Ready for the Trip Back Home!

The last picture of the trip. My car waiting for a driver to head home. With Mabry Mill in the background the sun is going down and it is time to head home from a really nice 68 degree day in the middle of January. Wow what a nice day in more ways than one.

Small World! Me and Dan Zipkin !!

As we headed towards our final destination for the day which was Mabry Mill http://www.brptrails.com/brp1762.htm I ran into someone I had never met but talked to several times on the phone. Dan Zipkin. Talk about small world...both of us were over two hours from home! Dan runs a shop that MINI owners all over the country know as Grassroots Garage. http://www.grassrootsgarage.com/ Dan had his family up for a picnic and we just happened to come by at the same time! Dan is the man in all the German car and MINI performance worlds so give him a call for help with your street or track car. I plan to get some help from him with my car as I add some mods. Can't wait!

Julie likes the Wine!

My co-pilot says all the wine is good! Our favorite was the "Black Dog" and a real surprise was the "Sweet Mountain Laurel" which I thought would be too sweet for me. But I really like the muscadine flavor. Tastes just like the local grapes in our region. I just this past Summer picked some mucadines from my kayak on a local lake while paddling. I like my Italian Chianti but there are plenty of great wines at Chateau Morrisette!

Two Nice Guys at the Chateau!!

Here are the guys who served us during the wine tasting this afternoon. They are holding a a real nice bottle of 2003 Reserve Tannat. http://www.chateaumorrisette.com/index.php?pr=wine The guy on the right is Kyle and if you zoom the picture you can see Robert Longo is on the left. Robert took us on the tour and really knows his stuff. He is also found at the restaurant up the hill at times as well. They have some great wine at this winery and I took several bottles home with me in the boot of the MINI. Thanks guys, we'll be back soon.

Oak Barrels as Far as the Eye Can See....

We were just a bit late for the start of the tour but we joined "in-progress." Here you can see a 'whole bunch" of wine in barrels. We took a look at all the tanks and packaging equipment. Check out the dog paw prints on those barrels... A very cool tour indeed. I am getting thirsty, where is the bar?

Refreshment Anyone?

My MINI right in front of Chateau Morrisette Winery. http://www.chateaumorrisette.com/
More on this in a minute. Let's go inside in the next post.

Looking back at some Fun!

My co-pilot of 28 years took this picture from the passenger seat this afternoon using her new Sony digital camera Santa brought her. Awesome roads and picture!

Lovers Leap, Virginia

Today we ventured up to Virginia to visit Lovers Leap and ultimately the Blue Ridge Parkway. As you can see in the distance there are some mighty twisty roads up there to motor on. Just down the hill is a real fun run in a MINI. Plan your trip now.

gomotoring.com !!

My pal Mark Vogler told me a couple of days ago that he had added my blog to his site http://www.gomotoring.com/

Very nice of him..Thanks Mark!

Go check this site out as it is full of very cool links to other web logs and MINI related stuff. I really like how the site automatically updates as posts are added to blogs.

Attached below is an excerpt from his "about" page:

Operating since 2004, GoMotoring.com was originally started as an easy way to keep track of some of the more prolific MINI Cooper news sites and weblogs. Since then GoMotoring.com has grown to include listings from not only MINI Cooper weblogs but also news and message board sites. Recent additions include headlines from some major automotive news outlets.

Jimmy Z MINI !!!

This is one cool ride. The Jimmy Z MINI commissioned by the clothing chain Aeropostale. California cool...the best of both worlds, a MINI and a Woody! Gotta' love that surfin' life! The whole story can be found at
http://info.detnews.com/joyrides/story/index.cfm?id=650

An Interior Picture per a Request.

Here is an interior shot per a request from a distant friend. Many folks ask me what the grey anthracite interior looks like so here is a photo to help understand. When I ordered my car there were hardly any cars on the lot so I sort of ordered off what I saw on the MINI web site.

