mdsbrain.com MINI Blog

Saturday night (9/24) my bud Sapan reminded me of a small car show going on my school (Bowie State University). So I figured I was bored and rolled up there. It was to start @ 7pm and it was already dark. Parking lights are orange in this school lot so lighting is low.

To make a long story short, it was pathedic. There was 6-8 cars that actually signed up. 20 people walked over from the dorms to vote on which car they liked the most based on their own likes. I was surprised to win 2nd place in this small pathedic competition. Music was blasting and that was about the best part :-p That and the few other people there showing their cars were as bummed as I was.

Other items:
I left my lights on so long my battery wouldn’t turn my car over. But after the car sat about 5 minutes it did. Maybe there is something in the MINIs car electronics which just saved my butt. Noone had jumper cables so I was pretty helpless for a bit.

First award:
Ok, so its something to celebrate I guess. I mean it was free and it was sort of fun. But I have a trophy to hopefully start a small collection of trophies.

Pic of trophy for 2nd place :

Well I had it with the exhaust. Yesterday (Tuesday) I went around to get a few estimates to get it fixed and fit my car. I got 2 estimates. One from a Midas ($87/hour) and a private shop ELD Performance ($89.99/hour) and both said 2-3hrs. So @ that money I said screw it! I went home and in about 4.5hrs (mostly by myself) I was back to stock.

Believe it or not I kind of like the stock sound now. Maybe I have days when I like it loud and other when I want it quiet. That and this one isn’t shaking, rattling or sounding like crap at any certain rpm.

So its up for sale now. I hope someone in the DC Metro Area wants it. Price is $250 OBO and I will deliver it to your place.

Well I’ve been using tools my Dad had and some I have bought here and there. Well yesterday I was @ Sears and saw that looked like a good set @ a good price to me. 190 pieces Craftsmans (including 1/4″, 3/8″ and 1/2″ sockets, Allen wrenches and several wrenches) for $150. I also picked up a good torque wrench on sale and some other nice pieces to help organize it in the toolbox. So I now have a good set of tools and I know everything I need is there.

I also got in my copy of the Bentley Manual for the MINI. I know the current version is for the 2002-2004 cars but oh well. I’m happy to have it so I can better take care of my car. From the proper torque settings to normal maintenance.

I haven’t posted for about a week for a reason. I wanted to make it easy for folks to find my blog with the headline (like when its listed on gomotoring.com) about the Navi v26 update. I have had over 120 downloads of the Rar file off my site in just over a week. So I am happy to serve it to the masses and help people to make their Navi better.

But I have a few posts coming in the next coming days so keep posted.

I just updated both my MCSa and my sister’s MCC Navi with v26 of the firmware. The upgrade has changed the Navi so much. The color of the maps and detail is what it should have been. My hats off to those who created this update.
I am hosting the upgrade on my site to help people who might want to upgrade their Navi. Please understand this is for the MKIV Navi system only. Meaning only for the DVD based system.

Also this is an upgrade that is supposely offered by your dealer if they know about it. So this is not a hack or any peice of illegal software. Just a very worthwhile upgrade.

Link to the firmware.
Link 1 to How-to.
Link 2 on How-to

I am willing to field question on this upgrade if you need help.