[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Just bought the Mini this morning!
I had to drive home, get it insured and as we speak/time I am on a train back to the garage to pick it up. Unfortunately my wife is out and also no friends available, so public transportation it is.

Very happy with it. I spoke to the BMW / Mini dealer where it was bought and maintained for the last 13 years! So this should be a car to drive more than to fiddle with. At least that’s what I am aiming for!

Jeroen

Congratulations! Look forward to your review in the coming weeks. I'm back to the forum after a 3-month sojourn in Germany, and I chanced to see this thread. Learnt a lot from this thread. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Just bought the Mini this morning!

Congratulations! Looking forward to hearing more about it and seeing pictures.

I never had much liking for the "unoriginal" mini, especially as it took a low-cost car and turned it into a.... BMW! But my view of it has softened with the years. The car in your pic looks very nice

[Jeroen]

Bought myself a very nice 2010 Mini One; you can read all about the purchasing and initial ownership here:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/inter...ini-one-2.html (Bought a pre-owned 2010 Mini One)

Continuing the Mini updates and fiddling as part of this thread.

I met my friend and owner of the Minidome Model car museum a few days ago. He gave me my first Mini model too. It's a Cooper, so now I am on the lookout for a nice model of my Mini One.



There is one thing I got wrong during the inspection before buying this Mini. I looked at the tires. But that was with the car still in the garage. I noticed the tires were definitely a little old and dry. I thought I read the production dates as 2018. But I got that wrong big time. It is 2010. Which means I need to replace these tires pronto. Ordered new Michelin's and they are getting installed tomorrow afternoon!



Here is another thing I do when I get a new car. I put together all my cars in a binder to hold every bit of paper I can find or obtain during my ownership. I have one of these binders for each of my cars. The Alfa Romeo Spider has two full binders by now!





In the coming week, I want to give this Mini I proper clean and polish. So I got myself a bit of touch-up paint made. I usually went all the way to Breda, to a specialised paint shop. I have shown it a few times on this thread. But the local paint guys who sprayed my Jeep and Jaguar bits, also do these little jars of touch-up paint. Very convenient, as they are only a 15-minute drive from us.

On older cars, or rather older paint, it is best to take an actual colour paint measurement, rather than to use the factory paint number. Older paint does fade a bit and by taking an exact size, the new paint will match the old paint exactly.

Taking the paint readings.



It might be just paint, but it takes a lot of computer power to determine what the colour is, and how to obtain that colour. Took 9 different colours all mixed.





Started with a few more of the Odd Jobs; As I mentioned, one of the mirrors inside the driver's sun visor had broken off.



So I made two new pins on my lathe. Had to drill two new holes into the mirror base. Used my flexible drill bit, so I could drill a correct hole, for which the drill needs to be almost parallel to the base plate. Worked well. Anorak fact; This flexible drill is one of the oldest tools in my workshop. I remember getting it from my parents on a birthday in my early teens! I had one of the predecessors of what we now commonly refer to as the Dremel mini drill. At the time this was an accessory to it. I don't have that original pre-Dremel-era drill anymore. I do have an original Dremel of course! But this attachment doesn't fit into it!!



Tricky to see, but if you look carefully, you can just spot my carefully machined new hinge pin in there!



All works well once again!







Part of the process familiarising yourself with a car is also making sure you have everything on board that is required. Either by law, or by me!

Not sure if these are used in India? Cant remember. But in Europe you will still find many places where they are used. there will be a sign telling you how long you can park. And you have to put this little device in the front window, set to the time you arrived. Failing to do so, or resetting it, can get you a heavy fine!!

In many countries, using these parking-clocks, are known as "blue parking zones". I had to buy one, as I did not a spare.



My Mini being a modern car has a huge amount of different fuses. Different sizes and different rating. So better carry some spares ones. I have quite a few spare ones, so I just made up a little collection to carry with me.

Notice the little crate in the back of my Mini. All my cars have a crate like that. I carry some spares, tools, gloves etc in all my cars.



As modern cars have so many fuses, even if you don't carry any spares, you can usually find a fuse that you can swap if a critical one pops. Just check what each fuse powers and find one with the same rating powering something you don't need.

I have also started the first bit of cleaning. As a former merchant Chief Engineer, obviously, we start on the engine bay!!

Before:



During:



After:





Jeroen

[Jeroen]

A few other updates on my other cars and fiddling adventures!

Last Friday I took my Spider out for a nice long drive to Daun. I had booked a hotel for one night. On Saturday I visited the Classic Grand Prix at the Nurburgring circuit

Apart from it being fun to visit this event, I also needed to put some mileage on my Spider to see if Marc managed to fix the oil problem. Spoiler alert, if anything the Spider now consumes more engine oil than ever before. Back to the drawing board!



