[big jim]

Fitted the tuning chip this afternoon, had an issue with the instructions being terrible, the pictures on it were for a similar engine fitted to a different car, possibly a Ford and it was telling me to take the battery off etc but mine is under the scuttle vent so obviously different

ended up calling TDI tuning and they sent me a link to a video with the same engine as the mini on but in a different car again, but not a mini, it gave me the idea where the sensor I needed to plug into was and I eventually found it after removing the airbox and a few other bits and bobs, the sensor was a pain too as I couldn’t get to it with my fingers so had to blindly get a flat blade screwdriver under the tab and give it a pull!

it’s lurking under this lot!

below the rubber pipe that’s attached to the plastic one

anyway got it fitted after about 30 mins of messing about, I’ve only taken it a couple of miles in town but it feels like there is loads more torque in the midrange, can’t wait to try it out on the open road tomorrow morning, I’ve got to use it for work tomorrow night for work too so see how it performs on the motorway

 

[big jim]

I used the exhaust to go pole vaulting!


Well I took it for a blast down the by pass, goes surprising well, acceleration wise you certainly don’t have to plant your foot to the floor and rev the balls off it to get moving, I’ll have to get used to that after being in the R53, it actually feels like it’s not doing much then you look at the speedo and realise your upto 60 very quickly, then 60 to 70 is a very quick pull, nice and torquey

it is giving a bit of white smoke on acceleration at times but I suspect that may be linked to the dodgy (possibly empty) cat/EGR assembly as a quick google says the EGR being stuck open may cause that, I’ll give Sean the pleasure of looking at it for me at some point

also noticed one of the injectors looks to have a slight leak too

 

[big jim]

Quick little job, swapped the chrome boot handle trim for a black one

Having had a look in google I’m thinking for getting the chrome light trims front and back and grille outer painted the same colour as the body as Millsy had/has on his R56, want to move away from black surrounds on this one as I see a lot of them about

 

[big jim]

What do we think of this, I’ve plasticoted the head and tail light rings, I want sure about doing them black but with the lenses being smoked I think it looks quite good

on the front there is a black grille and black spotlights on the way, so I’ll probably do the surround black too as well as blacking out the chrome on the lower grille, the beauty of the plastidip is I can peel it off if I don’t like it

I even bought a basic white version of the paint to see roughly how colour coded would look but I think black looks better so I peeled it off, what do we prefer?

 

[big jim]

A quick play about with markup on the iPhone to turn the front grilles black, I think the chrome surround will look quite good if I leave it but lose it on the bottom grille

 

[big jim]

Got bored earlier and wanted to see how it would look with a G-Wing, unbolted the one off the R53 and placed it on the boot lid, I think it looks quite nice, will have to keep an eye out for one







It’s back off again now and on the red car again

 

[big jim]

As nice as the black lights are I’ve taken them off as I went to work in it last night and I couldn’t see 6ft in front of me, I had to turn back and grab some tools to adjust it before I set off but it wasn’t much better, it also only went into full beam on one headlight but if you flashed they both worked!

got myself some LED headlight bulbs today off Amazon to see if that would make it better but once I fitted them they just made the other lights go haywire, flickering on and my off, then one of the auto dimming DRL stopped working and rhebside bulb blown symbol came up on the dash so I’ll have to have a look at that when I get a chance, I think the bumper might have to come off again to get the lights out as I can’t get to it from the wheel arch, I’ll get a multi meter in the connection first though as one side light wire appears to have been bodged by the previous owner so it might be that but that side is dimming ok

 

[big jim]

A quick mod this morning, Joey’d one of the standard headlights

first job was getting the lens off which I managed with a hair drier and a trim remover tool to save scratching anything with a screw driver

next up was unscrew the chrome bezel from the glass part of the headlight, I actually sprayed it with the plastidip paint but it reacted so I had to rub it down and start again at which point I thought sod it I’ll paint it with proper paint, rubbed the dodgy paint primed it up

I then went to the headlight and masked the internals off while still on the car, basically I’ve made sure the smooth reflector isn’t painted

trimmed back the masking tape and masked off around the light

This time I rubbed back the chrome to get the shine off it and used etch primer, heated it up first with the hair drier to aid the adhesion

heated it again to speed up drying and gave it a coat of gloss black then once dry removed the masking tape

the orange indicator was a puzzle to what I was going to do then I realised I had a sheet of perforated vinyl that I bought to black out some headlights years ago, cut a square off and stuck it to the lens, it didn’t go on very well then I heated it and it melted slightly enabling me to push it on nicely

put the lens back on and job done, will get the other side done tomorrow morning, really pleased with how it’s come out plus I can actually see at night with them!

the only other annoying thing to happen today is the black grille (and more importantly included the spotlight brackets) have gone missing in the post, the seller sent the parcel recorded delivery and it’s been accepted by the post office if you check on their website so it’s not dodgy but it’s been ‘in transit’ for a week, the seller refunded me this morning but the part is no longer available from BMW so I’m knackered!

