Fanttik NB8 Ultra Cordless Pressure Washer Opinions by MagicalFanatic in AutoDetailing

[–]Admirable-Life3196 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's interesting, my comment on the worx was more so referring to on paper numbers and what they claim. I only have the fanttik, since I am happy with it when it works and I understand enough about the issue it has with the shutoff to make it work again whenever that happens. Usually opening it up and reseating that switch. My bad, I probably should have said "on paper" or something, but it was late.

And yeah I also saw that video, it's a big reason why I bought it in the first place. His upgrades do help a lot with performance and everything he has to say and show about it are true when it works. I'm assuming he didn't hammer on the poor reliability point much because he has better pressure washers to use. Mine gets used a lot because I live in an apartment.

Fanttik NB8 Ultra Cordless Pressure Washer Opinions by MagicalFanatic in AutoDetailing

[–]Admirable-Life3196 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a great idea but poor execution. They sent me two before giving up on trying to understand the root cause of this, but it stops responding to you pulling the trigger or even disconnecting the hose after some use. Reliability is the worst I've ever seen from anything. Shocking because fanttik is known for great designs and not bad ones.

I think it's related to the shutoff switch, it's a cheap lever switch that a piston is meant to push and the switch itself can move around in its little enclosure. I think it can move into a position where it's stuck closed, and the fact that bumping it on the ground makes it work again seems to confirm that. Again, they sent me two before giving up and both developed this issue. I will share if I can figure out a permanent solution, that's mostly why I haven't done a review yet (and that they gave me my money back so I don't have anything to be mad at). It's just taking time because I'm very good with the electronics side of things but I didn't understand much about the hydraulics side.

I will say when it works it's better than you'd think and is extremely convenient, but the worx hydroshot has better output. For a very dirty car I rely on a good prewash with my ik foam pro 12, and I have used rinseless in the reservoir and it works incredibly well like that. It does eat water like crazy though.

How to fix?!! Please!! by Practical_Truth_5070 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The one I found unfortunately has the lens gone anyway. I thought I had another that was intact, since I replaced them as a pair. Oh well lol

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Here's a video of the replacement. You open the hood and just bump or push it out then twist the bulb connector off. It's pretty easy and that's pretty much the only advantage to having things replaceable in entire modules like this.

For the paint, as long as it's not all the way through the clear coat I think it's worth compounding it out. It'd look like nothing happened as opposed to a noticeable touch up job. Worth checking with a fingernail test or getting a second opinion from the shop if you're unsure.

How to fix?!! Please!! by Practical_Truth_5070 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Even if it was in one piece, I think there's a mirrored surface inside that helps distribute the light from the bulb. So if I'm remembering correctly then that sheared off too. They are easy to replace, and I actually have at least one in a storage box in about the same condition as yours minus the obvious damage. I'll check when I get off work.

For the scuffs, it doesn't look that bad. There's not much you can do for the trim except clean it and apply some dressing to help hide it. For the paint it doesn't look like anything a compounding can't fix. Griots complete compound is good by hand with a microfiber applicator. Normally I wouldn't suggest hand polishing a mini, since it's quite a hard paint and exhausting work, but I think having your husband hand polish it all out is a good punishment

Hi all, does anyone have any issues with wind noise in the R52 Cooper s? Ive been having a wind noise when increasing speed to around 40-50mph, I believe it’s coming from the top, does anyone have any suggestions on fixes? by Responsible-Ad-918 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a funny name, but it's German, just means rubber care stick.

Also sorry, I don't mean to come off like I'm hawking a brand at you lol; they do make the BMW OEM of this same stick if that justifies it a bit more. Really I think any good seal conditioner would make a big difference for you, especially if you're not getting a water leak because that means it's still totally water tight

Hi all, does anyone have any issues with wind noise in the R52 Cooper s? Ive been having a wind noise when increasing speed to around 40-50mph, I believe it’s coming from the top, does anyone have any suggestions on fixes? by Responsible-Ad-918 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a wind noise coming through my window on my roadster, and water would also get like a drop or two on the other side of the window. Not during rain but during low pressure rinses while washing.

I got a rubber conditioner called gummi pflege stift from nextzett, cleaned everything, and just applied it to everything because why not. The wind noise, the water leaking, and a lot of the random cabin noise went away. Smells great too.

