Category: General

I’ve been enjoying my XM radio immensely, the 80s and 90s channels are great, playing some really obscure records that I had long forgotten and even some Cliff Richard! There are occasional dropouts in the sound, presumably from the positioning of the antenna on the dashboard rather than on the roof, but they are few enough that they are not a major annoyance.

Circuit City had left the installation of the SkyFi unit as I didn’t know where I wanted it or even how to do it. After some research I decided to go with installing it near the toggle switches using a Pro-fit Ultimount from xmfanstore.com.

So far I like the positioning and there is enough leeway to tilt and turn it a fair bit. However I have lost the use of the cup holder beneath it and will have to see if I can move it to the other side or get a new one from somewhere.

To get a closer look at the install, take a look at my handy skyfi install page.

My MINI did well this Christmas. First she got some nifty Union Jack valve stem caps

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Then she got a pair of John Cooper signature decals but I think it looks better with just one of them on, perhaps I’ll keep the second as a spare in case this one comes off.

She also got a couple of grille badges and a new console piece for under the toggle switches but we are going to send those back and get something else. There just doesn’t seem to be a good way to attach the badges on the Cooper S and the positioning of the XM radio is likely to make the console unusable.

Also, coming from England is a belated gift from my parents, is a set of Union Jack mirror covers which will replace the white ones you can see currently. Sarah is proudly showing off her heritage!

Well, it was my birthday weekend and Teri took me to San Diego where we ate, drank, and flew to San Luis Obispo for lunch (one very expensive hamburger). Also took the plunge and purchased a Delphi SkyFi XM Radio. Circuit City installed it in a couple of hours but we did not activate it before leaving San Diego.

They installed the antenna inside the car and I am not sure that was such a good idea as there were occasional dropouts on the drive home. The XM radio website says the antenna should never be put inside the vehicle. I guess I shall see how it goes over the next week or so. I had them put the unit under the toggle switches as I have seen several pictures of that online, but it doesnt really fit like I thought so for now it is not stuck to anything until I do some more research. But I am looking forward to not having to listen to the boring local radio stations we get here.

So today I did my first Zaino application and so far I’m not that impressed by the results. Its a lot of work: first I gave the MINI a wash in liquid Dawn to get rid of surface much; next, I used a claybar to get rid of surface contaminants; another wash this time in the Zaino car wash liquid; then a polish with their Z2 wax; another polish with their Z5 wax; finally another polish with the Z2. Is the result really that much better than spending $10 at the hand car wash in El Centro? Well, its dark now so its really hard to tell but sat here panting it sure seems like $10 is a bargain.

Found a solution to the satellite radio problem. Some car kits come with an FM modulation device which broadcasts the satellite reception on an FM frequency, you can listen just by tuning in the MINI radio to the right channel. I would guess there is some small quality loss compared to the direct connection solution but I doubt my ears would be able to tell. I think I will pick something up after Christmas, and I’m thinking of subscribing to Sirius rather than XM.

Validating my guess that the stuck passenger window is due to heat, a late night drive to pick up some munchies found the passenger side window working again. I do need to get the motor replaced but I’ll do it in the spring together with a bunch of other stuff.

Been thinking about putting a satelite radio system in the MINI but some research has shown that it’s impossible in a 2002 MINI as it has no aux input. My only option is to replace it with a non MINI radio which seems like it would spoil the look. Something to look into though.

Just back from a few days in San Francisco where I think I walked the entire city, or at least it certainly feels like that in my legs. In the three days I was there I saw 8 MINIs and one classic Mini that had its original Brit plates on. I saw a couple of pepper white’s and I really do like that colour.
Need to drive my Sarah this weekend, get the cobwebs out of the system that have built up whilst in the garage. I might contemplate the first coat of wax too, but we’ll see about that.

Got pulled over by the CHP today for not having a CA legal front licence plate. There are plenty of vehicles in town that don’t have the right front plate but I guess my car is more worthy of close inspection than those boring pick up trucks. So I have 30 days to get it fixed or face a fine. Very annoying.

My new plates came yesterday and I think they look rather good:

After reading many excellent guides to installing the stripes I bit the bullet today and stuck them on. I think I did alright, they don’t look obviously mismatched though I am sure a tape measure would tell the truth.

Turned out to be really easy, if you fancy doing it yourself the best advice I can give is use plenty of soapy water on the vinyl back, and the paintwork. I squeezed out the soap with the squeege naked, not wrapped in a cloth as suggested, and it worked out fine. I can’t see any air bubbles and have already done a few miles with them on and they still look attached. Its like my already super car got even super-er!

Well, the pictures are ok, I guess. Click here to see Sarah’s adventures in the high desert of Joshua Tree N.P.