It is always good fun going to this event. I have only taken a few images. For more information have a look at some of my older threads on this event:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intl-...g-germany.html (Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Germany)

Ferrari lovers really ought to come to this event. Lots of new used Ferraris about. The Ferrari club has a massive stand. Usually, at least a couple hundred Ferrari owners show up with their cars.





This was a very unusual vehicle. Support vehicles to one of the previous Dakar Rallies. Hugely impressive!



Of course, lots of classic cars to be seen.



I said it before, I am not into (classic) racing. The most attractive part of this event is you have access to the paddocks. You can wander around, get up close to all the cars, talk to the mechanics and so.



I took a video of the very first race getting underway. I love to stand here, all cars line up here before the race. Great fun, engines rumbling, mechanics hurrying about doing a last few adjustments.

Crank up the volume to Max!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63e3vWygCe4

When I got home, a package had arrived. I ordered this stunning 1:18 W123 model a few weeks ago. They only started making this model in the thistle green colour recently. Limited edition, only 1000 made.

Love it. It is very detailed and identical to my W123. Except for the model number. Mine is a 200 and this is a 230. But nobody will notice it.



I have also managed to get my original Mini Dealer Workshop Manual going. I still to check out in some more detail. But it looks very promising!



Jeroen

[Jeroen]

Yesterday was very much a "car day". At 08.00 o'clock I was calling Marc who had just come back from his holiday about the Spider.

We discussed the oil consumption problem at length. I also checked the spark plugs. But they were fine.





If there had been a problem with the oil scraper rings and or the valve seals or guides, you would have noticed heavy oil and soot on one of the spark plugs.

We had two options, tear the engine apart again, or drive it and see if it improves over time. We opted for the latter for several reasons. Taking the engine out of the car and opening it up is a big job. It is also that you would like to prevent. On these old cars, when you fix one thing, you might break something else again. So it is a last resort.

Earlier Marc had spoken to the supplier/manufacturer of the piston, rings and liners. They had advised not to be too worried about oil consumption up to 4-5000 kilometres after an overhaul. So we decided I will take my Spider to Scotland in a couple of weeks, rake up another 2000 km and we take it from there. If there is still too much oil consumption we will need to open the engine once again. But if anything we will have met the criteria for running in as set by the manufacturer. Also, later this year, it is less of a hassle if the Spider is with Marc for several weeks. I want to drive it now! Come October or November it is time for the big maintenance jobs once again.

I did pop over to Marc later to pick up some extra oil, two trailing arms and the diabolo buffer. We think the rear axle might still have a bit of play in it. So I want to replace this before heading out to Scotland. About 25 years ago, Peter and I replaced the same parts on his and my Spider in an afternoon. As I don't have a proper car lift it is two man job. Peter is coming this Saturday to help me.



After I had spoken to Marc I popped over to my local CarGlass to have the Jeep front window replaced. Only a 10-minute drive from where we live.

I am still very annoyed with myself for having damaged this window.





New window at the ready!



Pulling the old rubber seal away was easy.



The next part was really impressive. I had not seen this before. As with most cars, the window is glued/kitted into the window frame, i.e. into the chassis. Getting it out can be quite a challenge.

These guys, being the ultimate professionals, (replacing windows is all they do) had this very nifty little tool. It is placed on the inside of the window.



It consists of several drums with very strong, thin wire and gears to wind the wire in. The wire is then stretched alongside the outside skirt of the window.



With everything set up properly, they take an electric drill to power this nifty device and the wire cuts through the old glue/kit like a warm knife through butter. All done in 90 seconds!!



The old window with some of the kit still sticking to it.



The chassis with the old window was removed. Still needed a bit of cleaning to get the old kit removed.



Once everything was cleaned we did a very careful inspection to make sure we did not have any rust anywhere. This was one of my main worries. But apart from a tiny spot, which they treated everything looked perfect. The only thing, during this operation of pulling out the window they also damaged the microphone wire as it is hidden behind the trim and somehow got caught up in all of this. Easy fix.

The new window was thoroughly cleaned and polished, with its rubber seal fitted and kit applied.




The window frame was all cleaned and prepared.



They popped it back in, which was a very fiddly job, to get it back into the correct position.



The window needs to be pushed into its correct position for about half an hour for the kit to set properly.



I am very pleased with the result. Took these guys about an hour and a half. I had been thinking about doing this myself. I have replaced the rear window of the Mercedes. But that one is not glued, held in place by its rubber seal only.

Removing these glued windows is very tricky if you don't have the correct tools and experience. Also, you don't want any leaks after you have replaced the window. So I was very happy to leave this to the professionals.

