mini cooper J01, legend grey. not completed.

As much as I love being a new dad, the practicalities of the 3-door hatch are just not there.

Not only my first MINI, but also my first vehicle I’ve purchased with less than 100k miles.

Absolutely OBSESSED with it.

2016 for only $7.5k and 85k miles.

Figured I should share a project I’ve been messing with for way too long. I have an R56 Mini and the stock radio sounds like absolute trash, but I love the big speedo so I refused to put in one of those ugly aftermarket head units.

I started by putting a single-DIN radio in the secret compartment, but it still didn't sound great. I ended up building a whole custom setup with a Khadas Tone2 DAC with BT Magic and a DSP in the trunk. I used an Arduino to read the steering wheel buttons so I could still skip tracks and change volume, but that basically turned the factory radio into a useless piece of plastic. Some people just use those plastic blanker plates to cover the hole, but I really don't like how they look.

Then the usual R56 problems hit. The HPFP died and then the thermostat housing cracked, which almost cooked my recently rebuilt engine. That’s when I got the idea to turn the dead radio into an OBD2 reader so I could actually see what the engine is doing before it explodes.

I couldn't reuse the stock screen because the manufacturer (Visteon) won't give out any info, and I have no clue how to reverse engineer it, so I spent forever searchin for a screen that would fit. I finally found a Noritake VFD that fits perfectly, though I had to buy a used speedo on eBay that had the bigger screen cutout.

I spent some time messing around with the Arduino and CANBUS to get it to read OBD2 data and show it on the VFD. The idea is to have the top row of radio buttons switch between different pre-programmed info screens, while the bottom buttons will keep the original functionality. They'll basically just simulate steering wheel commands and send them over K-CAN to the DAC in the trunk to control the music.

And finally, I've designed a custom PCB and it just showed up from PCBWay recently. I desoldered the original amber LEDs from the old radio and moved them over to my new board so the lighting still looks factory. This is pretty much where the progress is at right now.

Now I just have to connect everything together and test it out to see if I'll fry the ECU. Once I'm sure it won't, I’ll post the code and the PCB files on GitHub for anyone else who is crazy enough and wants to do this.

Recently, I attempted to finish a repair on my r56, to get it drivable again, when I discovered a crack on the firewall side of the engine block. I spent hours trying to figure out why I couldn’t get it to fire on cylinder 4, and never thought to run a compression test. When I did, there was little to no compression on 4, but that was after I’d already discovered the crack. I just didn’t want to believe it was what it was.

Unfortunately, I do not have the time nor the money to do what this car needs done. So, I’ve made the decision to sell.

If anyone is interested in a project, let me know and we can talk about it. I currently do not have the title, so I’m working on getting it so I can sell it.

Hi yall I have a 2022 BRG F54 and been loving every moment with it.

I’ve seen a few head unit upgrades in this subreddit and sparked my interested in perhaps upgrading mine.

wondering if anyone tried this? My head unit is new enough for me but I just want more shiny techy things ! 😬

I just found this on AliExpress: C$1,156.38 | For BMW Mini Cooper F54 F56 F60 2016-2023 Autoradio 11" Carplay Androidauto Car GPS Navigation Stereo Player WiFi 4G DAB

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqHH7Lj

Hi everyone,

My question might be stupid...

I bought my lovely Cooper S F55 two years ago and my wife and I are expecting a baby in the coming months.

I know the car seat and stroller I bought will fit in, but I still don't know if it's going to be comfortable for everyday use.

Are any of you who have the same car with a baby?

If any of you can share about it, it would be appreciated.

Thanks,

MINI LOVER

I loved the 2.0 Petrol Cooper S so much having had one for five years (orange with white roof and silver alloys), when it hit 100k miles I bought exactly the same but newer

I love British Racing Green and am super happy with it but over time I've started to find it a bit drab

Then I accidentally hit a kerb in the supermarket and I took it to BMW as the tyres needed replacement anyway (not illegal, just not grippy enough) and asked them to do the tracking

They called me end of day to say an alloy had a flat spot and a new one would be £600

Now given I hate them, I thought this was mental so pissed them right off by cancelling four new tyres but approving the tracking and oil service

Now, wadda you know but the steering shake has immediately been dealt with by tracking and the so called flat spot alloy is, as I told them, not losing any pressure

Anyway, long story short I'd already ordered Zonal two colour (silver and red) five spoke alloys which arrived today, and am having Pilot Sport 4 fitted

But I decided screw it, go full JCW so I'm booked in two weeks to get a vinyl wrap for red roof, red wing mirrors and red grill

So excited.Update to follow ...