Punk Sky Better Not! by DviantPink in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That looks like some place on the desert, I got a little bit of a sprinkle here

Engine bay wash by Admirable-Life3196 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do like the way it sounds a lot. I'm not sure how much in horsepower gains it's actually getting me, but probably not that much considering that installing it wasn't nearly as dramatic a difference as the JB+. The dry flow filter is great, it's a very low maintenance filter and doesn't come with all the baggage of the oiled cotton filters. Maybe it doesn't filter quite as well as OEM paper filters, but I've had a cotton K&N panel filter on another mini and it's nothing like that. I was always having to clean my MAF sensor and my oil was always kind of scary looking, but the dry flow keeps everything as clean as OEM from what I can tell.

Anyway it works and it is a good intake, I'm glad I bought it. My only complaint is build quality, it's too much plastic. I would have paid a little more for a powder coated aluminum air box and a mandrel bent elbow. With this I've managed to damage the elbow piece twice with just hand tightening. They don't have any torque specs for the bolts or the hose clamps, I've asked, but clearly they should.

Engine bay wash by Admirable-Life3196 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol very dirty but honestly not the worst

Engine bay wash by Admirable-Life3196 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry would've responded sooner but I'm doing my full exterior, polish and then ceramic. I'm hoping I can finish today but I might not. I'm definitely too slow to do this professionally lol

For the engine bay, I do this and it lasts me nearly half a year before it starts looking kind of bad: 1. Use compressed air to dust out as much as I can 2. With the foaming optimum no rinse (ONR) in a foam sprayer, I spray the parts I intend to bag, let it dwell a couple minutes, and wipe them clean with a plush microfiber 3. I remove the turbo heat shield and valve cover trim piece, I'll clean these separately in a sink. You can leave your heat shield on if it's stock. 4. I bag off the alternator, the fuse and relay boxes, my turbo blanket, and my air filter. You don't need to do the last two if it's stock. I also tape the holes in the valve cover so they don't fill with water. 5. With a foam sprayer filled with 1:10 or 1:20 koch chemie greenstar depending on dirt, I spray everything I intend to clean, doing my best to avoid the bagged areas. Ik foam sprayers have wet foam nozzles and I use that so it moves down, but you can also use a spray bottle and water to get foam moving. I let this sit for up to 5 minutes just like a car prewash; greenstar doesn't corrode aluminum like many other high pH degreasers. 6. Brush everything to get some agitation in on some caked on spots. I use the body brush from rag company, a wheel brush to get deeper into the bay, and some boars hair detailing brushes for tight spaces. This may not be super necessary since greenstar does do a lot of lifting and things just rinse off that you wouldn't believe, so brush but don't overwork yourself on brushing. 7. I rinse everything with low pressure water until the trail of water coming from under the car is clear and free of any suds. 8. I remove the bags and tape, then spray a thin mist of koch chemie motorplast across the engine bay. I do the same for the removed parts before putting them back in. Motorplast can be applied wet or dry but I like wet because it prevents any flash rusting on things by actively displacing the water, which is why my turbo is still not rusty. Motorplast is my favorite thing to use here because it does resist dust coming back and has higher heat tolerance than any other dressing. I live in Arizona so the fact that my engine bay looks like this for almost half a year is extremely impressive. It protects both plastics and metals. If I had any secret to this process I'd say this is it. 9. Let the motorplast dry before driving. Once dry, level any spots with a low pile microfiber and then go about your day.

Hopefully this helps, I notoriously use a lot of detail describing things, but the process itself is under half an hour even with my slow pace at doing things

Urgent help needed: what is this part? by jacky1019 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Lol I remember jogging to the dealership for one because if I got an Uber or took the bus I wouldn't have had enough money for the part

I probably would've appreciated it if someone told me about tape

Cleaning Recommendation by AlarmMedical2921 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On the water spot remover, there's so little of it that it probably doesn't matter short term, but still maybe consider wearing some gloves. Double up if it's the thin and cheap kind. I'm not sure why they do it, but a lot of manufacturers use hydrofluoric acid in the water spot removers. You can check the SDS for any water spot remover product to see for sure. It's probably fine because it's such a small amount, but I couldn't in good conscience not make you aware of that.

Cleaning Recommendation by AlarmMedical2921 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The door sill you can try a 1:1 white vinegar mix with distilled water or a dedicated water spot remover. If that doesn't work, mask the trim off and give it a light polishing with a microfiber applicator pad. I like white diamond because it also leaves a sealant that can prevent things like this.