Drove the Jeep home, jumped into the Mini and drove to my local Euromaster for the new tires. Euromaster and Carglass are only about 150 meters apart.

With the Mini on the lift, I also could have a bit of a close-up look at the brakes and suspension components.



I had taken my special callipers and measured the disc brakes on the front and rear. The brake pads are fine. I will need to check that measurement against the value in the workshop manual.

A bit of rust here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary I would say. Also, very important, all the rubber on the ball joints and CV axle look in good nick!!







With four new Michelin Cross Climate 2 fitted I drove over to Marc to pick up the parts I showed earlier. Quite a difference with these new tires, a much more comfortable ride and considerably less noise.

Back home again, I put the Mini into my garage. But not before I had given it another very thorough wash. I also clay-barred the paint.

First time I have the Mini in my garage!







Started masking the various bits, for a very thorough polish with my fancy polishing machine.



It took about two hours to polish the roof! So it will be several days of working on the Mini before it will be all done.

I have put the Spider and W123 into their pyjamas. Just a precaution, with these machine polishers, before you know it, there is polishing paste everywhere!



Long day, fiddling with my cars from 0800 till 2000. I did manage to mow the lawn in between as well.

Looks like I have my work cut out for the next few days. I am suffering from a bit of a chronic elbow, so I need to be a bit careful with this repetitive polishing and waxing movement.

So I work on the Mini for 20-25 minutes, do something else for 20-25 minutes and so on. We will get there. The roof, although not waxed yet, looks a hell of a lot better already.

Jeroen

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I have put the Spider and W123 into their pyjamas. Just a precaution, with these machine polishers, before you know it, there is polishing paste everywhere!

I'm wondering why you don't do that job outside? I'm sure there is a very good reason.

Fascinating to see the window-glue removal machine.

[Dry Ice]

Fantastic updates!

I feel tired just reading your updates, can only imagine the effort that goes into maintaining these beauties.

I hope the Mini isn’t feeling left out from the thread title? A dedicated thread notwithstanding, I guess it will keep making appearances here as well. An edit might be in order?

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I'm wondering why you don't do that job outside? I'm sure there is a very good reason.

Several reason. You don’t want to be polishing and it starts to rain. You don’t want to be doing this in the sun either. Also, the wind blowing dust about is a thing as well. So the cars get washed outside, dried en then I move them inside.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

I hope the Mini isn’t feeling left out from the thread title? A dedicated thread notwithstanding, I guess it will keep making appearances here as well. An edit might be in order?

I should update it for the Jeep and the Mini,

Jeroen

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Several reason. ... rain. ... sun ... wind blowing dust

I knew the answers would be simple and obvious! Well, not obvious to me, it seems.

Thank you.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

I knew the answers would be simple and obvious! Well, not obvious to me, it seems.

Just to add, this is a 2-3 day job, so you really don’t want the car sitting outside half finished.

Jeroen

[Jeroen]

I managed to get my “official” BMW Mini Workshop manual going. It is the very same software that sits on the BMW/Mini Diagnostic tools. The difference is, in my case, it just sits on my MacBook.

I got it from these guys: https://www.emanualonline.com

Same place I got my Jeep, Spider and my son's VW Golf GTI from. I have found them very helpful. If you don't see what you are looking for, just contact them and they rarely disappoint. Very quick to respond.

This is a Windows-based Software, so I need to run it via a Virtual Windows Box on my Mac. Not a huge thing, but it does take a bit of time to start up and browse through. It is very very detailed. Still finding my way navigating through it. Also, still struggling to get the printer function working. Although the print screen works fine

I bought it for about Euro 30, which is about the same as you would pay for most Haynes manuals.

Just a couple of screenshots.

This manual works by typing in your VIN, it pulls up the relevant data. Not all the data, because some of it, it would need to be connected to the BMW/Mini Databases. Which I am not.

Basic details of my car, confirming it is indeed the N16 engine!



The first thing I did was check the brake maintenance section. I will need to replace all disks and pads in the not-so-distant future.





Very easy by the looks of it. Just remove the pads and callipers, undo two fasteners and it should come off!!

So I am looking forward to exploring this e-manual some more. Also, the Haynes manual arrived:



Lots of very practical information in the Haynes manual as well. The only thing to remember is, it is written based on right-hand driven cars. So sometimes parts will be located differently.

I also made an appointment with my local BMW/Mini dealer for an inspection. I explained to them what I want doing. These guys are busy, it's also the holiday season here, so I will have to wait till September 6th. I will be able to watch and talk to the technician as he/she does the inspection. Should be very interesting!

I continued with the detailing of the Mini.