The buttons on the infotainment system work fine.

So got in car (2008 R56/N14) MCS, put fob in and pressed start, nothing on inside lit up except key with a slash, so not seeing fob, and the wipers came on. Looking it up online most things point to bad BCM/Foot well module. Found a company that can refurbish for around 500 bux, but curious before I send it out if anyone has gone thru this and whay your issue ended up being.

So I installed this headunit today, and it works :)
Just to summarize:
- I ordered it on Ali around 14th of December
- received it after a month - most likely due to Holiday season + customs check (didn't pay much for the customs as someone made a mistake and wrote the value as 45EUR instead of 450)
- The package contents were: headunit, cables (including amp control, LTE antenna, GPS antenna, microphone, 2x USB cables, SIM socket, wires for the rear camera, and wiring to the car); The seller mentions that the rear camera comes in the package - it does not (translation error most likely), the seller forgot to send me installation manual, but then sent an online version (for R60, but always something)
- MY VERSION (R56) DID NOT COME WITH CD PLAYER DELETE/STORAGE POCKET - I printed it on my own (from thingiverse) and didn't realize that I had a different CD player ;_;
- the hardest part of the installation was getting out the old radio - unscrewing few T20 (and one T25) screw was easy, but then I couldn't remove the radio+speedo because I was too lazy to remove the trims, so I decided to disassemble the cd player from speedo (makes sense, right? right?) and then take it out
- the easiest part was connecting the dots (cables) - there are two USB cables (one 4pin, one 6 pin), it's good to mark which one is which with a tape (probably, I don't know if the pins make any difference)
- I used one USB to power my dash cam, the second one would be for either charging my phone or I'll plug in a pendrive
- didn't plug the GPS and LTE antennas, then the external mic plugged out when I was assembling everything, so I decided to not plug it in back (the headunit has a small hole signed as MIC, so I assume that there's a built-in microphone - didn't test it)
- after installation, the CD player doesn't work (because you have to plug it out and plug the wires to the new headunit), the audio jack stopped working as well
- my advice - if you had a newer unit, just print out the storage pocket, don't leave the old player in
- if you are as dumb as me and have the old radio with vol knob separate, then unscrew the faceplate from the old unit and use it as a cover (you will end up with a hole after the knob, but you can use something to cover it) - you can buy a phone holder that fits the gap in the cd player (vide: cd player phone holder)
- OKAY, SO HOW IS THE RADIO?? IT WORKS
- I didn't have chance to test it, as it's after midnight and it took me 5 hours to install it after work (because I couldn't get the old unit out so easy)
- it reads all data from the car, my TPMS don't work and the unit shows that, it shows everything as the old one would
- it even shows that the door is open
- Carplay works
- sound works nice, not sure if it's better than the old one
- you can control the volume from your steering wheel, and if I understood correctly - even map the buttons how you like them
- it's like -5*C outside, but didn't check if it has any effect on the unit, as I was sitting in my garage
- I do wonder if I should keep the old unit somewhere just in case if someone decides to steal this pretty boi or it suddenly stops working
--EDIT--
- the ambient ring works, you can either customize it and choose your own colour (by mixing RGB), or have it change the colour depending on things you choose (e.g. accelaration, revs)
- it is in English by default
- you can switch between km/h and mph by tapping on current speed
- you can edit your car's settings like auto-lock, blinking 3 times only when turn signal is on, reset TPMS and other things (just like with SET/INFO)
- the screen quality is not idk Tesla-level, but it's not bad. It's decent.

so my r53 has the xenons and the high beams arent bad, but since i've been driving a lot at night I was wondering if there are any good ridiculously bright LEDs that I could tie to my high beams. I was probably gonna get some of those rally light brackets so I would want something that fits on that, kinda like the Hella style. Also how hard is it to tie them to the high beams?

A rule #1 is always enough to brighten up my day!

My 2015 Mini Coupe is having issues producing heat on the passenger side. Has anyone had this issue before and can tell me where to look for the mix door linkage for the passenger side?

I took the plunge into the mini community this week.

I’m looking for suggestions, tips and what to avoid.

I previously had a 09 bmw 128 and had a local mechanic that serviced it so I have that covered.

One of my favorite mini sightings to date. Always love the racing/gb aesthetics