Kid one and kid two made a cake and sang happy birthday to the MINI Cooper today, which I took delivery on four years ago today. Mileage is now around 55,000 miles, but it’s been running great (knock on wood). Only one more year of payments, too.

Oh, and by the way, the answer to my most asked question: I average about 29 MPG, but could get closer to the rated 37 if I didn’t drive it so hard (but what fun is that?)…

Let’s Motor!

Last fall, I attempted my first ever do-it-yourself car repair job, replacing the front brake pads on my 2005 MINI Cooper. The brake light indicator didn’t go off, so I decided I’d replace the rear brake pads as well. I got the pads for Christmas, but was waiting until nicer weather (as they didn’t appear to be that thin on inspection–turns out it was the interior-side pad that was worn way down).

With sunny skies and temps in the low 60s, today was the day.

I started on the rear right tire, as that is the one that has the extra step of replacing the brake pad sensor cable. Got the wheel off and did the cable first. It was much easier than the front one for me, but still involved some painful laying on my back on the cement floor while twisting my arms around in weird angles.

Following the wonderful instructions at North American Motoring, I took the tool I purchased from Harbor Freight to get the piston pushed in. It went about half-way in and wouldn’t go any farther. I checked in with my friend (and car expert) Chuck Goolsbee, who suggested taking off the brake fluid cap. I did that (along with putting on thicker gloves) and was able to get it much further in. This was accompanied by a pop of the rubber sleeve curling back on itself, which scared the hell out of me. It didn’t rip, though, and I was able to reverse it back into position. Hopefully that isn’t a major issue down the road.

The other rear tire was rusted on and didn’t want to come off. I applied some WD-40 and got a rubber mallet from a neighbor and eventually got it off after following the advice of my wife (”hit it from the other side” - duh). Once it was off, the install process went smoothly. I did have to remove the brake fluid cap again and some spilled out, but the piston tool worked perfectly.

Everything is back together and the test drive around the block went fine. The brake pedal going all the way to floor at first still freaks me out a little, but it pumped right back to normal. The car goes into the dealer on Tuesday for a scheduled oil change, so I’m curious to see if they say anything about me messing things up. The damn indicator light is still on too, so maybe they can fix that for me.

One less thing on my procrastination list!

MINI Photo Gallery

Spotted on I-35E this morning:

Wisconsin rulez…

Never thought I’d get a Prius as a rental car in LA, but it was one of the best rentals I’ve ever had.

The very geeky display screen gives you all sorts of info, but I’m still not entirely sure how the car decides to balance the gas motor with the electric one. It drove very much like our old Civic and averaged around 45mpg.

The only things I didn’t like were the annoying beeping when in reverse and the stupid refusal of the display to show the currently playing song on the radio unless you were stopped.

Could this be my next car? I’m having a hard time liking this Mini revision–the reviews have been good, but I have a hard time getting over the C pillars. They just don’t look right to me. The girls would like the extra legroom, though.

Mostly loaded S Clubman: just under $31,000.

A few weeks ago, the brake pad wear light appeared on my Mini’s dash. After conferring with several Mini-owning friends and colleagues, I decided to give it a go myself.

I’m not a mechanic by any stretch, but I didn’t have the will or the money to pay full-price at the dealer (which could have run as much as $1200, from what I’ve been told). Paying $83 for pads sounded like a much better deal. I also spent around $15 on a new brake pad sensor cable, both ordered from Auto Parts Warehouse. The car has almost 50,000 miles and the rotors looked fine to my untrained eye, so I decided to wait on those.

The Mini has two brake pad sensors (front left and rear right), so I wasn’t 100% sure which one was triggering the light. Visually, they all looked about the same to me. I started on the front, though, as it is an easier replacement job and usually wears out first.

Based on recommendations, I ordered EBC Red Stuff pads and used this online tutorial for guidance.

The job went smoothly for the most part–the only difficulty was getting the replacement sensor cable in place. The CRC Disc Brake Quiet junk was a little messy too, but I think I got it applied in the right spots.

After I finished, the tutorial was right on about the brake pedal going all the way to the floor. Pumping it a few times returned the feel to normal and my short test drive around the block produced no unusual noises. I drove it to the Wild game and the brake feel was fine.

Despite trying the ignition trick with the flat tire button, the damn yellow warning light is still lit. So I either A) didn’t install the replacement cable correctly, B) the new cable is broken, C) I don’t know the “real” trick to turn it off or D) it was back sensor cable all along. I just ordered the special tool kit to compress and twist the rear pistons, so I’ll probably order new rear pads soon and attempt that job too (online tutorial for that here).

My first auto mechanic experience has been documented for posterity in the Mini Gallery.

Today I took my 2005 Mini Cooper in for an oil change. This was the first service appointment I’ve had that wasn’t covered under warranty and I wasn’t sure what to expect. All of the Honda dealers we’ve dealt with have pricey little packages at various mileage levels that include all sorts of preventive maintenance. I didn’t know if Mini would do the same thing, so I was prepared to spend some money.

My local Mini dealership is Motorwerks Mini (and BMW), located in Bloomington, Minnesota. They recently opened the Taj Mahal of showrooms, with multiple floors and heated, indoor parking (a nice feature in Minnesota that more dealers should emulate). The new service area was immaculate and there was a nice owner’s lounge with two big Sony flat panel TVs and free bottled water and wi-fi.

The service manager that was helping me said that in addition to the oil change, I was due to have the brake fluid flushed. That was $100 and could be done at the same time, so I decided to have both done and wait (I had work I could do on the free wireless).

After a bit, the manager came over and said that when they had it up on the hoist, they noticed the front two tires were totally bald. So that’s why my winter handling wasn’t so great this year! The back two were fine and he said they had the matching model in stock and I could just replace the front two. He also said Minis will wear out the front tires quickly if the tires are not rotated every 9,000 miles or so. I will plan to have them rotated at the next oil change, which will be in about a year.

It took a half hour longer than I had planned (and several hundred dollars more than I was planning to spend), but I’m good to go now. I still have two small dings in the front windshield from my cross-country trips, but I’ll wait until I get another one before replacing that (both are on the passenger side).