The Saga Continues...

It feels like it's been a little while since I've posted- maybe that's because I needed to step back a bit following my two previous posts regarding wheel choice and my mini-Mini obsession. I got a little feedback from readers who were concerned that I had turned a corner in my MINI hobby. I think I heard the words "intervention" and "lunatic" muttered a few times.

Since I am here not only to satiate my own automotive addiction- but also to entertain and inform the readers- I've been wondering if these two posts had possibly taken MINIblog in a new direction- did I go off track? The original intent of this journal was to chronicle my experiences with the MINI- work I've done on it, places I've been etc...

"etc..." is a big place though- I mean it's a large category that covers alotta ground - so maybe I should take a crack at defining it:

"etc..." in this case includes all topics related to the MINI- not excluding my thoughts, daydreams, hopes and goals- as long as they have to do with the car in some way. That said- it seems to me that while these recent posts definitely fall into that "etc..." category, they may make me seem a bit eccentric- that's ok I can deal with that. I'm gonna stand behind them anyway-

I'm not gonna fence myself in- I'm gonna let the blog fly and see where it takes me!

As I read that last line again it occurs to me that perhaps I do have a problem... well so be it we'll just add it to the pile.

K- that's enough heavy stuff, here's what's been going on lately:

As some of you may know, BMW has not yet released an official shop manual for the MINI to the general public. Unfortunately the car is still new enough that I also can't walk into any auto parts store and buy a service manual for it. This is somewhat disconcerting for the do-it-yourselfer. For the weekend-handyman having the shop manual at the ready is great because it provides detailed instructions (and often pictures of each step) for just about every procedure that could be done on the car.

For my previous cars I was always able to secure a factory shop manual (sometimes still in the original BMW Service Center Binder)- and they proved to be invaluable for diagnosing problems before every picking up a wrench.

Long story short- I've been on a quest for the MINI shop manual since day 1 and finding one has been no small task.

After much searching and lurking on message boards I finally secured one from good old EBay

I was a little skeptical at first- especially because it only cost $15- but decided that without risk there is no glory!

So I fired up PayPal and off went the funds. A day later I got an email from the seller thanking me for my purchase, and providing me with a tracking number for my package. Two days after that I had a small envelope arrive at my office. I was expecting a larger package- surely the entire manual would be "hefty"- had I been duped?!

Turns out the "shop manual" has come a long way - they are no longer in Binders but on CD-Rom and do not cover one car- but THE ENTIRE BMW LINE OF CARS (going all the way back to the E30 (the boxy ones))

JACKPOT!

Along with the CD came a packet of installation instructions. I looked over the instructions and then quickly threw them aside- after all - "I'm a computer professional!"

Turns out that the install is, in fact, a bit involved- the CD actually installs a local database of all the procedures for all the cars and a specialized program to interact with it. There are 4 major components to the program: "System Administrator" (which I assume establishes me as an authorized user of the system)- "TIS" (Technical Information System- which is the symptom diagnostic and procedure database) - EPC and HTK. I have no idea what the last two programs do but I have a distinct feeling that at least one of them allows the user to plug directly into the cars computer and communicate- now that's cool!

I'm not quite brave enough to start hacking the MINI's brain- but I am going to begin researching it and see what I come up with :D

In the mean time I decided the explore the TIS section and see if my $15 was indeed worth it.

Not only is the CD ridiculously comprehensive, but the interface is pretty intuitive- It has a section called "symptoms" where you can choose different paths that describe the problem your car is having and it pulls procedures from the database.

I decided to test this feature. My passenger seat has been squeaking for a little while now- not a big deal, but kind of annoying- not sure what to expect- I fired up the CD. 4 clicks later I had the complete seat disassembly and lube procedure (sounds a little dirty when you write it that way huh?- anyway...) - Turns out this problem has been documented and is relatively easy to fix.

Seems to me that this disc is a winner- and will prove to be an invaluable tool when working on the car.

For those interested, here is a link to the auction on EBay where I found this gem:
BMW TIS Disc

I would say that if you have a MINI or any BMW for that matter- and are a little computer savvy this is definitely a worthwhile purchase.

I also finally broke down and joined one of the local MINI clubs- the SoCal MINI Maniacs - or as I prefer to call them "SCMM" - I chose this club because it seems to be the most active of the local groups- and they have regular track time at Irwindale speedway. I've attended an event or two with these guys and they seem like a good group- I figured I would give it a try. This is not to say that I won't look into other clubs- or attend other events.

In other news- you may have noticed the banner ad at the top of this page. Now before the cry's of "sellout!" come pouring in- let me say this- I sold out. Well only a little. The way I see it is this: It's an experiment. In the course of my entries I have endorsed a number of products, and in the Links section of the site I point to a number of Vendors and other bloggers. I'm happy to endorse away if I believe in a product or website. But why would I make the jump to ad space? Have I tainted this relaxed and informal venue? Maybe, or perhaps its just a logical progression since I work in marketing (specifically internet marketing). I think more than anything I just wanted to see what would happen.

I also really think that Tire Rack provides a quality service (at unbeatable prices) and has a useful and informative website for those interested in upgrading their cars, and since the purpose of MINIblog is to be both entertaining and informative to its readers- letting them know about- and giving them easy access to quality products seems to be my duty. I figure that since I have been an unofficial spokesperson for Tire Rack for years- I might as well make it official and if I can put some scratch in my pocket- earn some extra duckets for parts upgrades at the same time- what's wrong with that? So we'll see how it goes perhaps I shall become an automotive internet mogul!

I will also say this- to those of you that waded through the wheel choice entry- partial apologies must be offered. While I stand behind the theory and practice described there- I must say that I may have been hasty in calling an end to the wheel search. As it turns out there is a local shop that is offering an amazing deal on wheels that were previously outside my price range- thus opening up a whole new catagory of wheel choices. So as it stands my current choice is this:

The Gram Light 57S (a brand new wheel).

And here is a ROUGH mockup of what the wheels will look like on the MINI:



I think they look AWESOME and hope that the discount pricing holds until I am ready to pull the trigger on purchase.

So until next time...the blog continues