What did you do to your MINI today?

[Lori Zengel]

Got my vin and production number

Nice! When did you pay your deposit?

 

[MrSnrub]

Nice! When did you pay your deposit?

Early August

 

[SameGuy]

Woohoo that’s awesome, G!

 

[SameGuy]

Today I finally got around to applying the tiny PPF patches to the door jambs. I’ve installed plenty of vinyl on flat or moderately curved surfaces before, but this is the first time doing it with such a sticky adhesive, and on a relatively complex curve. I think it would have been less troublesome with the design from Innovative, which is scalloped at the top curve. Getting it to stay put and not lift at the outside edge while it was still floating was like playing with quicksilver! But it’s done.



Also took advantage of the mild weather and Gummipfleged (can it be a verb now?) all the rubber/EPDM I could find. Gratuitous flasher shot:

 

[Brooks Rogers]

 

[Rexsio]

I de-badged the rather nondescript, energetic yellow blob on the hatch the first weekend I had the car. I know some folks here think that’s heresy. And that’s fine. I like the cleaner look without it, but to each their own.

That said, every so often I do wish that I could let people know my MINI Cooper “S” is electric. I rather do like the simple, lower case “electric” found on the tailgate of every Kona, Soul, and Niro EV. I checked online, and saw that every official source for the emblem was asking between $20-$30 plus shipping. I actually found a place up here that had it for $18 Canadian, but then when I tried to order it, they wanted to charge me $20 for shipping! So I moseyed on down to my local Hyundai store, and the parts guy told me it was $25 plus tax and would take three days so I ordered it.

View attachment 18502 I ordered today electric badge for SE once come I show a picture and I want to show I’m in electric mini SE

Then stopped by the dollar store. My idea is that I do not want this emblem to be permanent, just to slap it on once in a while. My wife has had magnetic bumper stickers on all her cars, so I figured if I pick up an adhesive magnetic sheet, I may be able to cut out a magnetic backing for the emblem. And on we go.

I took a photocopy of the emblem and tried to adhere it to the adhesive backing paper of the dollar store magnet sheet, then started cutting with a utility knife. It turns out that this 26 mil sheet was very thin and could easily be cut with a fine point hobby knife like an X-Acto. When I weeded out all the letters I dropped them onto the emblem, which is when I discovered one problem with my plan: the emblem ships in a die-cut piece of foam core with the backing paper on one side and transfer tape on the front… because the letters are not attached to one another! This won’t work. I paused, then took my individual magnetic letters out to the back of the car to see if they would attach strongly enough. They did not. I’m pretty sure however I affix the emblem to the back of the car with this sheet, the air back there would rip it off before I even got to the highway.

View attachment 18503 View attachment 18504
View attachment 18505

So I ordered a couple of 30 mil and 60 mil sheets from Amazon and waited for them to show up.

New plan: I pencil-etched the emblem onto a sheet of paper, then added connecting bars between each letter, and cut out the template. I used the negative as a stencil, and a fine-point Sharpie to trace it onto the backing paper of the 30 mil sheet. I got out an X-Acto and started cutting. It was a little more work than I had hoped — next time I will bug a friend with a Cricut machine! Once I weeded the string of letters out of the magnetic sheet, I placed it on top of the chrome lettering again, and it looked quite good. Only when I removed the backing paper to adhere the two parts together did I realize I made one small error, but it’s not very visible in the final product: the I and the C of the chrome emblem do actually have a connecting bar and I put mine in a different place. I just didn’t look closely enough (and yes, it’s RIGHT THERE).

View attachment 18506 View attachment 18507

Anyway, out to the car!

View attachment 18508

 

[Rexsio]

I order this today and once come in I show a pictures

 

[ghost]

I finally got my passenger side visor yesterday. Installed it today.

 

[carrrl]

Installed my Nokian G4 WR, first time doing the swap myself. Had them mounted a few weeks ago on to 16" Victory Spokes. Only Discount Tire carried them and it took a few days to get in, installed with their TPMS, took maybe 45 minutes of actual work to mount, clone sensors, and bag em.

