We had a great time.  Here are the pictures.

Nicole and I hit Loveland Pass, Indepence Pass, and Berthoud Pass.  Some towns that we saw.  Frisco, Winter Park, Leadville, Aspen and Glenwood Springs.

We made some new friends and took home some great info on our new Mini.

Thanks to everyone who planned the event.  We will see you next year.

Mileage: 38184 | Dicount Tire Lone Tree, CO

Mileage: 38160 | Ralph Schomp Mini Englewood, CO

On the eve of my first “Mini in the Mountains” Ralph. Schomp slid me into the service department this morning.

Yestarday afternoon my brake pad warning light came on and I paniced. Nicole and I are set to leave Wednesday evening for MITMs at Cooper Mountain.

I called them a few moments after the light came on. To add stress to the situation it was about 4:58p. Devon told me to bring it first thing in the morning. He said they were 120% booked but would do his best get it in on Wednesday.

I woke up early this morning and headed for the Schomp. I arrived about 30 minutes before the store officially opened. At 6:45 Devon took my info and told me he would call me as soon as he got to it.

The stores shuttle service goes downtown on Wednesday so I was out of luck getting to the Denver Tech Center. My plan was to borrow my mother’s Cooper today to run some last minute errands. While on the phone with my mom, Devon informed me my was car heading back and should be ready in an hour or so. I was floored.

Some of you know that I spent about 15 years working directly with car dealerships. Never have a seen a dealership more concerned about customer service. Ralph Scomp sell Hondas, BMWs and or course Minis. If you are looking to purchase or service any of these makes I highly recomend them.

Through out 13 years of marriage I have been the “car hog”. Always choosing the new vehicle. During these times I would always ask…what she wanted. She would usually just agree with the decision at hand and move on with life. i mean thsi girl has been through Jeep after Jeep. Some brought home on flatbed trailers. Some she didn’t even know about until they pulled up out front. She has been through a lot.

Every good husband notices things though. Like when I would mention my days of driving my 73 Super Beetle. Which by the way is sitting in my garage, needing work. She would mention that she has always wanted a Volkwagon Karmann Ghia. That was quickly followed-up by “a convertible Ghia”. As if to make sure I knew exactly which model.

So I found one. I had been actively looking under her nose for about 8 years. I found it on Craigslist. It had been garaged since 1999, and was in good drivable shape, and close. It was in Loveland. The icing on the cake for me was that it was a 1970 model just like Nicole.

link to more pictures

I totally want this deck for my Mini Cooper. Anyone installed it?

Has 3.5″ DVD screen a video out and is ready for XM/Sirrus and HD.  Ooo La La

[pictures link]

I enjoyed the looks I got while driving it around yesterday.

I sure did. My boss and I are rolling down the interstate about 65 mph. We roll up on this guy. I whip out the camera phone to snap a picture of this dingdong…

As we pass I snap the photo. I then start pumping my index finger up and down…like “yo, your Carmel, triple shot, skinny, no foam is on the roof.” He then holds a small sign…says “April Fools”.

I wish I had thought of that!

Two new Pirelli Eufori Run Flats. Tires were put on the front. The two rear tires were inspected and only have about 6,000 miles on them. Received tire warranty on all 4 tires. Lifetime rotation and balance on each tire.

It was the PIAA 540 install kit for the 2002 to 2006 Mini Cooper. My Cooper has Xenon headlamps. These lamps can cause some snow blindness while driving during a quickly falling snow storm. In the past I have successfully use my fog lamps w/o the headlamps to navigate. This kit will give me one more option.

The kit comes with instructions that can be described as…decent, to put it kindly. The light brackets fit my Cooper perfectly. No issues with mounting the hardware, lamps or even running the wire. All went well and without any troubles.

Tips:

1. When drilling and mounting the top screw of the light brackets. Remove the two access panels. These access panels are there to give access to the nuts that hold on the ram are duct. This will make it much easier to fish some of the mounting hardware.
2. Run the light wiring towards the drivers side. There is a nice ground that can be used just beyond the washer fluid filling area.
3. The open area next to the master cylinder makes for a nice area to zip tie unused wire.
4. The master cylinder area also makes a nice launch pad through the fire wall. It is also a way to get to the battery connection.

Purchase Link $249.99

Here are some pictures

On my way home this evening I pick them up from a powder coater. I had driven by the shop hunders of times and never stopped. I sure am glad I did stopped this time. The place is called Roadrunner Powder Coating and Fabrication. Dan and his staff are great. Didn’t even blink and eye at such a small job. Most of the stuff they were working on…I could have parked my Mini inside of. They are huge operation.

At $50 a rim to strip and re-coat I couldn’t pass it up.

Here is the final product.

AFE Cold Air intake installed in a 2006 Mini Cooper S

Pretty happy with this. Install went very smooth. I try to always test fit everything prior, it seems to make the actual install quicker.

