 is coming soon

I'm paying about 540 every 6 months with USAA Full coverage with 1000 deductible. Cost also depends upon where you live. In the city of Atlanta - it's higher

[Pamlico]

Quote: Originally Posted by gaminicool

Guess I'll have to wait a few years for the deal you are getting Although 40 is coming soon

40 is a tiny speck in my rear view mirror

The MINI's premium includes discounts for 3 other family cars and homeowner's insurance plus a multiple year clean record.

[gaminicool]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pamlico

40 is a tiny speck in my rear view mirror

No offense meant to the seasoned Mini motoring club

[Kellzir]

I have had the car for 2 weeks already. Sadly, on Sunday I got a crack in my windshield. I have been hearing it is common though.

[Pamlico]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kellzir

I have had the car for 2 weeks already. Sadly, on Sunday I got a crack in my windshield. I have been hearing it is common though.

Unfortunately, this is a not infrequent occurance. If you try to get it replaced under warranty be prepared for the service dept. to go over the windshield in extrreme detail to try to find a pit where the crack originates. If they can find a pit (frequently by running a pen point back & forth to see if the point catches in the pit), they'll likely claim it's due to something hitting the windshield and as such is not covered under warranty. If you have glass coverage on your insurance it should be covered by that. PPG makes a MINI windshield and there are reports that this is more substantial then the original equipment.

[Pamlico]

I've never been a great fan of the MINI's radio antenna. To me it is oversized and makes the car look a little like an RC model. Tonight I replaced the original with the stub antenna used on the Honda S2000 which fits perfectly onto the MINI's antenna base. There does not appear to be any degredation of the radio's reception that I can detect.

Installation couldn't be easier - unscrew the old mast and screw in the new. I've attached a couple of pictures to illustrate.

If interested, the Honda part number is 39151-S2H-E01. Price is $24.52, but the local dealer sold it for $21.32. (US part numbers and US prices)

[Magictux]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pamlico

I've never been a great fan of the MINI's radio antenna. To me it is oversized and makes the car look a little like an RC model.

I was saying to my wife that many people thought the antenna made the car look like a toy and she remarked that she thought that was a good thing. I read somewhere that the reason many little kids like MINI's is because it looks like a toy.. I kinda like that idea so I'll keep the standard antenna..

There's plenty of people over here in Oz that feel the same as you as well by the way. I think there's a few different types that fit the MINI including a nice little one from a Mercedes.

[Kellzir]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pamlico

Tonight I replaced the original with the stub antenna used on the Honda S2000 which fits perfectly onto the MINI's antenna base.

Great antenna. I have the same one that I put onto the MINI the night I got the car.

[bandrews]

so the eastside of Seattle is turning out to be manual transmission trial-by-fire... my apartment turned out to be on the top of the world's largest hill... with two speed bumps while you're going up the hill! My poor clutch!

Somehow i don't remember it being this hilly when I was here for my interview trip...

I'm getting better, but I'm still questioning my transmission choice. Also wish I had nav - these roads are confusing! "go from NE 40th and 150th NE to NE 130th and 130th NE" (yes, in Seattle you can actually have the corner of two totally different roads both with the same number, sigh) And even interstate onramps have their own road names :P

That said, I love the area and my new job - and I keep seeing an exact twin of my car on my way to work! The MINI is definitely a popular vehicle around these parts.

Ben

[AprilWhine]

Quote: Originally Posted by bandrews

so the eastside of Seattle is turning out to be manual transmission trial-by-fire... my apartment turned out to be on the top of the world's largest hill... with two speed bumps while you're going up the hill! My poor clutch!

Somehow i don't remember it being this hilly when I was here for my interview trip...

I'm getting better, but I'm still questioning my transmission choice. Also wish I had nav - these roads are confusing! "go from NE 40th and 150th NE to NE 130th and 130th NE" (yes, in Seattle you can actually have the corner of two totally different roads both with the same number, sigh) And even interstate onramps have their own road names :P

That said, I love the area and my new job - and I keep seeing an exact twin of my car on my way to work! The MINI is definitely a popular vehicle around these parts.

Ben

Fuzzy and I used to live in Kenmore, I can verify he is right about the directions. We once looked for a house for twenty minutes only to find we were on 24th St NE instead of NE 24th St.

[searocko]

Actually in Seattle/King County, the streets have the direction indicator at the beginning, S 320 St., while the avenues have it at the end as in 56th Ave N. Streets run east/west and avenues north/south.

I agree, when I first moved here it was so confusing! But after getting accustomed to it, it's actually easy to get an idea where an address is because the first part of the house number denotes the cross street. That is unless you're in a neighborhood with streets and avenues with actual names. Then it's like any other city.

[Johnny L]

Hey, Larry, what up? 4k miles? You've been motoring!

Kellzir: Sorry to hear about your windshield. In a way, I envy you; it's as if you're a real MINI owner now! Good luck with the windshield replacement. Me, I work on a military base, and I have to have an ID sticker on my windshield. I wonder how many of those I'll have to go through!

All: Dipsticks. Whew, at least I'm not the only one. This thing is hard to read. I have found that you have to really wipe off every speck of oil before you re-insert the stick. Then you have to look at the rough part of the stick (i.e., the nooks and crannies). Also, the manual says that you need to wait for at least 5 minutes after the car has been hot and running.

Happy Memorial Day (to state-siders, of coures), and to all, Have a great weekend!

[dpacker]

Hi everyone!

