Sold!

Posted on by Ian C.

GBMINI#3, that is – now to be known as “REDSX1” and owned by Paul & Pauline, who collected the car from MINI of Peabody today:

Coincidentally, Paul & Pauline are also British ex-pats, who lived within about 10 miles of me back in the 1980s (near Bath)! Hope to see you again next weekend, at the MINI of Peabody Spring Rally!

And here’s another coincidence …
Saturday, heading back from Pasta For Pat and having recently been listening to Gabe on WhiteRoofRadio singing the praises of the BMW Z4 M coupe, what passed me on I93 north of Boston but that very car!
The Z4 M slowed as it reached me, and checked out the GP, then pulled ahead and then pulled over – so I pulled up to it’s side and returned the compliment 🙂
Thumbs up for both drivers, and then the Z4 headed off …

Today, while I was meeting Paul & Pauline, tech Kevin introduced me to Robert – who had come in to learn more about the cool looking MINI he’d seen at the weekend, while driving his Z4 M coupe!
Robert also drives a very loaded MCS, with HK, NAV, JCW 210 upgraded engine, suspension, etc, etc …

Auto-up windows (no, not for the R56!)

Posted on by Ian C.

I’ve spent some time investigating auto-up windows for the R56, and concluded that there are two possibilities, neither of which is an easy install … so for now, any R56 project is on hold.

Meanwhile, I got bored with the “old” MINI circuit for 2001-2006 MINIs (and 2007 convertibles), so I designed a new one and had a batch made! The primary difference of this new circuit, is that it integrates both Track Mode DSC and the “AFF” (auto-front-fogs) function, in the basic design! So now there’s only one basic circuit, which gives all features – of course you don’t have to enable the features you don’t want …

Auto-up-windows MINI circuit, V6

(adding a garage-opener-remote still requires extra circuitry so adds cost)

Another reason for the re-design was to reduce the component count, and thus reduce manufacturing cost – thus allowing me to provide all three circuit features at the old $45 price!

That being said, I still have a few of the original auto-up-only design in stock, so they’re now available-till-gone at a discounted price of $36! I will of course be sending refunds to people that purchased in the last couple of weeks … [UPDATE: ALL SOLD!]

Five years ago

Posted on by Ian C.

Today, five years ago, I first drove a MINI Cooper – a test drive from MINI of Peabody! My “Motoring Advisor” was Joel – and five years later he still works there 🙂

Within a week I had ordered an MCS, but by the end of May 2002 I had realized I couldn’t wait nine months, and had found, test drove and purchased the demo MINI Cooper from Herb Chambers MINI – GBMINI#1:

ian-and-gbmini
Back in those days, I had no website, no digital camera, and no MINI friends – I didn’t join MINICooperOnline (now NorthAmericanMotoring) till mid May 2002, and didn’t join MINI2 till the end of June … I was a total MINI newbie 🙂

Early days driving the MINI were lots of fun, and lots of looks (it was very rare back in mid 2002!), but I think I would have gone back to a more “normal” car if it wasn’t for the wonderful MINI community that I discovered … I simply can’t list all the great friends I now have, but people like Jason, Jayson & Gavin who were at my first ever MINI meet and are like me still driving MINIs, and Steve who left MINI (for Subaru) but couldn’t resist the pull of MINI world and recently rejoined us 🙂

Then there’s also Gary, Scott & Kevin who worked at MINI of Peabody and came on that first drive – and still work at the dealership too, who I also consider to be great friends 🙂

I hope everyone has as much MINI fun & friendship as I do – and THANKS to all my MINI friends for making the last five years such a fun time!