By far the biggest job is polishing. Before polishing you also need to make of all plastics.



Having one of the rotating polishing machines is bliss!



I must admit, it all went a lot faster than with the Jeep. But then, the Jeep is a lot bigger and had much more trim to mask. Also, the Jeep was the very first car I polished myself. Since I have developed a bit of a routine. The masking can be very labour-intensive too.

Based on the detailing workshop I took last year, I use the following process:

- Hose the car down, and get rid of all the grime and dirt build-up in all pockets/crevices.
- Wash the car with car shampoo.

- Repeat as often as necessary to get a decent result. (I ended up taking the Mini through two automatic car washes and repeated the above twice. Gives you some idea of how dirty this thing was!

- take a clay bar and clay the whole car!
- Fix any paint imperfections, do touch-ups and so on
- Mask and polish the whole car
- Wipe down the polish
- Use a special polish de-greaser to remove the last bit of polish residue.
- Apply a special pre-wax fluid all over the car. Let it dry for 15 minutes and buff out.
- Apply the wax, let it dry for 15 minutes and buff it out.

(Both the pre-wax and wax application can be done by hand or by using the machine. Let me tell you, once you have used the machine, you will never apply wax by hand!! It takes me less than 5 minutes to apply the wax to the Mini!

Wax applied and drying!





Once the wax is dry, you buff it out.
Then the rest of the car is taken care of.

I have a whole host of different fluids/waxes to go on different parts of the car.

Final result:











I am very pleased with the result. This is a 13-year-old car. So the paint does have a few damaged spots (bird poo I believe). But overall, from a meter distance, it looks like new!

The interior was in very good condition to start with. Hardly any wear or tear. So that was easily dealt with.

In all, I have spent about 14-16 hours detailing the Mini. Well worth it.

Today I small job on the Spider. The whistling sound I picked up driving home from Germany needs investigating.

Proper detailing is part knowledge, part experience, and part tools. And having the appropriate personal protection. This rotary machine is very noisy. Also, I found that getting drops of polish paste on my glasses, they were almost impossible to remove. So old clothes and safety goggles and always wear (nitrile) gloves when handling all these chemical products you put on your car!!



Jeroen

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I have found them very helpful. If you don't see what you are looking for, just contact them and they rarely disappoint. Very quick to respond.

This is a Windows-based Software, so I need to run it via a Virtual Windows Box on my Mac. Not a huge thing, but it does take a bit of time to start up and browse through. It is very very detailed. Still finding my way navigating through it.

I have extensively used ISTA+ throughout the time I had my E90 3 series and did almost all the maintenance just by using this manual. It is absolutely a treasure trove of detailed information with things like replacement part no., which tools to use (including part no. for special tools), tightening torque and circuit diagrams. Since Mini is a BMW concern, the German gründlichkeit (German: Thoroughness) shows up everywhere. I think you will love it.

I used to use the Ekris BMW onderdelen (Dutch for 'Parts') website to get context on how the ISTA+ is classified based on different sub-systems of a car. You can also order a lot of original parts from them and pick it up any Ekris dealership/service center. They have a similar website for Mini as well: https://minishop.ekris.nl/nl/onderdelen

[Thad E Ginathom]

That is a fantastic result, Jeroen.

By taking the education and getting all the correct tools and materials, you must saved a huge amount of time on the job itself. For starters, all of the trial and error stuff is eliminated.

(I am currently struggling with virtual machines to run Windows software on my Linux machine. I succeeded with VirtualBox, but the display quality is poor, which is not good for testing photo software. A friend suggested Qemu, but I have hit an installation-error brick wall)

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

I used to use the Ekris BMW onderdelen (Dutch for 'Parts') website to get context on how the ISTA+ is classified based on different sub-systems of a car. You can also order a lot of original parts from them and pick it up any Ekris dealership/service center. They have a similar website for Mini as well: https://minishop.ekris.nl/nl/onderdelen

Thanks, that is a very useful onderdelenwebsite! I need to find my way around Mini parts and also find a none official specialist. As the ones, I have for my other cars. There might be one not too far from here, I will visit them in the next few weeks.

I just got off a support call with the Emanual guys. I could not get the print function to work. So they helped me out, online. excellent service!

Jeroen

[vaasu]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Also, I found that getting drops of polish paste on my glasses, they were almost impossible to remove. So old clothes and safety goggles and always wear (nitrile) gloves when handling all these chemical products you put on your car!!

Jeroen

I also happened to get few drops of polish on my glasses. Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray Coating was what I was using.

It took me some time to realize that usual mild soapy solution is having absolutely no effect on these 'spots'. It has been few weeks now and it still has not gone off completely!

Thanks.