Did a common trip while the weather is nice. It shows ~1mi/kWh loss compared to the stock 16" Victory Spoke and tires on the same route. So roughly 4.8mi/kWh vs 5.5-6mi/kWh. I assume there is some wear in period, but initial impressions - Noticeably louder. Feels precise. Less grippy on dry road (lose traction when I never did before), but still stop well. TPMS says it's a touch over inflated but I doubt 2psi would change things much. Probably wouldn't run them all year now that I am equipped to swap out at home, but they could work if you don't need every last mile.

Also took the opportunity to throw on OE mud flaps. Those clips suck even with the wheels off! Must be opened like everyone says. Look good though.

 

[Rexsio]

Installed my Nokian G4 WR, first time doing the swap myself. Had them mounted a few weeks ago on to 16" Victory Spokes. Only Discount Tire carried them and it took a few days to get in, installed with their TPMS, took maybe 45 minutes of actual work to mount, clone sensors, and bag em.

Did a common trip while the weather is nice. It shows ~1mi/kWh loss compared to the stock 16" Victory Spoke and tires on the same route. So roughly 4.8mi/kWh vs 5.5-6mi/kWh. I assume there is some wear in period, but initial impressions - Noticeably louder. Feels precise. Less grippy on dry road (lose traction when I never did before), but still stop well. TPMS says it's a touch over inflated but I doubt 2psi would change things much. Probably wouldn't run them all year now that I am equipped to swap out at home, but they could work if you don't need every last mile.

Also took the opportunity to throw on OE mud flaps. Those clips suck even with the wheels off! Must be opened like everyone says. Look good though.

Post how they doing I put them on Subaru with plans use them on SE .Thanks

 

[Rexsio]

I de-badged the rather nondescript, energetic yellow blob on the hatch the first weekend I had the car. I know some folks here think that’s heresy. And that’s fine. I like the cleaner look without it, but to each their own.

That said, every so often I do wish that I could let people know my MINI Cooper “S” is electric. I rather do like the simple, lower case “electric” found on the tailgate of every Kona, Soul, and Niro EV. I checked online, and saw that every official source for the emblem was asking between $20-$30 plus shipping. I actually found a place up here that had it for $18 Canadian, but then when I tried to order it, they wanted to charge me $20 for shipping! So I moseyed on down to my local Hyundai store, and the parts guy told me it was $25 plus tax and would take three days so I ordered it.

View attachment 18502

Then stopped by the dollar store. My idea is that I do not want this emblem to be permanent, just to slap it on once in a while. My wife has had magnetic bumper stickers on all her cars, so I figured if I pick up an adhesive magnetic sheet, I may be able to cut out a magnetic backing for the emblem. And on we go.

I took a photocopy of the emblem and tried to adhere it to the adhesive backing paper of the dollar store magnet sheet, then started cutting with a utility knife. It turns out that this 26 mil sheet was very thin and could easily be cut with a fine point hobby knife like an X-Acto. When I weeded out all the letters I dropped them onto the emblem, which is when I discovered one problem with my plan: the emblem ships in a die-cut piece of foam core with the backing paper on one side and transfer tape on the front… because the letters are not attached to one another! This won’t work. I paused, then took my individual magnetic letters out to the back of the car to see if they would attach strongly enough. They did not. I’m pretty sure however I affix the emblem to the back of the car with this sheet, the air back there would rip it off before I even got to the highway.

View attachment 18503 View attachment 18504
View attachment 18505

So I ordered a couple of 30 mil and 60 mil sheets from Amazon and waited for them to show up.

New plan: I pencil-etched the emblem onto a sheet of paper, then added connecting bars between each letter, and cut out the template. I used the negative as a stencil, and a fine-point Sharpie to trace it onto the backing paper of the 30 mil sheet. I got out an X-Acto and started cutting. It was a little more work than I had hoped — next time I will bug a friend with a Cricut machine! Once I weeded the string of letters out of the magnetic sheet, I placed it on top of the chrome lettering again, and it looked quite good. Only when I removed the backing paper to adhere the two parts together did I realize I made one small error, but it’s not very visible in the final product: the I and the C of the chrome emblem do actually have a connecting bar and I put mine in a different place. I just didn’t look closely enough (and yes, it’s RIGHT THERE).