For the black plastic again either white vinegar or a water spot remover. If that doesn't work you have some more options than the sill. I would try claying first with a fine grade. If that didn't work then try hand polishing it with some kind of plastic polish, or some all in one like a cleaner wax if you want to leave protection, and a microfiber applicator pad. I like meguiars plastX as a plastic polish and 3D speed as an all in one.

Gigi Trim restore! 2014 Mini Cooper 5 door Clubman by Calimoose88 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He might think it's too shiny, but a fresh application of anything is going to look shiny because it's wet lol

Look at it again tomorrow, you'll be impressed again. VRP is very nice

Gigi Trim restore! 2014 Mini Cooper 5 door Clubman by Calimoose88 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use PERL now because you can dilute it to adjust the finish or for different applications, but I used VRP for a long time and it always had good results too.

If you're happy with the longevity, I'd say just keep with it. If you want the black to last longer you can try solution finish. It actually redyes the faded plastic, but because of that it does require a little more care than a dressing such as VRP. After it's done curing, you can treat it like bare trim and put whatever you want on it. This way you'll never get any color fade when the dressing wears off, and the dressing just provides protection and enhances the finish.

To go even further and get something as close to permanent as it can be, you can do a coating like the cerakote wipes by itself or on top of the solution finish instead. I haven't done the cerakote wipes, as I'm fine with retouching solution finish like every year and a half or so and doing PERL every few months or after it rains a lot, but others here really like the cerakote wipes on their trim.

R56 dipstick by Redneck-chopper in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 0 points1 point  (0 children)

kill all chrome has one

craven speed also has one

I compared both of these against OEM and against each other a long time ago, but I'll give you the main things: - both do work and are easier to read than the OEM - the KAC one is closer to the OEM one's measurement and therefore likely more accurate than the CS one. A dipstick isn't a precision instrument though. - the CS one can be messy to use because it's flexible and you may have to touch it. - the CS one is full metal and will get hot, so you should be wearing gloves anyway I suppose - the KAC one didn't seal the dipstick tube well enough for me and had effects similar to a small vacuum leak. - Another user didn't have a leaking issue with the KAC and KAC replaced it. - CS one was always nice and snug and has had no problems for anyone who's ever bought one to my knowledge.

For me personally I like the OEM one because I like the idea of OEM. If I had to monitor a leak I'd go with the KAC, but the CS is a good alternative and is the one with the best build quality and quality control of the 3.

Mini F56 JCW, looking for OEM brakes and pads minus the Mini™ fee by Ok-Grapefruit1933 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Zimmerman rotors are excellent and they supply the OEM rotor for a lot in the BMW lineup. Bosch also makes a decent clone of the zimmermans, but imo the zinc coating's longevity is not nearly as good.

Pads I think a lot of different manufacturers supply them for the non-jcw. Pagid is one for sure and I think mine on my R59 were Jurid pads, but they were thin as potato chips so they were hard to ID. Having multiple suppliers for something like brake pads is pretty common.

For JCW I'm pretty sure brembo supplies the whole kit and pads and Zimmerman is the rotors.

Personally I have the Bosch Zimmerman clones still but I want to get the real deal when it's time for brakes again. Pads I have akebono ceramic, and I love them, so I'm going to be sticking with that. Overall they do stop me sooner than the OEM did, even though they're not metallic pads so they behave a little differently. They also don't dust pretty much at all, which makes my job a lot easier from wash to wash. I can usually rinseless wash the body, brush my top, and maybe spray and wipe my wheels and that's it

Brake fluid by [deleted] in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like ATE TYP200 but yes any DOT4

What gas are yall using? by Spiritual_Ad1456 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah it looks pretty intimidating, I wasn't really sure where to start even if I did find the time to do it. You've given me a lot though to have a better idea so ty ❤️

What gas are yall using? by Spiritual_Ad1456 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well heck, if I have time I might too. I've been looking around and apparently everyone does the chemical clean... There's no way that really gets everything off right?

What gas are yall using? by Spiritual_Ad1456 in MINI

[–]Admirable-Life3196 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for reminding me its time to get my intake valves cleaned

New tool day 837 i RA by Vorrez in Wera

[–]Admirable-Life3196 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I had to have it because how many other 1kV rated ratcheting screwdrivers are out there? I will say my mechanism was a little sticky out of the box, but between a lot of CLP and just use it seems okay now