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Bleg: Adventures in mechanics
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It looks like I need to replace a heated passenger mirror (I think it's heated) on a 2006 Mini Cooper. Sadly, I can't figure out what the right part is, or how to install it. Anyone know the answer off the top of their head? If you tell me how to do it, I'll post pictures . . .
Update: Perhaps I should explain why I, who am not known for my mechanical skill, am attempting this.
Well, there's been an ongoing adventure with the State of Pennsylvania, which finally consented to follow their own damn laws after I called the press department and asked for an explanation of their policy, which seemed to be in clear contravention of the existing law. During this saga, which was finally rectified in late November, two things happened:
1) My temporary tags expired
2) My mother ran into my car and cracked the right passenger mirror
The car is now parked in my sister's garage, from which it cannot be legally removed except to take it to inspection. When I did so last Saturday, I was informed that the mirror is cracked, and therefore I could not pass inspection. When I requested new temporary tags so that I might take the car to have it fixed, I was informed that it is District of Columbia policy never, ever to give out temporary tags. The nearest Mini dealership, I explained, is a long, illegal drive from my house. The DC answer is that I should pay several hundred dollars to get it towed. After all, if I hadn't . . . well, they're sure that this must somehow have been a malevolent or lazy mistake on my part, so go to hell. The woman at the desk claims that the computers are set up to lock if you attempt to issue a second set of temporary tags.
I would very much like not to pay several hundred dollars to tow my car to Sterling, Virginia. Moreover, Sterling, Virginia's Mini dealership can't fix my car until sometime in the New Year, because apparently, being the only dealership in the area keeps them pretty busy.
This leaves me with two choices: spend hundreds of dollars and leave my car parked for at least another month, or fix it myself.
Fun, huh? This is what my whole month has been like, friends. It's just one damn thing after another, and funnily enough, almost all of it the product of some useless bureaucratic innovation designed to convenience the designer at the expense of a "customer" they don't care about.
Update: Perhaps I should explain why I, who am not known for my mechanical skill, am attempting this.
Well, there's been an ongoing adventure with the State of Pennsylvania, which finally consented to follow their own damn laws after I called the press department and asked for an explanation of their policy, which seemed to be in clear contravention of the existing law. During this saga, which was finally rectified in late November, two things happened:
1) My temporary tags expired
2) My mother ran into my car and cracked the right passenger mirror
The car is now parked in my sister's garage, from which it cannot be legally removed except to take it to inspection. When I did so last Saturday, I was informed that the mirror is cracked, and therefore I could not pass inspection. When I requested new temporary tags so that I might take the car to have it fixed, I was informed that it is District of Columbia policy never, ever to give out temporary tags. The nearest Mini dealership, I explained, is a long, illegal drive from my house. The DC answer is that I should pay several hundred dollars to get it towed. After all, if I hadn't . . . well, they're sure that this must somehow have been a malevolent or lazy mistake on my part, so go to hell. The woman at the desk claims that the computers are set up to lock if you attempt to issue a second set of temporary tags.
I would very much like not to pay several hundred dollars to tow my car to Sterling, Virginia. Moreover, Sterling, Virginia's Mini dealership can't fix my car until sometime in the New Year, because apparently, being the only dealership in the area keeps them pretty busy.
This leaves me with two choices: spend hundreds of dollars and leave my car parked for at least another month, or fix it myself.
Fun, huh? This is what my whole month has been like, friends. It's just one damn thing after another, and funnily enough, almost all of it the product of some useless bureaucratic innovation designed to convenience the designer at the expense of a "customer" they don't care about.
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