And I found a video on Jalopnik (awesome site) that puts my drivng adventures to shame.

 

Ok. You drive like somebody's grandma in an old Cutlass....

(no offense meant to all you Cutlass driving Grandmas out there... post your vids and prove me wrong).

 

Aye, aye, aye!! I just watched the M6 video... I am totally exhausted. Can't even imagine going that fast for any extended period of time (but I'd love to try!) Remember, Abuzavi, you have kids and a wife that count on you staying sane... :-)

 

You know, I'll be honest -- on most days on the autobahn, I'm happy and comfortable at around 120 mph. Some stretches, the best stretches, 130 feels file (if not, wow, it doesn't feel right).

But that's 210 kmh. These jokers were doing 330 kmh. Maybe at Bonneville I'd feel OK going that fast. But on a road, with other cars? I dunno -- must be a very, very good road (and I've driven throughout Norway, too).

I'm holding back on the forums, waiting to find the right way to ask around to see if theres a Grand Prix owner who's also an autobahn driver. I'm dying to hear their thoughts on GP driving on the autobahn -- the issues the car size produces has to be similiar at higher speeds (because I almost bought a German-spec'd GP). I'm just worried that moderators will shut it down, just for asking -- which, now that I type it, isn't much of a worry. What are they going to do -- fine me?

 

Abuzavi, your charity project for Wounded Warriors was brilliant! My parcel shelf came today, was installed in 20 minutes or so (would have been more like 10 if the second screw wasn't so stubborn about lining up with the hole... ) and I LOVE IT! I included a personal note to the Chaplain in Landstuhl along with my check, praising their work. You are to be commended for following through on such an inspired plan. Perhaps there are other MINI goodies in Germany that could lend themselves to a similar undertaking...?

Thank you so much for all the effort you took to buy, pack (good recycle of old stereo component box) and ship. And thank your daughter for the lovely art work on the carton's wrapping.

Attached are a couple of pics of the newly installed shelf. I've already put it to great use and highly recommend it to all week 36ers! This is how the MINIs should have been configured in the first place. I lined it with some carpet "no-skid" rubber backing, lightly tacked into place with two small corner pieces of double stick tape. No matter how twisty I drive, everything stays put!

 

As Hiro from Heroes would say, "Yahoo!"

I'm glad the stuff arrived, that it arrived intact, and that you found it that easy to install.

My daughter had a ball with the art work. I thought we were not going to make it to the post office that day, because she was so intent with her drawings. I can't remember how decorated your box was -- some had just a little bit, but two of them were completely covered in art work. She was in her own little world!

Which book did you get? One was the '07 model booklet, and the other was the extra merchandising stuff (t-shirts and the like). If you got the latter, maybe there's something in there we can use for a W3606 souvenir or something.

Oh, and my son had really, really wanted to include a bag of Gummi bears in each box. We made a trip a few weeks ago to Nurnburg, and I had brought along two bags, hiding them (I thought) on the parcel shelf. It was right after I'd installed the shelf, so the kids didn't know the shelf was even there. They spotted those Gummis, though -- right away! They call it the Gummi shelf -- we ate one bag, but the other bag remains there, just waiting for our next adventure weekend.

So, if you want to embrace your car's German heritage (it is a BMW, after all), I'd recommend Gummi cherries or some traditional Gummi bears!

 

I got the '07 model booklet (printed in Dec. of '05?) I'd love to see the merchandising stuff though. Is there a German website that shows it? The box I got wasn't covered, but had a couple of great "people". And some interesting quote about bunnies and holding nuts?...

Mmmmm... Gummi cherries. That sounds wonderful. Followed by a bite of dark chocolate.

 

Brrrrrrrr.

 

Keep warm, JJ. It's SERIOUSLY cold out there... siberian heat wave cold...

And thanks for sending it our way - we're going to have a 25 degree drop between the highs on Monday and Tuesday...

 

I pulled out the OEM iPod adapter, and installed the DICE. Much, much better. Need to figure out how best to configure the DICE -- I want song name information to display on the radio, but not also on the nav screen.

Nonetheless, it's a marked improvement. I also had to drop the $ for a new iPod -- my iPod Mini has crapped out on me, despite my best efforts to put the paddles to it and keep it going. Too many miles running, I suppose. Bought a 2 GB Nano.

So, anyone interested in buying an OEM iPod adapter? I'd advice against it, but I'll sell you mine. Make me an offer.

 

Funny you should say that...I'm selling mine too! Getting a DICE once I sell it. I can't STAND it. It constantly locks up with my Nano.

 

First, ditto here on the locking up my Nano. I CAN'T STAND IT either!!! Plus my OEM iPod adaptor often won't work at all (obviously wired poorly.) But what is DICE? I want one too if it makes my iPod act like an iPod! I'm waiting until I take Minx in for her 6K service (1400 more miles...) to have them remove and refund me for the worthless iPod adaptor.

Abuzavi — the 2G Nano is a good move... plenty of tunes. Let me know what you do with the DICE. I'm going to be moving in the same direction as you. I want info on the radio screen, but not the Nav.

BTW, last week I got my first black box from MINI with the bingo game cards, etc. and today I got the secret decoder thingy kit. Boy am I cool now.

It was 28º this morning when I took my daughter to school. :impatient That is soooo unusual in Petaluma!

 

That's a tropical heat wave!! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Poor Merlin is covered with all kinds of crud and it is way to cold to give him a good bath and shine, not to mention that it will take two more months at least to get all the slop of the roads. Arrrrrrrrrrrgh.

