Looking for a serpentine belt tool that I might be able to borrow.
Also looking for a Mini mechanic recommendation for the stuff I might not have the time to do. BMW guys seem to like Hans in NK, so I'll check with him, but wondering if anyone has a good tech.
And just checking to see if anyones active

 

I have dealt with Hans before. He is VERY detailed in his assessments. You will get many pages mentioning stuff you didn’t want to know about, stuff you would do yourself etc.
I took my car there for some serious stuff as well as tire mounting.
it all ended when, as I thought he didn’t care for me, that I stopped getting interior wheel weights on my BMW rims. Started using clamps. Then, on one job, I noticed I was missing a lug bolt. When I brought it up, he said he “forgot to tell me it wasn’t there when I brought it in”.
Either they forgot it or it wasn’t there. But when you mention $5000 worth of work I need, but forget to tell me I’m missing a bolt…..we are finished.

I have a 2011 Mini Cooper with an oil leak in a cylinder so I would like to find someone as well.
Inskip “figured out” my rough idle when warm AFTER $2800 worth of other stuff I needed.
Said they need to pull the head, check it and the gasket, maybe mill it.

just afraid they will find out AFTER that it’s the ring.

so I went out and bought a MIni SE and have the ‘11 in the garage.

 

Thats disappointing to hear, but not surprising these days.
For a repeat customer he should have just owned up to it, offered to take the $5 a replacement costs off the bill or something at least. Pretty douchy to just dismiss it, def gives you trust issues with the place.

My 2012 Countryman is 1/2 apart in my garage for an engine swap because I got a dont want to do it price from the old shop I used to use. Good shop, but they prob got tired of me as I mostly took them problems and not the easy stuff like brake pads lol, so maybe Im a bad customer like that. Vacuum pump failure took that engine out :(

Working on a Paceman now too. Cheap pick buy that needs some work. I grabbed 30mm wrench for the serpentine belt install and will try it with that instead of the tool they sell to lock the belt tensioner.

Theres a bmw/mini shop or 2 in CT, but reviews say they aren't much cheaper than the dealership tho, so I prob wont try them, so still looking for leads on a shop.

 

I don't know if it's a specialized MINI tool that you need for the belt, but I believe Harbor freight has the standard serpentine belt tool set is on sale right now for $15. The Warwick store has a couple in stock right now.

 

TY
Theres the red handled offset tensioner tool a few places sell thats supposed to allow you to push it with one hand threw the wheel well and push the pin in with the other from up top(pic attached). Reviews say it works, but its like $40 then shipping. NAPA had a pretty long 30mm wrench for $10 ( www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7742430 ) Ima give it a try. Some people even say they've use a 2x2 on a jack and got it done. The tool at HF for $15 is a good deal, but if it needs the socket for the 30mm clearance might be an issue. If the wrench and the 2x2 doesn't work, I'll give it a go.

 

I ended up having to use a 2x2 on a jack to move the tensioner back. It was somewhat frozen in place, I dont think I would have gotten it another way no matter what tool I used. Moves easier now tho.
Going to change the oil in a moment.
With the belt on, it is still not charging, so I think it needs an alternator. Will order one from NAPA unless someone has a good used one to try.

 

Which shops are those? I live in SE CT.

 

I haven't visited them, just saw them in a search, but there was northeast motor werks https://northeastmotorwerks.com/ was one I saw, google reviews mention mini
Cant find the other one I saw, but it was closer to NY.

 

Changed the oil on the R61. It was a little dark, it needed it. Car is new to me. I only had a short extension for the oil filter cover socket, but I took off the intake pipe and that gave me enough room to loosen and tighten. Just 2 clamps to move it out of the way, was easy. Just need a slightly longer extension for next time.
Battery/alternator was good last time I ran it, but this time the charging light was coming on. Voltage was 11-12 at idle, but would go up to 13-14 not much above idle per the reading in bimmerlink. I did leave my obd dongle plugged in, its an obdlink mx+ with bluetooth and ****, still shouldnt have drawn that much tho, but I'll charge the battery up and check it again. Seems like a weak alternator I'll prob have to change. Will try to register the battery again in bimmerlink too, but I see an alternator in my future.
Replaced the passenger door latch as that wasn't closing. That didn't take too long, and wasn't too hard. Door stays closed now.
I've got new rear lower control arms on order, should be here Monday. The ones on it are bent from the car being lifted with the big fork truck at the yard :/ . Glad they were cheap to order and seem easy enough to replace. It needs tires anyway, so an alignment will be coming regardless. Thinking of getting 225/50/17's as they are a little cheaper than the 205/55's
Next month will get a new vacuum pump as a safety measure, miles are a bit high, its not making noise or anything, but it will be cheap insurance.
In the meantime, will change the oil on the R50 daily this week.

 

Replaced my alternator and all is good with the charging now so far (knocks on wood). Wasn't too bad, took me an extra hour or so as I was going slow. Took off the grille and the brace that goes to the strut towers, right headlight, intercooler pipe, and the dip stick tube and the sensor next to it, and I was able to get the alternator out pulling it up, no service mode needed, did not have to touch the a/c compressor or lines. Did have to go get a proper E10 inverted torx socket from harborfreight for the 3 alternator bolts, I tried using a 5/16 12 point and it worked on 2 out of the 3 but the E10 worked betterer and I should have just gotten it to begin with. I did undo the engine mount bolt and lifted the engine a bit with the jack under it and that made getting at the belt tensioner that much easier and was no biggie to do.

Had a bit more oil than I thought would be in the intercooler pipe, so will check that/pcv out next, then replace the rear lower control arms this weekend I hope.