 

[big jim]

And the other side done, took this one off the car to do though due to the weather

 

[big jim]

Did a grille swap and fitted the spotlights today

I had to buy a couple of grilles to get the combo I wanted, I did buy an OEM black grille/spotlight bracket combo from eBay but that went missing in the post, I then ended up getting a bare spotlight grille brand new from BMW and used black grille from a beaker which I took the slats off, with an eBay discount offer it actually worked out cheaper than the original missing grille

fitted the brackets to the car

I think ill leave the chrome surround on it, I do have a black lower grille to fit when I get the chance though, that arrived today too but it’s a bumper off job

 

[big jim]

I like spots.

I’ve checked the bulb holders and it does look like it’s one of the spots that’s playing up I’ve got a feeling the connector between the existing bulb holder and LED light has dropped inside the light assembly so it’s a bumper off job to remove the assembly, not a huge issue I’m going to do that later and swap the lower grille too while I’m about it, hopefully get the spot lamp wiring done too

 

[big jim]

Another productive day, got the bumper off and removed the spotlight and yes the holder had been pushed inside the assembly, managed to get it out and it’s now connected properly

while the bumper wa I went to change the lower grille only to find it was the wrong one despite checking the BMW parts site and it saying it would fit, I’ve got a feeling it’s actually off an aero kit bumper

so I’ve put the original grille back on but painted out the chrome with plasticote as per the light rings, while I was about it I’ve wired in the spotlights

next up I used a 3M headlight restoring kit after I saw someone else had used it with great results

before, cloudy, marked and rough lights

buffed down

polished again

and wiped off with a microfibre cloth

back on terra firma

I think some new number plates might be in order at some point as they look a bit scabby now

cosmetically Im done for now unless a cheap G-wing comes up but I think getting the cat refitted will be the next job and maybe new O rings on the injectors as I can see one of them has a leak

 

[big jim]

All being well I should be collecting a Lohen GP wing on Tuesday, get that fitted during the week with any luck

I’ve still got to get the car in for the tracking though, might get it over to somewhere carsorbikes recommended to see if they have any joy unseizing the track rod ends, other than that I need to get the DPF/cat thing back on it

I’ve not used it too much, popped over to Lincoln and back the other day and averaged 67mpg over the 200 odd mile journey, I’ve only filled it once in the month I’ve had it and it only took £45 of diesel, it’s still 1/2 full as well

 

[big jim]

Picked up the spoiler today, hopefully get it fitted tomorrow, it looks tidy enough, it’s fibreglass rather than injection moulded like the orranje one, finished in Matt black, forgot to get a pic of it but it’s like the one below

404 Not Found | Lohen MINI

Lohen is a new MINI specialist based in Staffordshire, providing a wide range of new MINI parts, upgrades and performance tuning for all generations and models of MINI...

www.lohen.co.uk

 

[big jim]

Spoiler fitted


First up was remove the Cooper S spoiler


And refit the original Cooper spoiler


Clamped the new one in place


A few MM down from the gutter strip


I then drilled the holes for the screws, it’s a different fitting to the orranje one which uses rivnuts and bolts, this one has threaded torx screws


It’s not as good quality as the injection moulded orranje wing, in fact one of the mounting lugs began to crack as I tightened the screw into the tailgate but for what I paid for it I’m more than happy!

 

[big jim]

Couple of better pics

GP wing twins

 

[big jim]

Bit more cyber squandering this evening

a set of 18” JCW R113 alloys, one a bit scabby but still more than useable, good tyres all round

hopefully get them fitted tomorrow if I get a chance

not bad for £150!

 

[big jim]

Well the wheels have come up well, I’ve cleaned them with alloy wheel cleaner with a hard brush front and back then gave the kerb rash a mild rub down and a coat of gloss black, 2 of them fully painted the rim and the other 2 patch sprayed the rash areas

let them dry and get them on the car this afternoon

 

[big jim]

Well I’ve fitted them and took it for a spin, rides ok, the tracking still needs doing so it’s tram lining a little bit but I’ve just booked it in with seans chosen tracking people to see if they can get the track rod freed and the suspension aligned for me, will be going in next friday

really pleased with how they look, at the moment I’m not going to lower the car as I still want it to be comfy but never say never!

the more I look at it now the more I’m thinking about a black radiator trim, also need to black out the chrome around the fog light and maybe put some of that black perforated film I used on the indicators over the red lens

 

[big jim]

Doubled the value of the car earlier by putting my new electric bike on the back!

might need to get a number plate holder for it so I don’t get stopped by the police