View attachment 18506 View attachment 18507

Anyway, out to the car!

View attachment 18508

I de-badged the rather nondescript, energetic yellow blob on the hatch the first weekend I had the car. I know some folks here think that’s heresy. And that’s fine. I like the cleaner look without it, but to each their own.

That said, every so often I do wish that I could let people know my MINI Cooper “S” is electric. I rather do like the simple, lower case “electric” found on the tailgate of every Kona, Soul, and Niro EV. I checked online, and saw that every official source for the emblem was asking between $20-$30 plus shipping. I actually found a place up here that had it for $18 Canadian, but then when I tried to order it, they wanted to charge me $20 for shipping! So I moseyed on down to my local Hyundai store, and the parts guy told me it was $25 plus tax and would take three days so I ordered it.

View attachment 18502

Then stopped by the dollar store. My idea is that I do not want this emblem to be permanent, just to slap it on once in a while. My wife has had magnetic bumper stickers on all her cars, so I figured if I pick up an adhesive magnetic sheet, I may be able to cut out a magnetic backing for the emblem. And on we go.

I took a photocopy of the emblem and tried to adhere it to the adhesive backing paper of the dollar store magnet sheet, then started cutting with a utility knife. It turns out that this 26 mil sheet was very thin and could easily be cut with a fine point hobby knife like an X-Acto. When I weeded out all the letters I dropped them onto the emblem, which is when I discovered one problem with my plan: the emblem ships in a die-cut piece of foam core with the backing paper on one side and transfer tape on the front… because the letters are not attached to one another! This won’t work. I paused, then took my individual magnetic letters out to the back of the car to see if they would attach strongly enough. They did not. I’m pretty sure however I affix the emblem to the back of the car with this sheet, the air back there would rip it off before I even got to the highway.

View attachment 18503 View attachment 18504
View attachment 18505

So I ordered a couple of 30 mil and 60 mil sheets from Amazon and waited for them to show up.

New plan: I pencil-etched the emblem onto a sheet of paper, then added connecting bars between each letter, and cut out the template. I used the negative as a stencil, and a fine-point Sharpie to trace it onto the backing paper of the 30 mil sheet. I got out an X-Acto and started cutting. It was a little more work than I had hoped — next time I will bug a friend with a Cricut machine! Once I weeded the string of letters out of the magnetic sheet, I placed it on top of the chrome lettering again, and it looked quite good. Only when I removed the backing paper to adhere the two parts together did I realize I made one small error, but it’s not very visible in the final product: the I and the C of the chrome emblem do actually have a connecting bar and I put mine in a different place. I just didn’t look closely enough (and yes, it’s RIGHT THERE).

View attachment 18506 View attachment 18507

Anyway, out to the car!

View attachment 18508

Some guys remove a badge from SE as electric car but many guys would love to advertise is electric I’m one of this guys and today my SE is officially electric EV with a badge I put on it . Look for a while on internet and this one was a best choice ,good quality and easy to install . Send to me in 7 days from CA.

 

[Qisl]

Some guys remove a badge from SE as electric car but many guys would love to advertise is electric I’m one of this guys and today my SE is officially electric EV with a badge I put on it . Look for a while on internet and this one was a best choice ,good quality and easy to install . Send to me in 7 days from CA. View attachment 18620View attachment 18621View attachment 18622View attachment 18623

I realize this is heresy, but I'd like to replace the rear SE electric plugin badge with a Subaru badge of ownership. (https://www.badgeofownership.com/UI/dist/) Decades ago I requested from Subaru a badge of ownership for my 1st Subaru. It was a 2004 Forester--the best car I've ever owned. (Until I let a dealership touch it.) I never applied the badges to my Forester, but intent to do so on my SE. How's that for unique?

I've never seen a Subaru badge of ownership on a Subaru.

My badge will have 'animals', 'cycling', and 'gardening'. (I love growing habaneros and ghost peppers.)

 

[SameGuy]

I realize this is heresy, but I'd like to replace the rear SE electric plugin badge with a Subaru badge of ownership. (https://www.badgeofownership.com/UI/dist/) Decades ago I requested from Subaru a badge of ownership for my 1st Subaru. It was a 2004 Forester--the best car I've ever owned. (Until I let a dealership touch it.) I never applied the badges to my Forester, but intent to do so on my SE. How's that for unique?

