GBMINI blind in one eye!

Posted on by Ian C.

Today, for the second time since I got GBMINI, I noticed that only one headlight was reflected in the car in front; the driver headlight was off:

This happened once before, and MINI Peabody replaced an “ignitor” but apparently there is still an issue and, as Kevin commented, it seems to be damp weather related.
The light did not come on again when I switched the lights off and on again, but it did recover when I stopped the engine and restarted everything.

 

Then tonight, heading home, the light was off again. It did *not* recover when I turned the car off at the post office, but it did finally come on again when I turned the car off and on again when I got home:

 

Strange that once the light is out, it takes a full engine off/on to recover it – seems more like a computer fault than a problem at the light itself, but I think Gary at MINI Peabody will replace the light unit later this week …
Anyone else had similar problems with the Xenons?

Running Harmon Kardon with no factory head unit

Posted on by Ian C.

As some will know, I have installed an aftermarket Kenwood head unit connected to a 20GB MP3 Kenwood Keg.

I had planned to replace the Harmon Kardon amplifier & speakers with aftermarket, but after a lot of pain & grief with Tweeter, I was left with an aftermarket head unit and factory amp – but the Harmon Kardon amp will only work when connected to a factory head unit, so I had to keep it installed:

This install lasted a while, then “scooterboy” provided me with a factory head unit which I was able to strip down to a minimum – enough to still run the Harmon Kardon amp, but “hideable”:

MINI stereo, stripped down

 

While this system worked, it remained awkward. With a volume control on the Harmon Kardon amp (controlled by the steering wheel remotes via the stripped down factory head unit) and a second volume control on the Kenwood head unit, it was confusing for other people (sorry Keith!)
I tried setting the Kenwood to a fixed high level and using the steering controls only to adjust volume, but then I lost the “loudness” low volume emphasis function of the Kenwood.
I could not set the Harmon Kardon to a fixed high level, since the factory head unit always reverts to a medium volume when it is turned off/on. So for a while I would start the car, use the steering controls to increase the Harmon Kardon level to maximum, then use the Kenwood volume control the rest of the time. One problem with this was losing the speed compensation of the Harmon Kardon amp, which does not work when its volume is already at max.

Continue reading Running Harmon Kardon with no factory head unit