I've been seeing lots of MINIs the last three days that I've been in Boston. My sighting count as of this morning was 11, but I'm up to 38 now - I had 27 MINI sightings today! What's quite cool is that there is a set of walk-ups just beside our hotel, and there is a red/white MINI that is just below my window. My husband took a picture from our hotel room on the 12th floor. I attached a picture - he's a cute little MINI. I did a search for MINI galleries from Boston, but I didn't see that one. I hoped I'd find it here...thought that would be kind of cool.

My MINI is up to 750 miles...I will get to drive him again on Tuesday when we get home from Boston. I've always thought that this would be a very cool place to live, but unless I had a garage and didn't have to park anywhere in town, it would not be a good thing. Almost every car here has scratched/dented/smashed front and rear bumpers, and a lot of them have other scratches, etc. everywhere else too. Apparently parking is tight and there's lots of bumping. Not a good thing for us MINI owners who love their cars!

Well, good night everyone! I'll be checking back in on Tuesday. Happy Memorial Day!

Debbie

[AprilWhine]

Have fun Debbie, see you when you get back to your home thread.

I'm a traitor today, going to CampJeep on the road.

[rsinsheimer]

Quote: Originally Posted by dpacker

I've always thought that this would be a very cool place to live, but unless I had a garage and didn't have to park anywhere in town, it would not be a good thing. Almost every car here has scratched/dented/smashed front and rear bumpers, and a lot of them have other scratches, etc. everywhere else too. Apparently parking is tight and there's lots of bumping. Not a good thing for us MINI owners who love their cars!

In my personal opinion (and I apologize to anyone from Beantown whom I might be offending) the drivers in Boston specifically, and Massachusetts in general are by far the worst in the U.S. They have no concept of anyone having any right to any particular piece of asphalt -- their approach is possession is 9/10ths of the law, and the other 10th is debatable. I've never been as frightened as a driver as when I've driven there. Unbelievable. I've driven in France, England, Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Germany, Canada, they're no competition. Now, to be fair, my understanding is that in Asia (not counting Japan) and the Middle East their respect for the life and limb of other drivers is indetectable, so I'm sure there's much worse. Just not around here.

So the fact that all the cars have dings on them -- that's just their way of letting the other drivers know there's someone there.

-- Roger

[Pamlico]

Quote: Originally Posted by rsinsheimer

In my personal opinion (and I apologize to anyone from Beantown whom I might be offending) the drivers in Boston specifically, and Massachusetts in general are by far the worst in the U.S. <further rantings deleted>

-- Roger

Well. having been born, bred and learning to drive in Boston, but now living 7 hours due West, I see driving there as an adventure, to say the least. Once you've learned to master The Art of The Rotary, and combinations such as the sidesqueeze that leads to the cut off, etc., you'll never forget and find driving elsewhere to be an easy task. I must say though that when I return I'm initially aghast at the driving situation, but the old skills soon return and all is well (although I really wouldn't want to drive my new MINI there).

The Boston Driver's Handbook (Wild in the Streets) - look here - best describes the philosophy - "Commandment Number 1: Thou shalt reach thy destination as quickly as possible. Everyone and everything else be damned.". The book came out in the mid-90's and was revised a couple of years back. Even though things aren't quite as bad as described, it's worth a read if you're planning on driving there. While it's written for entertainment, you'll run into (so to speak) many of the situations described.

[rsinsheimer]

Now that we've had Bruiser for six weeks or so, it became clear that it was Euro Parcel Tray time (got tired of having the cell phone sliding around).

I ordered one from OutMotoring, it took them a while (apparently they were on back order with BMW), but it finally arrived.

All I can say is, take their instructions with several pounds of salt. It may be be that in previous year models it took 5 minutes to install the tray, it took me two hours of cursing and finally saying to myself ")(*()&#$, this thing's gonna fit!". I finally gave it a solid thwack and it popped into place, but then the left-hand dash pieces were all knocked out of line. This was after I removed the screws from the left-hand downtube so I'd have a prayer of getting the darned thing into place. Once it was there, the cruddy plastic nuts that they provide were _not_ staying in position, I have the blood blister to prove that I held the right-hand one in place while getting the screw started.

And once the screws are in place comes the ultimate joy of trying to get the bottom edge catches to snap. One did easily, the other probably never will catch.



Fortunately the dash popped back into place -- did you know it's all thin plastic? Darned good job there, I certainly would have guessed that it was something a bit more fancy.

At least, once it's in place, the tray does look good. The knee bolster that came out is clearly a much more sophisticated, well-designed/built part.

-- Roger

[dpacker]

Quote: Originally Posted by rsinsheimer

Now that we've had Bruiser for six weeks or so, it became clear that it was Euro Parcel Tray time (got tired of having the cell phone sliding around).

I ordered one from OutMotoring, it took them a while (apparently they were on back order with BMW), but it finally arrived.

All I can say is, take their instructions with several pounds of salt. It may be be that in previous year models it took 5 minutes to install the tray, it took me two hours of cursing and finally saying to myself ")(*()&#$, this thing's gonna fit!".
-- Roger

I think someone said earlier (way earlier) that the parcel tray was intended for models before 2005, but that if you're determined (as it sounds like you were), it will fit. I guess they will need to make some modifications for it to fit in the new models easier. I can see how it would be a useful feature. I might order one if they make it easier to fit for the 2005 models.

Got to experience more Boston driving today. It really is quite amazing to me. I think it would take a long time for me to get used to it. Fortunately we walked everywhere (I don't think we could do the driving here yet - not enough exposure), but some friends drove us to CT yesterday and dropped us off today. I saw that side squeeze thing that was mentioned. Yikes - noone drives like that in VA or SC. I don't think the drivers here would like me...they would run me over!

My MINI count is up to 46 - I saw one almost like mine today!

Debbie