I've never seen a Subaru badge of ownership on a Subaru.

My badge will have 'animals', 'cycling', and 'gardening'. (I love growing habaneros and ghost peppers.)

Lol I’d never seen it either. Great idea! I ordered one for our Subaru, it’s my wife’s first. Thanks!

 

[insightman]

I realize this is heresy, but I'd like to replace the rear SE electric plugin badge with a Subaru badge of ownership.

My first reaction to putting a "My 1st Subaru" logo on a MINI was, "That's heresy!" Then I realized some might think I've committed heresy by removing the fake hood scoop from my MINI Cooper SE.

None of the electric MINI Electric prototypes, concept car, or concept drawings included a hood scoop. However, when MINI revealed the production MINI Cooper SE in 2019, it had a fake hood scoop! I protested by putting this 10-second slide show online. (Now I get spam from web designers saying they could help improve my website, LOL!)

I wrote a letter to MINI's head designer, Oliver Heilmer, asking if MINI would consider an "aero" scoop-delete option. He wrote me a letter back, saying he'd take up my suggestion with marketing. I read between the lines--what I took away from his letter was that marketing, not MINI's design department, stipulated the fake hood scoop on the SE. The S had a fake hood scoop, why not the SE, too?

Here's the sticker I had made to honor Oliver Heilmer's understanding that an electric car doesn't deserve a fake hood scoop. I was lucky we were exchanging letters rather than email because that made it possible for me to purloin his signature. I turned my SE into the MINI Cooper SE Oliver Heilmer edition:

 

[SameGuy]

Darn. Foiled by a Canadian VIN again. They sent an email saying my VIN doesn’t exist. I’ll call them and say I have a US street address but the car was purchased in Canada (neither statement is untrue).

 

[insightman]

Darn. Foiled by a Canadian VIN again. They sent an email saying my VIN doesn’t exist. I’ll call them and say I have a US street address but the car was purchased in Canada (neither statement is untrue).

How inconsiderate! Canadians have 1st Subarus, too! (Although most Canadians are on their 4th or 5th Subaru.)

 

[Rexsio]

How inconsiderate! Canadians have 1st Subarus, too! (Although most Canadians are on their 4th or 5th Subaru.)

If they 100 years old bc they last for 20 years as a brand of 80% still on road after 20 years .I hope I keep up with my Subaru after 20 years I will be 88 .

 

[insightman]

If they 100 years old bc they last for 20 years as a brand of 80% still on road after 20 years .I hope I keep up with my Subaru after 20 years I will be 88 . View attachment 18652

I assumed they pass their Subarus down to their children and buy new ones for themselves.

 

[SameGuy]

Lol that could well be, but one has to watch just a few Mr Subaru videos, and after a few Pandora's Boxes are opened, one’s notions may shift.

 

[SameGuy]

We finally got some really wet weather over the last couple of weeks, and indeed I saw how much water gets into the charging port. A while ago — while I was in full prepping-for-delivery-and-ordering-all-the-things mode — I got the smallest D-profile, black EPDM weatherstripping I could find. As noted in the original posts about sealing the door, it’s a tight fit and it takes a conscious effort to close it properly, but I’m confident it will keep most moisture out (when I’m not charging outdoors).

View attachment 18527

View attachment 18526

View attachment 18528

Peeled it off today, after just a couple of weeks. At 6 mm thick by 9 mm wide, that was the smallest EPDM profile I could find, but having now charged three times with the seal in place, I decided it really didn’t like how much force was needed to close (and open) the port cover. For sure it was putting way more strain on the hinge. Again, for reference:


It looks OE. Oh well.

This week I found a a rectangular profile neoprene seal ⅛” (3 mm) thick, but a bit wide. I eyeballed a straightedge over to reveal a width that looked like it would work, it and clamped it down. A quick pass with an X-acto knife and it was ready to be adhered to the car.




It doesn’t look as nice as the D-profile stuff, but the cover opens and closes much more easily, with no strain. A bit later I washed the car, and there was zero infiltration.