It’s a great value. Watch my fuel log to see if I am getting any better mileage. Hit the comments on the top right of this post if you have any questions.

Here are some pictures

First I looked into the “holeless” option offered by a Vendor on the NAM site. Hit the link, this option is really great, but I already have the holes for the stock one in my bumper. As a looked at pictures of this option It looked as if it might restrict a little air flow. It may even block some of the light give off by the factory fog lights. I would love to be able to put a new bumper on it, but that’s not financially feasible right now. I understand the hole can be filled and the color touched up, but I have never been really good and that sort of thing. I hold things like this to a pretty high standard, sometimes standards that I, personally, can’t reach.

The second option was to find the stock plate holder, like the one that came on my Mini new. Not my first choice, but the best given the circumstances.

I stopped at Ralph Schomp Mini today to pick one up. $90+ later I had my stock holder. I picked up a Badge holder for the grill also.

Shelly at Schomp is just absolutely wonderful.

Today I picked up a few URLs to go with my new found Mini Cooper love.

• www.miniroad.com
• www.spinmini.com

Not sure what I’m going to use them for yet. Tossing around the idea of buying a vinyl sticker cutter and making some stickers. I have been thinking about that for years. I have some good ideas for the Mini audience. More to come on that idea in the next few weeks.

The first step is to head over to Twitter and set-u an account. Twitter is a SMS based social network. Those who link to you get all the “public” SMS text messages you send to Twitter.

Twitter also allows you to send messages directly to other Twitter members, you don’t even have to know their cell number. MyMileMarker uses this direct message technique to keep track of your fuel log.

After setting up your Twitter account then head over to MyMileMarker and set up an account, then head back over to Twitter and link with the Twitter account MYMM.

Now all you have to do it send a SMS to 40404. it should be in the following format (d mymm 27,262 11.9 2.93) meaning this (d mymm mileage gallons price)

Here is an example of the logs I review online.

Ralph Schomp Mini in Englewood Colorado hosted a Clubman unveiling this afternoon. I had been to the dealership a few times already, but never with such fan fair. They rolled out the red carpet for us, literally. No…they really had a red carpet.

I arrived around 11:30. Really just to check out the spread. I was starving and wanted to know if I needed to grab something before the noon unveiling. When I arrived Schomp was laying out a array of “Club” sandwiches. Knowing the food was there…I decided not to stuff my face until after the noon showing.

Pictures of the Clubman have been all over the forums and even some other blog reviews have been posted already. The actual viewing was less climactic because of this. Still nice to see one up close and in person though.

My Thule Aero Style Roof Rack install went well this evening. I spent the my lunch hour searching for the correct “Fit Kit” for the Mini Cooper. The load range is 110 lbs according to Thule, but I wouldn’t have a problem loading up to 200lbs IMHO.

The install took about 2 hours to complete, including a test drive.

While I was test fitting it I pushed the bars forward. The faring was touching the edge of the windshield. Since the bars are to be 24″ apart, it made the install look out of sync. I chose to move it back a bit.

The next addition will be some ski mounts. We are taking a trip up to the ski condo in a few weeks and will need those attachments.

The Rapid Aero load bars are great for someone who needs to pull off miscellaneous attachments at a moments notice. With the system you just need to remove the end caps to pull off attachments. No longer will I have to pull the foot mounts off the car to remove the ski or bike mounts. I believe each attachment comes with a locking end cap for security.

Thule part numbers for this install are:

1. 400XTR Aero Foot pack [attachment feet]
2. 2145 Fit Kit [finger brackets and rubber scuff pads]
3. RB47 Rapid Aero Load Bars
4. LOCK [locks]
5. 871 [38" fairing]

Some of you may know, I own an only off-road parts supply and manufacturing company. Some of my suppliers also supply parts for Mini Cooper and and Cooper S models. I will be posting links to my BIGoffroad site. The shopping cart is already built there and can be used easily. Please support me by using links to these products.

Cooper S products via BIGoffroad

The install was pretty simple. A little searching on the NAM forums will get you the info you need. I use an iPhone and chose to not “Lock” the device controls. I have some mounts coming form ProClip USA that will make the input device easy to reach. The DICE interface works decent. However I use Playlists a lot and it does not really display the info like using the device. So I chose to control it off the input device instead.

After my dealer visit I took it down to John’s Sunroofs. Darrell and his shop has tinted every one of my vehicles. I am trusting the Mini to the best in the business.

The reflective tint is illegal here in Colorado so if I want that sticker removed from the rear I will have to re-tint the whole car. I added a clear bra to the hood and inside the door handles.

First fill with 91 Octane. Read on the forums I should be using 91.

The Jeep Commander had such lousy gas mileage. I expect to double the 16mpg the Commander got with this. Here is a link to the images. I pulled them off the dealers site.

Picked it up for $20,000 less what the Commander was worth.