So mote it be.

 

I'm workin' on it. Visualizing Minx in a deep slumber, not too choppy seas (no hurricanes brewing near by, please) aboard the Sirius Leader; steady as she goes to the west coast... Moting it to be...

 

Thanks to all - I guess I will keep bugging my MA, now that she is back from vacation.

 

I guess I'm one of the unfortunate convertibles. When I get a chance I'll be contacting my MA. Not happy, but was wondering why my car was scheduled for every boat, but not actually on one....

 

Any of you 36er's scheduled to leave tomorrow on the M/S Undine? I was told I was a week 36er but it seems like the rest of my "shipmates" are from week 37. Just wondering. Undine sails to NY tomorrow.

 

You'll find out that you want to keep your MINI cleaner than any other car you've ever owened. You'll want to do it right which means getting the right products and tools. You never knew you would spend so much time keeping those pretty shoes clean. Go to autogeek and read, read, read, read. A ton of great info & product for keeping your Mini in peak condition. Cabrio's get the Raggtop protectant! I had 303 and it's good but Raggtop is tops!

Especially with all the brake dust the stock pads spew. Change those pads if you don't want to have to hassle with the dust. ECB Green stuff, Frodo, heck there's about a dozen of them that'll do just fine. Do a search for brake pads & dust. Should be about a bazillion threads on it and remember, everyone has an opinion.

 

yeah, I loved cleaning my 330 when I brought it home. I use P21s. But, I hated cleaning those rims!! absolutely hate it... still. I emailed the manager at SB today to inquire about trading my rims. We shall see. Hey all, well, west coasters, we should be on land in about 10 days!! wooohoo!

Mpbradly, I am soo sorry to hear about your car.

Kissmys, my arm feels better, pain intermittently. More like an ache that lingers I guess. Do me a favor... throughly research cortisone injections. I refused cortisone due to the fact that it causes atrophy to the injection site, and the tissue that it is injected into. Thus causing further damage later in life to the affected area (weakness). Cortisone can cause hormonal side effects and if it is such safe drug, why should you only get 3-4 injections per year? I considered it a last resort. Heck, I would go to get accupuncture before cortisone. Just my opinion I hope you feel better.

 

I have a similar standing on cortisone. I'm an athletic trainer and was a gymnast and coach for years and I've seen both good and bad results. The good results seem to come when it's a one-shot deal - when one injection does the trick and drives out the inflammation. The bad results seem to come when repeated injections are given (and cortisone is a steroid, so it is doing damage, even if it does work the first time) and instead of seeing improvement, the problem gets worse.

Not saying don't do it, just saying make sure it's right for you before you jump in. I had both experiences personally as a gymnast - one in the shoulder where it did the trick on the first try, and 6 over a year and a half in my hip/lower back, none of which did anything but make things worse and they ended up having to go in and do new attachment sites for some ligaments and tighten them back down.

But whatever you decide, I hope it feels better soon!

I need to go find a pretty spot today to take photos of my car to put it up for sale this week. I really really hope it sells quickly.

 

Thanks for the advice on the cortisone. I didn't know about the bad side effects. I'm in so much constant pain that I think I'd jump at anything that might be a quick fix. I think I'll look more seriously into acupuncture. I've heard some good success stories involving it with pain relief to enflamed and impinged muscles. Meanwhile, where's the codeine? I'm going to ice now...

 

My MA just called me to let me know we're about 10 days out and to go over some last-minute details. He sounded flabbergasted by how much I already knew about the whole process and all of the after-market stuff I have lined up.

He did say though, that the clear bra guy (from ProFinish Motorsports) will have to do the install after I take delivery "in case he scratches the paint or something"...okay, whatever. So we'll do it in the parking lot when it's done, whatever. I'm thinking if there's not room in the lot (it's always so crowded!), we can go over to the AT&T lot (I used to work over there) next door, it has tons of room and plenty of shade.

He also solved my iPod adapter/Sirius problem - apparently there's a new part that's like a Y-splitter that allows you to do both. The guy from Classic had no idea when I ordered the Sirius parts from him. So I'm going to let the dealer handle putting in the splitter and the iPod adapter and then I'll do the Sirius myself (or have my audio guy do it, if I chicken out).

 

man, I am getting annoyed at my MA. No one has called me!

 

No one's called me either. Though I did just get that Mind Meld email from LB Mini. I wonder how long it will be until we're motoring in our cars...

 

So, who's diving into the parts ordering, in anticipating of the arrival of the new kids / Mini's?

I'm looking to order some Koni FSD's, some new springs (H-Sport or M7), some new strut tower reinforcement plates, and maybe, just maybe, an anit-roll bar / rear sway bar. I've done the homework, but am curious as to where folks are buying stuff.

Oh, and already on hand are the new fuzzy dice, "Supercharged" emblems, and the new shifter **** -- both are absolute musts for any new car, I should think.

 

My plan is to stick mainly to exterior mods, at least for the first year or two. I want my factory warranty to be in tact, in case anything ever goes wrong during the first couple years.

I say this now, but who knows if I'll actually be able to wait for my pulley, intake, exhaust, etc....

 

What are people's opinions of the follow me home lights? Will activiating that option have any effect on the durability of the battery?