A couple of things to mention for the un-initiated. I have the OEM chrome option. I really like it. I drove a convertible with the chrome and it sold me.

Also I want to mention the coco mats that Santa brought me for Christmas. http://www.cocomats.com/ I love these retro looking mats. They feel great and are perfect for the MINI. They come from Charlotte, North Carolina so I had them in just a few short days after ordering. The customer service is A-1 and the folks on the phone are great. The fit is as good as OEM on these mats. They are made just for the car. They are very thick I really like the way they "pop" the interior with the black color and grey dots. Excellent.

Next the OEM cup holder. Perfect for a large Starbucks cup I use on the morning commute to work. I have to have my fresh coffee on my dark commute everyday!

OK I know the steering wheel is upside down. I took this picture in my garage and the wheel was locked. Call me lazy for not straighting it out!

I tripped 2009 miles this morning. The car is somewhat "more loose" than it was brand new but I feel like we have a ways to go to get the real effect of engine break-in. I haven't revved my car very hard. I have pushed a few 4-5000 shifts in the first 3 gears but only after 1,500 miles. No red lines for me baybee...Trust me I want my car to last and I do not want to abuse it. I am averaging 26.6 MPG. EPA highway is 32 so I feel this is a combination of driving with the fun meter on the high side and probably still going through a break-in.

One of the things I really like about this car is the anthracite headliner. I almost didn't order it and saw one at the last minute. The headliner and all the trim is totally black. It really sets off the two sunroofs. I love the way it feels to look through the glass roof surrounded by the dark interior on a sunny day.

Oh yeah there are people who are all the time asking..."What is a Euro-parcel tray?" Well there is one in my car. I bought it before I got the car because BMW USA decided to quit selling them in the US for some DOT reason best I can tell. Whatever the reason it is tough to get one now in the USA but in my humble opinion they are very nice. Notice I have my sun glasses case down there as well as a green mile marker zero can cooler. This car is tight on storage space and that shelf is a real pleasure to have.

OEM Sirius Receiver installed!

I thought I would share this picture of an OEM MINI / BMW Sirius receiver. Note from the picture my receiver is installed on the drivers rear side as I plan to add the OEM Digital Powered Sound Module to my car. The Sirius unit has to go on the drivers side in that installation to allow space for the DPSM amplifier to be installed on the passenger side. Normally you would just add this unit to the passenger side and plug into the two plugs that are shown earlier in my web log for the changer controls. I used a factory "HK" cable which is really just a male/female extension cord to allow installation in the drivers side. Note this is the cable coming from the right side and plugged into the top of the receiver. I also had to add a slave cable to the Sirius unit to allow plugs for my DICE Ipod adaptor which is installed on the pass-through input on the Sirius receiver. You can see this cable plugged in on the top of the left side and the cables are coming down the left of the receiver and forward behind the trim panel all the way to the front of the car where my Ipod is located. My install is now complete and my DICE and Sirius are working great. Next step is the DPSM! That installation should be a real aventure as the installation manual is over 50 pages and requires a minimum of five hours. Ouch.

New Sirius Satellite Radio Antenna

Here is the new style "ugly" MINI satellite radio antenna. I had an older style MINI OEM / factory antenna base which included the sat antenna that I wanted to use. After getting into the installation the installer found that the plugs inside the OEM alarm motion sensor box in the roof no longer match the new 2006 model I have. This unit was only designed for ealier year models. I wished they would have matched up as I prefer to just have one antenna! I am sure we could have worked up some conversion plugs over time but at this point I just gave in and moved on. By now I would expect all automotive companies to add the satellite antennas to cars as an inital design feature. First of all it is detracting from the overall look of the car and the prices to add these options is through the roof. Oh well I have to have my http://www.sirius.com/ Sirius Satellite radio...can't live without it. Oh yeah, thanks to the service department at Flow MINI in Winston-Salem for their help with this installation. Top shelf all the way!

Say You Want a Revolution?

