Hold on! My Son just got me Blue Meanies window stickers. He had them custom made for my birthday!! Yay! Pictures to come. It's warm enough today to apply them, then I'll post! Happy St Paddy's Day indeed! I'm wearin o the green. then again, Im' 75% Irish, no kidding. I'm not Catholic, so it's meat and green beer, eh? :>) I guess that's the other 25%!! LOLOL. The other 24% is Welsh. the remainder 1% is Cherokee from the Trail of Tears days back in South and North Carolina. Wow...

 

I love that mod. i had it on my first MINI and thought it would give me extra protection from being rear-ended. Still got hit by an 18 wheeler in stop and go traffic. Dammit Jim!

Still love the mod and will probably do it to my new MINI.

 

Happy St. Paddys Day!

You know Chuck Noris is 10% Cherokee?

Not from any kind of Native American heritage, but the guy ate a Jeep!

 

Took my snow tires off and hope that it doesn't snow anymore this season!

 

I'm still waiting to take mine off, as we still have a chance of snow in the next 7 days When will this winter move on!? 2 more days till spring but probably another 2 weeks at the very least before I put my summer tires on. I do not like waiting.

 

I couldn't take it anymore driving on my snows and having the jelly feeling as I turn corners ...so I threw on my run flats instead and now enjoy my stiffer and harsher ride! I guess once these wear out I'll put on regular tires and see what everyone raves about by ditching the run flats. Personally, I didn't notice a difference between my Justa (non RFT) and mine with the RFTs.

 

I was pumped up because i finally found a good priced OEM roof rack in my area and i went to put it on last night but the bolts stripped :-/ ughh! ill have to pick up some today... 10 minutes job turned into an 1 hour of me fiddling with it hah!

 

I have my Roadster in for regular scheduled service last week and they asked me if I wanted to summer tire back on. I said "You know we live in Chicago, right?"

 

Gotcha Covered Mr. T
I'm going crazy with the blizzy's on.
Can't wait to get the summer's on and stop spinning the fronts leaving lights.
Guess I could learn to drive slower?
But yeah, living in the Chicago out lying area's it's better to leave them on.

Oh, Mr. T, you heading over to Woodfield this Sunday?
CMMC is meeting for a greet and A & W stop @ the mall.
Check out the link! http://chicagominiclub.com

Oh, last part.......I took the Clubby out @ 8:30 am this morning (brrr) and washed of the dirt/salt/grime at the local self spray n pray joint!

 

Installed new headlights with projectors, halogen for now. I love the new look

 

While projectors of course look great compared to standard halogen lights, you really need to add a quality HID kit to get the best from them. Running standard halogen bulbs in the projectors is only giving you about half of the light output. I would try to budget for a good HID kit asap to really get the most out of your new headlights.

 

Drove it home!

Just picked up a 2004 Mini Cooper S. Very excited and can't wait to dive into it (waiting for a few parts to arrive).

 

Thanks, I actually placed an order with TRS on Monday they most be good quality since they are more expensive than others lol can't wait.

 

For the first time in nearly three years (never done this before) I applied some "dressing" to the exterior black plastic pieces, and I must say, that I'm impressed with the results after the application. The thing I like about it is that it's not shiny or glossy looking like Armour All would be, but it makes the plastic look "new" again.

I used Meguiar's Ultimate Black Trim Sponges: http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotiv...-trim-sponges/

 

Stage TWO Battle Tune

I have a 48 mile drive home for first impressions...

 

I wish I could make it BubbaJCW but I will be working Sunday. Maybe the next event.

 

I put Benni's summer tires and wheels back on and inspected the brakes and suspension while I had the wheels off.

 

Those are awesome! I really want to do that with my Countryman, but I don't know if it will work.

 

I decided to find an alternative to my factory Navigation System. After 4 months and a couple prototypes, I finally achieved the result I was seeking. I wanted to find a way to mount and integrate my smartphone and update the functionality of my nav system.

Challenges to the mission:
1. Update software is expensive and often not up to date.
2. The Nav system on my 06 JCW Cabrio is not user friendly.
3. Mounting and charging my smartphone.

Solution:
1. Bypass the factory nav altogether.
2. Bluetooth integration with stereo. ( I sold all my working HK stuff and went aftermarket Kenwood head unit, Alpine Amp, and Boston Acoustic Speakers)
3. Use the space where the screen was to mount my new Galaxy Note 3 which fits the space almost perfectly.
4. Install a wireless charging system.


Here are the project pictures:

http://imgur.com/a/a86Sb

So far I am very happy with the results.

 

That looks outstanding! Great job!

 

Thanks, I can't wait to put HIDs on (shipping is taking too long lol)

 

Finely got around to installing my new intercooler boots....they have been sitting on the shelf all winter....waiting....
New ones fit tighter...more securely....
Seems the old ones had not only stiffened up, but also had shrunk a bit!!

 

Not so much what I did, but what I'm about to do. A nice country drive thinking about the 2 universities who want to hire me. A nice drink of octane for the Mini, and then put on my 2 new Blue Meanie window stickers whilst sipping a malt beverage!

 

Installed tow hook, new plugs (one step colder), low-profile adjustable license plate mount, Lamin-X tail light tint, and LED reverse bulbs. Also in progress is finishing off my de-chroming of the car with door handle caps (painting them black), lower grille piece, and finally the exhaust tips (gotta figure out how to remove them). Will also install LED running lights in the front as well while I have the bumper off.

The tail light tint was really simple, but the directions state that using a hair dryer is optional and only needs to be used if you have difficult angles and bends. Well, I think the blow dryer is pretty much required, it made everything so much easier after struggling without it.

 

Cleaned my air filter