 

I don't plan on doing any performance mods, really - I'm just not a race car driver I will do the strut tower plates though. I'm more of an aesthetic/comfort mod kinda person.

So far I've ordered:
Clear bra
OEM Sirius w/assorted installation parts
OEM iPod adapter
Custom roof graphic (although I'm still pondering this, I really want to do it but it can't be done how I want on perforated vinyl, only solid, so I want to see what I think about the sunroof before I finalize)
Grille badge holder/badges
Chrome John Cooper signature badge for hatch

Other things I'm considering:
Glove box organizer
Tint
MAYBE painting the black trim to match the PW, that's a ways off though

What are the options in the email? I haven't gotten one yet :(

I just listed Katie for sale on craigslist. It was sort of sad.

 

ML, you have been a busy little bee!!

I have been looking at rims, eyes, siruis, jcw kit, sunroof deflector, glove box organizer, back bumper guard, sportlink, aux or ipod adapter, graphics for my roof. The 2 things I have planned on getting within the first 2 days is window tint and clear bra. The vinyl graphics are going to be done by my friends husband for cost. yeah! I need to buy some additional detailing supplies. Hey, are any of the socal people going to the BMWCCA event on Oct 22? I thought I would check it out.

 

I have wondered that myself. Wouldn't the battery be replaced under the maintanence program?

 

I know, huh! My husband is convinced that that the long delay is a plot by MINI to get you to buy tons of stuff - and it's working on me!

 

Hopping over from wk 37... comfort/aesthetic mods currently ordered and/or in hand inlcude:
Hawaiian checkmate bonnet stripes w/ custom boot barstripe
front license plate holder/adapter for tow hook area (no screws/drill, CA is mandatory front plate state but I'm waiting til I'm told).
clear boot-bumper gaurd
actutal size decal
blue stubby antenna
seats for my doggies
XM/blitzsafe adapter for integrated XM
Aux connector for my ipod/laptop
Custom license plate PKT SIZE


Window tint has been quoted and I'll get it done w/in first week.

Considering Whalen shift **** as I have a custom one on my Z3 and LOVE IT!!

 

Hey, eenieMini...

What kind of seats did you get for your doggies? What kind of doggies? I have two Aussies that I'll need to haul around once in awhile and I'd like to fix up the back for them and keep them from drooling/sneaking into the front seat area.

I like your custom license plate. Mine says "NANOKAR" and the plate frame says: SUPERCHARGED on top and FUN!!! on the bottom. Can't wait! The only mods I've committed to are the clear bra kit and window tinting. But I'm sure I'll do the strut tower reinforcement plates and the pulley soon.:impatient But I still haven't even had a return call from my MA to give me any details as to which ship my Minx is on and when it is due. This is a good test of patience (I'm barely passing.):impatient :impatient :impatient

 

I was going to let the dealer do the window tint and clear bra, then I priced it out. The dealer was more than twice the price. S o here is my mod game plan.
Go to pick Merlin up. Scrutinize everything, even look for mushrooming before I take final delivery.
Drive off the lot and go 3 blocks to a parking lot. Install M7 Strut tower plates for the ride to the window tinter and clear bra installer where Merlin will spend his first night. Pick Merlin up next day and do a bit of motoring in the evening just before the Wicken MINI blessing ceremony to cast off any lingering effects from the Druid High Priest spell.
1st Sunday I will install the PIAA 540 driving lights and detail as needed. Then motor on for about 600 miles and then do an oil & filter change. Motor on to 1250 miles and do another oil & filter change and then off to Randy Webb at Webb Motorsports for a 15% pulley and CAI box. By this time I will already know if I want to even consider a rear sway bar.
Another Oil & filter change at 5,000 miles and then on to the MINI maintainance plan. As soon as the run flats are done I probably will get new wheels and tires. I have plenty of time to shop for them and gain enough motoring experience to know what really want. I will probably badge the grill with a classic metal RAC or England badge, I don't really care for the magnetic ones.
Well that's the game plan anyway.

 

Why so many oil changes? I thought I was supposed to change it after break in and then at around 5k. You are confusing me

 

By default they come on when you flash the high beam switch with the car off. (You can have them program the time till off). That way, they only come on when you want to use them.

If you have them programmed to come on every time you turn the car off then you can do that too.

Having your headlings on for a minute isn't going to hurt your battery at all. Plenty of other cars have been doing this for years (and they don't even give you the choice!) without issues.

 

I like your plan JJ. If you didn't live so far away from me, I'd join your Wicken Ceremony to be sure Minx is spell free too. Perhaps your Wicken is powerful enough to mutter something special for Minx.

I think your idea to put your M7 strut tower plates on soon after leaving the dealer is a good one. I'm going to copy you. However, I've got my clear bra installation guy meeting me at the dealer and then we're going to find a parking lot where he can install (yes, 1/2 the dealer's price.) So we'll do the two things that day, then deliver it to my tinter in Petaluma the next day.

What is the CAI box? Do I want one? Are all the early oil changes the extra nutritional love required to assure Merlin's winding a good path? Like mother's milk is the best way to stave off those bad human bugs in the infant's first few months? I'm sure it will make for a very healthy MINI...