MINI, Motoring

End of a MINI Era

My 2013 MINI Cooper S Clubman, Grand Teton National Park.

After nearly 20 years and 250,000 miles motored…it is official, I am no longer a MINI owner. Yesterday evening I sold my 2013 MINI Cooper S Clubman, as my Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road will be arriving any day now.

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MINI, Motoring

100,000

100,000

It took 7 years, 11 months, & 24 days…2918 days in total…to reach 100,000 miles on my Clubman.

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MINI

How To: MINI Cooper Gen2 (R55/R56) Battery Replacement

After 6 1/2 years and just over 87,000 miles, the original battery in my 2013 MINI Cooper S Clubman finally bit the dust. What I initially thought would be a straight forward battery replacement, quickly became a bit muddled. Depending on the options a Gen2 MINI is equipped with, replacing the battery can be a bit more involved.

So here is a write-up of what I learned while replacing the battery in my MINI, so hopefully it helps some of you down the road.

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MINI

How To: MINI Cooper Gen2 (R55/R56) Oil Change

MINI Gen2 R55/R56 Oil Filter & Oil Filter Housing

The Gen2 MINIs have been around since 2007, along with a lot of documentation and how-to’s. Sadly, as I was changing the oil in my Clubman the other day, and couldn’t find my notes on the torque spec for the oil drain plug, I realized a lot of how-to’s have been lost to the Internet black-hole…broken links, missing images, etc. as they reach a decade-plus in age.

So I figured I would publish a new how-to on changing the oil in a Gen2 MINI. For all of us owners who have had them for years, and for those who will come to own them in the future.

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Fishing, MINI, Motoring, Outdoors

MINI Kayak Transport

GhostPepper, Kayak Transporter

When motoring and kayak fishing life collide…you turn your MINI Clubman into a kayak hauler.

Hey, sometime you want to fish at 6am, and carve canyons on the way home.