I have just remembered that recently I hit my 20th year in the MINI community. 20 years. Jesus, that’s a long time. While I haven’t had nearly as many MINIs as most of you have (on my fourth), that’s still quite a few cars to own over the span of that many years. Started a club. Started a podcast. Worked on MotoringFile. Got to do some cool shit. And, at the end of November, that all comes to an end when I put the F56 up for sale. I already wrote about this over at donburnside.com. I’m just making it official here. And by official I mean to let you know that I have posted the F56 for sale. If ..read more

As the kids say, tell me db got a new MINI without telling me he got a new MINI? If you know you know. After the window completely delaminated for the 2nd time in the roadster, I was done. With 105K miles on the clock, there were also some issues that needed to be tended too. To be honest, I never really liked that MINI, so I really didn’t want to spend $6k on repairs (including a new top). My search started back in June and I was looking for a unicorn. Not, not a dark silver/white R53, but a current generation MINI, 2016 or newer, meeting most of the following: Manual transmission H/K Stereo ..read more

A quick review does show me the last repairs done on this MINI, and here I was today, hanging out in the shop with Jerry, thinking it was lost for good. Whew. While I’m failing lately at being a blogger, it’s good to know that I’m still keeping this going as a journal, somewhat. Anyway, everything has been problem free since the last time Hank spent time in the shop. And having the back window delaminate from the top. Besides that, problem free. Yep. Oh, except the air conditioning system crapping out. Luckily, this literally happened during the last week of moderate temps in Arizona, so I’ve ..read more

I own a car with a canvas top. I knew this particular job would be dangerous when I took it, but I didn’t know to what extent, until this happened. Roadster Window delaminating from the top Fearing the worse, I check with the dealer about a repair. No go, as you would expect. I posted in the R59 Owner’s Group on Facebook and someone had luck getting theirs repaired by an upholstery shop, and a few have done the repair themselves. So, I start call upholstery shops. Since this is one of the things not covered by my extended warranty, I’m out of pocket for any of it. A few calls around t ..read more

This guy is mine for 24 hours. I specifically requested a Cooper even. A few things have been going on for the past few weeks. Let’s play catch-up! To start with, Bruce has been leaking like a sieve, needing more than 1 gallon of coolant over than past week and change. Secondly, I have been running an experiment, still trying to figure out the best way to drive this MINI with the automatic transmission. For the last week, I have been making an attempt at moving the lever to the left. Not hitting the sport button, not turning off DSC, just moving the lever to the left. Oh, and then acti ..read more

The last 12 months have been pretty crazy over on my side, capped off by buying a house in a new town. I am still in Arizona, still driving Hank and still making White Roof Radio. Here are a few updates, really quick. Hank has been problem free, mostly. Still in need of rear brakes. Now, seeing an odd fluid on the driveway that stays longer than water but vanishes completely once dry, and the heater hasn’t been working correctly. Yes, I said heater because Arizona has been cold AF for the first part of 2019! He is due for an oil change and I’m hoping to have these issues looked at. White ..read more

Quote courtesy of Mr. Benham. It’s not very often that a car needs tires and brakes at the same time. In all of my years of driving, I’m 100% sure this is the first time it has ever happened to me. While I didn’t really need tires, as it turns out, I did. Front brakes only this time instead of the full round to save a few bucks. Rears are ok and can be done later. Due to weather and other circumstances, I went ahead and let Jerry do the front brakes. Usually I would have done this myself, because it is a fairly easy job. I’m now reminded of the other reason I do it myself; to save money. It’s ..read more

As you might have heard during the latest episode of White Roof Radio, I’m really having some anxiety over owning a MINI. I’ve been driving these cars since 2003 and never have I had these feelings toward any of the MINIs I have ever driven. I’m sure a good part of that anxiety is caused by this damned nanny screen. Every little thing that goes wrong with this car causes all manner of error messages, lights and sirens. Every. Time. I start the car. Not helped by the fact that I really don’t like MINI Connected and never use it, but that’s a topic for another day. Another reason for the anxie ..read more

Let’s all be honest. I own a 2013 MINI Cooper with a turbo. Definitely not the pinnacle of vehicular reliability. After owning the roadster for a little more than a year, I finally got to be stranded on the side of the road due to something that had stopped working so bad he wouldn’t even run enough to get off the freeway. Now that I am part of this club, are there hats? Luckily, it wasn’t anything too major. Turns out, the fuel filter housing was cracked and caused all of the fuel remaining in the tank to not be available to the engine, rendering me, essentially, out of gas. Of course, I fear ..read more

Been almost a year. It has been about 10,000 miles. An oil change and tire repair. 450 hours on the Openometer. Some quick thoughts about my extended time with Hank. The Automatic Transmission I am so conflicted by this, still and daily. While my daily commute is made slightly easier by the automatic transmission, and my feet are much happier, it’s truly horrible for my daily commute. The throttle response is nightmarishly slow. Turning on sport mode goes the wrong way, and makes the car too twitchy. Next time, get the manual. Or don’t drive in traffic every day. Carrying Things So far, as exp ..read more