Here is the OEM head unit display in action with the Dice/Ipod selected. This is the "Revolution" track from the new Beatles "Love" cd/dvd. What an awesome collection of work that cd is! My daughter bought the cd for me for Christmas and I am loving it. You should hear the re-mix on that disc! The audio is perfect! The graphics are scrolling with the Dice unit and next you will see "The Beatles" come by...and then the word "Love." Very cool OEM integration, this device is rocking if you want an Ipod adapter. My steering wheel functions are working perfectly. No worries Mon. Thanks for the Dice Santa! Now on to the Sirius installation!

My Dice and Ipod in the seat!

Here is the Dice unit http://www.diceelectronics.com/press.htm in my passenger seat. You can see there is one plug in the unit from the rear and another Ipod cable into the Ipod. At this point it is 4 minutes after I opened the FedEx box and I am listening to my new cd off my Ipod on my OEM head unit. I was convinced to stay with the OEM head unit as I just love the MINI styling and decided to leave my Alpine equipment in the boxes after many hours of research and careful thinking. Now I just have to get this wire routed and my deal is done for Ipod integration. I plan to put the Dice behind my head unit and keep my OEM MINI Aux input in the glove box. The cable will route to my European parcel shelf as this is where I want my Ipod to sit. This device is so cool and so simple. Love it.

Got My New Dice Unit Today!

Merry Christmas!! Here is one of the things Santa brought me. This is a picture of my 2006 MCS (10/06 build) in the passenger rear side compartment. Notice the two connectors for the changer controls. I plugged my new Dice unit in to try it out as I plan to install my OEM Sirius unit and use the pass through on that module when it arrives.
Check out the pictures to follow for more detail on just how easy this thing is to install.
Now time for my testimonial. I am a real fan of superior customer service. If you want some awesome customer service give Tom a call for your Dice unit. A real nice guy he absolutely knows his stuff and will answer all your questions. Here is the web site: http://www.europeanautosource.com/ His company sponsors the forum link on the North American Motoring web site for navigation and audio posts. Don't walk, just run, turn that computer on and order your Dice right now! http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=14 Tom took my order on December 23 and FedEx brought my Dice to the door today! Killer service for West coast to East coast and during the holidays!

Merry Christmas! I Got Your FAST Right Here!

Today was the Tarheel MINI Motoring Clubs Christmas Party. http://www.tarheelminis.org/

I thought Twister http://www.tarheelminis.org/forum/z/TWISTER/ was in the spirit with the wreath on the front so I am posting my picture of the red car for your enjoyment. Notice Mark is in the left hand reflection on the hood. (Remember click on the photographs to make them larger) Now besides being in the Christmas spirit you just have to zoom in on that badge on the left "I Got Your FAST Right Here" I almost laughed my head off when I saw this. I gotta' have one! Check this link out if you want to know more about FAST. There are some funny videos. http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/02/17/videos-volkswagens-bizarre-gti-fast-commercials/ As I have told you earlier in my web log I almost bought another VW GTI. Well after hanging out with all the MINI owners today there ain't no doubt I made the right move. 'Nuff said. Merry Christmas ya'll.

Double Naught MINI !!!

007 has his Aston Martins. http://www.007.info/Cars.asp

Mr Magoo has his Double Naught MINI! http://www.tarheelminis.org/forum/z/Red-Ryder/ As you can see there is a gun mounted in the grill! I am still trying to figure out which toggle switch turns this thing on!

Four MINIs Hanging Out in Greensboro...

Here are four MINIs hanging out in the parking lot while all the owners talked shop nearby. Very nice cars....hey that third one back there is mine!

A Whole Line of MINIs this Afternoon

Here is the parking lot shot from my first outing with the Tar Heel MINI Motoring Club.

http://www.tarheelminis.org/

We had just finished off some good Mexican food and had some great MINI and Formula One discussions. What a nice day in December! We were in short sleeve shirts!