Favorite and Useful Accessories

The 'old guard' needs to learn new ways. Soon after I bought me SE, the dealership auto-scheduled me for my first oil change.

 

I would have taken my SE to the dealer for that scheduled oil change just to see what happened.

 

My dealer did that too which is the same dealership as GvilleGuy.

 

When I picked up my SE, the service manager said "your first service is in two years". I've been going there since they first opened, and even with staff turnover, most of them know me.

 

Can these be turned on with Bimmercode?

 

I've read some people have used Bimmercode to have the rear fog lights come on with the brake lights, but in order to use them as actual fog lights you need the replacement switch, and then use Bimmercode to activate the rear fog button. Or so I've read, haven't actually tried it myself.

 

I have multiple tabs open (m2, mf56, NAM) with instructions and sources. It’s not a difficult search. The key is finding a switch that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg just to activate a feature that one might use once or twice a year.

 

At the suggestion of F14Scott in an earlier thread I got a windshield Fresnel lens. Around here there are a lot of stoplights hung in the middle of a small intersection that you can't see in a normal car unless you crane your neck. The MINI is much worse for this than any other car due to the steep windshield.

 

That's awesome! How well does it work? I was just thinking about finding a convex mirror to put on the dash, but this seems better if it works well.

Rob

 

Mine works great!

Here's my thread:
https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/great-se-windshield-accessory-lightinsight-fresnel-lens.10324/

 

Has anybody figured this out yet? I have CoverCraft shades in the 2018 Crosstrek with Eyesight (cameras) and it fits perfectly, and in the 2006 smart cabrio and it fits very loosely. The shade for the smart is actually for the US model 451 (2008-2014) but the A-pillars, windshield, and mirror mount are straight carry-overs from the previous (450) generation (sold in Canada from 2004-2006). Is there a different rain sensor shroud on MINI SEs equipped with the camera for Active Cruise Control?

 

Just wanted to chime in on some of this "bins" that fit in the door handles. Since the built-in wireless qi charger in the armrest is nothing but an oven for your phone, I found myself constantly needing a place to rest my phone (and wallet). So these looked like a perfect fit.

I ended up finding these on Amazon that are already felt-lined (wouldn't want my phone rattling around), and they have no pre-attached double sided tape (I didn't want sticky stuff stuck in case I wanted to remove.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09H2XS3NR?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Happy to report that they fit excellent. They sort of snap in and don't rattle/etc and the felt lining is nice!

 

Did they ship from China and if so, how long did it take to receive them?

 

They do. I ordered on June 14th and received them on June 29th. Was surprised how quickly they showed up.

 

Great, thank you. The Vesul branded ones linked by @GvilleGuy look nice but with a roll or pack of neoprene it is more than $10 more than these lined bins. Swapped them out of my cart for these instead. :thumbs:

 

Thanks for confirming that they fit well. I got this already from AliExpress; $14 shipped from China - took almost 3-4 weeks; my BRG mini is expected to be delivered on July 12 or so!

 

Those door handle bins are great, fit like a glove.
I picked up the non-lined ones because they were cheaper, pretty sure they're all coming off the same assembly line anyway just with different finishes. Haven't removed the paper on the double stick tape just in case, but they still stay in there pretty good. Might commit soon and stick 'em in.

In other news, I grabbed the CravenSpeed Gemini phone mount that attaches to the digital display on the steering wheel, it fits like a glove and the magnet mount holds my phone rock-solid. It's a bit expensive for a phone mount at $75, but it's very well built and worth every penny for me since I like to use Waze and not the built-in Nav literally every time I drive anywhere.
Gemini Phone Mount for MINI Cooper F56 (2014-2022) (cravenspeed.com)

That and a stubby antenna were my first things installed in the car, got my first 100mi on the odometer, loving it.

 

What is the digital display on the steering wheel? The website has tons of photos, but, amazingly, not one photo of the phone mount in a MINI Cooper. Then Craven writes this in bold type (they must not realize 2020 SEs have digital instrument clusters, too):
This mount is not compatible with the digital instrument cluster found on MY21 and up MINIs.

 

Interesting.. where to get it? Link?