 

JJ — Imagine how handsome and sparkly he'll look when he finally gets spiffed up again. Right now he is being the tough Colorado winter guy. But we all know that underneath it all he's a neck breaking, breathtaking, blue shiney bullet!

Personally, I remember those winters in the 50's in Montana that were deep, long and extremely cold. I can't imagine living and driving in it again... but, those classic four seasons were wonderful. I do miss them.

 

I got my spygear box today (the small book) but no bingo stuff.. maybe tomorrow.

 

Here's the link to DICE at EAS. I bought mine from them for two reasons:

1. They totally rock here at NAM. They field questions and serve up good, useful answers.

2. They'll ship to APO addresses. They website won't, but when I asked about it, we did it through Paypal. Very, very cool.

You can read up on the DICE, here. Don't bother having the dealer do the install. I kid you not -- my 8 year could have done this install. Lotz of photos here.

Literally, it is:

1. 2 x Torx 40 screws on the drivers side;
2. 2 x Torx 25 screws on the passenger side;
3. 4 x philips head screws on the radio itself;
4. unscrewing the nut holding the wire harness in place;
5. flipping a lever and removing the wire harness;
6. moving one clip to the new wiring harness (Nav);
7. connecting the original wiring harness to the new new one;
8. connecting the new wire harness to the radio;
9. connecting the DICE box;
10. running the wire that connects the iPod;
11. (optional) running the wire for an AUX audio-in port;
12. closing up the dash

I probably spent more time closing up the dash than I did anything else. The problem only is in getting all of the wires settled down below where the radio needs to go in, and there's no way to get your hand in there.

Oh, and Torx. I bought a screw driver set (one handle, lots of bits) from my local ACE Hardware / Yardbirds / Home Depot type place, for all of about $10. Had all of the Torx sizes included. Used it on the Mini, used them to follow other DIY instuctions from the web to replace a failing hard drive on a computer (Mac laptop). Was a very tiny investment, but has paid off huge -- I've been in and out of the Mini radio probably 3 or 4 times now, instead of having to pay someone else to do it.

If you don't believe me that you can do this instead of having your BMW guy do it, I'll do it again and send photos of every step along the way. It's waaaaaay too easy to do yourself.

Now, I do need to add that if you already have the OEM iPod adapter in, there's one minor complication: you have to move three wires back. Totally do-able. I've got some related photos up here, where I was tackling a NAV voice problem.

To gut out the OEM iPod adapter, you'll be moving three wires from a seperated clip, back in with the rest of the wiring harness. On he wire harness end, there's this big clip thing -- it's looks like this (ignore the red arrow)



On the other side of it, you'll have to remove a blue plug -- it unclips from the middle, pulling the tab towards the itself, and then it slides out. Then you use something pointy (I use my smallest Torx bit) to push in the snap poitions on the end of the wire you need to remove, and out they come. They gets the horrible OEM iPod wires out of this clip.

You then do the same for the original wiring harness wires, which are in a special clip. After that, you slide them into their original place in this big, fat, square clip.

I did them one at a time -- the brown one from the small clip, the brown one from the big clip, then putting the brown one in the big clip. Colors all match. Very easy. Sound scary, but isn't. Like removing the Borg.

 

How do you read NAM?

Do you come hear, just when you need to find an answer to something?

Do you just read, say, engine mod articles?

Do you come and just wander about?

Or do you pull the full things via RSS?

 

Abuzavi — thank you for the links and info regarding DICE, etc. Will read it in depth and install ourselves. As far as how I read NAM... I come every morning, first thing to see if any of my week 36ers have posted, then check the most recent postings to see if any new threads peak my interest. I guess you could call that wandering about. Then, when I need information or guidance, I use the search tool. But I've found I like to query my 36er buddies, just cuz I like 'em and they seem so competent. So I'd rather hit you guys up first for feed back; then I'll search other threads if I still need help. BTW, still lovin' my parcel shelf.

 

I'll keep my fingers croosed for you. I am confident that it will go smoothly. And if you need to buy some new Torx bits, well, happy shopping.

And yes, the shelf rocks. It's awesome.

 

How I read NAM.
I first check in on tthe W3606ers. I review post in other forums of interest to me. I also use NAM as a reference source using the search function.

For some strange reason the sky over Denver has turned blue and there is this bright round thing in the sky that emits warmth. Anbody know about this strange phenomena? Will it hurt my MINI?

 

Minx sent the bright round thing to warm up Merlin in her absence. She loves to share and... well..., enjoy!

 

That explains why Merlin has been burbling more than usual.

 

Happy Friday, everyone.

Another set of videos. Guy isn't doing 165 -- not even. Shoot, he's not even doing 120, if you compare his rate of speed vs. those of the semis. This is why I always say, "Right speed, right road, right conditions." There's a right way to "drive it like it's stolen", and then there's actually driving it while it's stolen....

Any big plans for the weekend? My schedule is mod-free this weekend. I've got a small run to do tomorrow -- going 'round the forrest (should be an adventure). Fortunately, I've got some new running shoes, a new iPod Nano, and the new Hannibal book loaded on the Nano (not that my run will be that long).

 

Well, that has to be a record. A week, with not a word from anyone.

Any thoughts on the Sat Nav? I've got mixed feelings on it, a few thousand miles later. I wish it learned. I wish it could learn my preferred route for things. Or learn traffic, or construction. I, um, modified it some, to add speed cameras, which is nice. But still, it could be smarter.

Don't get me wrong -- I still like it a lot.

 

I wish I had it. It's the one thing I didn't get that I wish I had gotten.