Have you ever been tempted by a set of leather sport seats you find at the pick-yard? We decided to find out if it was possible to refinish them well enough to that you’d want to put them into your daily driver. Once you find a potential set of seats, be sure to check the …
SEMA Show 2019 in Las Vegas is a wrap. I like to go each year to try to get a pulse of the health of the market. Although the trend toward off-road and light-duty trucks continues, the performance after market remains strong. You don’t see many MINIs any longer. The darling of the market at …
After destroying two upper motor mounts and two exhaust flex joints in successive track weekends, I decided to try a more robust motor mount to see if I could reduce some engine movement. Vibra Technics makes two versions of this mount for Gen 1 MINI and this is the track (harder) version. My first thought …
I went to school in Stuttgart in the 80’s and always considered it a sort of second home town. I was excited to have the opportunity to go back this summer and have a few hours to hang out at the Porsche Museum. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend a visit.
I often hear from my non-track friends, “I want to go to the track, but I don’t really have a track car.” Well here’s a video of me driving my daughter’s 2009 BMW E90 328i automatic with all-season tires. Sure it’s 10 seconds off the pace of my track car, but what a hoot. So, …
Toward the end of my last track session for 2018 I noticed a significant change in exhaust tone. I thought the larger second position OEM cat had finally failed, but it turns out it was the first smaller cat ahead of it. If you see a break like this, you should also check your motor …
One thing I really don’t like on the E90 3 Series cars is the “soft touch” plastic coating used on the interior plastic bits. It should have been called “don’t touch” for how easily it is damaged. I wanted to fix the steering wheel trim which looked like this: So I ordered some 3M vinyl …
Taking advantage of the unusually warm weather over the holidays to take on some of the paint defects on the X5. This post shows how to tackle a deep scratch and bad touch-up paint job. When we got the 2013 X5 in 2017, the dealer had attempted to hide a deep scratch with a thick …
Your MINI motor mounts will fail. It’s a matter of “when” not “if.” The stock rubber bushings age and harden over time especially if you track your car. The stock bushings were designed to reduce vibration not for performance. We already replaced the top motor mount on this car, but ended up sticking with the …
A few years ago, a strong wind blew the telephone line off of our house and into the MINI. Parked six inches to the right it would have missed. Six inches to the left and it would have broken the rear window. I suppose I should have been happy it just dented the fender. The …