The journey of one man and his Mule(s)

[Magic Beans]

Holy barnicals batman that's a he'll if a transformation.. I can't help feeling you have caught the anal tidy bug painting bolts next you will be cleaning the dirt off the tyres. Looks awesome though

I might like things clean and tidy, yes The problem is once you start you're kinda committed to going the whole hog. As such I've got a way to go to get it to what I would call clean

weres my suprise anyways lol its been ages now since you said [Razz]

Soon. Once I've finished my prototype kit

[pistol pete]

very very tidy.
i was going the black a silver very clean look, but decided on some colour as you know
but yours looks just awesome

Did you go red with the Toyota lettering on yours then?

Does look good

Yeah i got some paint for it last night
going to do it 2morrow will get some pics for ya..

Love the silver and black..

[Magic Beans]

Not car related but I've started dabbling in the ways of photography, in a bid to try and finally to learn to take a good photo So thought I'd share for those who might also be interested in a spot of camera geekery

http://www.digitalrev.com/magic_beans/photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mule-designs/

There's only a few on there now, as I've got a lot to process and upload still.

[Magic Beans]

Well, the Mule has a new stablemate. In fact two but the other one is Adrienne's.

It's no secret that I've long been a huge fan of the BMW 1 Series, having had two previously. The second of which I had to let go last Thursday, so in honour if it's memory he's a photo of it during 1500 mile trip we decided to take the day after I got it


As much fun as we had I always always wanted one a little faster and a little sportier. Well after 4.5 years that day finally came on Thursday, when I took delivery on my new 120D F21 M Sport To say I was an excited boy in the build-up to it's arrival is somewhat of an understatement and the day it came I thought I was going to explode

Anyway, I'll not rattle on about how great it is and how I basically want to now live it in. Instead here's a bunch of photos, as I know that's what you really came here for


















Some interior shots







Bits on the carpets already








One of the options I opted for was the Harman Kardon speaker package, as the stock speakers in these cars are generally pish. Worth every penny and sounds awesome!


It's going to be a nightmare the keep clean! Every bit as bad as the Mule, apart from not having dusty Carbotechs I guess..

Not sure if anyone's that interested of course but thought I'd share

[craig]

Very nice mate!

[stephano]

any street drifto done in it yet?

[Magic Beans]

It's having a nice easy few miles to start off with, although it's no slouch straight out of the box. Once it's done 1000 miles I'll add in a little something to push it to around 240bhp / 470nm

Snow should be even more interesting this year

[Donato]

Looks bloody awesome. Fan of the 1 series too!

[Magic Beans]

Looks bloody awesome. Fan of the 1 series too!

They are great cars. The 1st gen ones were a little basic features wise but a damn good drive. The 2nd gen ones now come loaded with everything you'd ever want and more but not at the expense of the core feel of the car.

I tested the 3 and 5 series and found them too big and heavy for my needs.

[craig]

I like how in a 1 series, the seating position, and dash layout makes you feel like you're in a sports car
it did in my mates 54 plate 118d anyway

[Magic Beans]

Absolutely. I found the original ones (pre '07) were quite heavy steering wise and the engines were a bit frumpy. After the face lift in '07 the 118D up'd it's game to 143bhp, which made a good difference. The F21 models are essentially the same core car feel but better in every way, which is what I was hoping for. I don't like the look of the new non M Sport versions that much though.

The sports seats are even comfier than the Brides, but with the added benefit of adjustments. Makes the car a really nice place to be when doing distances.

[Magic Beans]

And so it was that the story ended. Godspeed old friend, I'm sorry I failed you.

I do have your heart and brain in a jar (well, another car then) so you can continue to attempt to kill me at will



Fin

[Jasonb123]

I like that 1 series matey.. Looks smart as f**k

[stephano]

And so it was that the story ended. Godspeed old friend, I'm sorry I failed you.

I do have your heart and brain in a jar (well, another car then) so you can continue to attempt to kill me at will



Fin

i think we all should give it a round of applause on its way out.

[Magic Beans]

Good way of looking at it.

Here's to the old soldier

[pistol pete]

Love that 1 series.. i do like my bm's

[Magic Beans]

We paid a visit to the Autosport International Show today, as it always makes for good day and it a great opportunity to stuff your nostrils with tyres and engine fumes

This year didn't disappoint, with a huge variety of stuff on show. We even stumbled across Rogue's stand, with the guys all lined up nicely waiting to snare an interested passer by. My only real frustration was that I took a completely unsuitable lens for the camera. So I spent hours trying to get far enough back to frame the subject, which pushed me into a sea of people passing by and generally standing in the way, how rude

I did manage to get quite a few shots, so I thought I'd share a random selection here, in case anyone's interested in cars



Anything McLaren is going to make me all excited like a sugar loaded child






This was all a bit "Art Attack" but the end results was pretty damn good. We couldn't work out what the point was, but I am an art heathen


Oh look, more McLaren




Cleanest car ever! I approve




I know how much these things cost!


Adrienne was lured in by the "Hey there, how are you today? Would you like to do this awesome survey" people. Sucker


Yet another ultra clean classic Escort












One for you Peter. Obviously not a patch on your soon (well, ish) to be completed project


Got a bunch of other shots but I'm not sharing them, as this wouldn't be a "random selection" then would it

[Magic Beans]

It's all a bit quiet on here over the winter isn't it

The Mule is still nicely tucked up in the garage, keeping out of mischief and waiting for warmer days to return. I've got quite a few things I've lined up to do on it over the next few weeks, ready for the season ahead. These will commence as of this week, to start the new year push and wake the grumpy beast up. Currently stands at:

* Replace the front tyres, with some which don't rub on the struts....
* Fit the wheel arch liners, one of which was kindly donated by Ashman Might be a challenge due to the arches being cut out but we'll see how that goes.
* Fit the braided clutch line I bought from Peter a while back
* Fit the gear shifter bearing kit, also bought from Peter
* Fabricate a flat under tray solution to work with the Border bumper
* Remove the audio equipment, as I'm looking to reduce weight and you can't hear it over the turbo and screamer anyway I'll probably fabricate a custom DIN piece, to sit in place of where the head unit etc goes.
* Give the car an epic wash and wax, to clean away the winter blues

I've canned a few of the side projects I was working on, as they're not in keeping with the direction I want to take with the car. Well, they're not going in the Mule at least...

In the meantime I've been combining some of my current favourite pass-times, which are driving, walking up hills (or just general excessive exercise ) and camera geeking. As demonstrated below







You didn't think I'd post something without some sort of photos did you?

[ashley]

You're getting a bit nifty with that camera intya

I know what you mean about slow- the cold really doesn't inspire garage work does it? I'm very interested to hear that you're ditchin the radio...going more in a performance direction by any chance??

I'm almost ready to get started again, almost got rid of all the bits from the car I broke, just need to have a full clear down and then start concentrating on the next phase

[Magic Beans]

Still got a ways to go but learning steadily. Just about to put a pot of cash into some proper glass for it, so don't be surprised if a few more photos crop up every now and then

Exactly that. Since getting the new 1er and tuning it, it became apparent that there's no logic in having two cars which do essentially the same thing. One obviously a lot more so in the power department (not that the 1er is a slouch now ), but basically two road cars with toys in. One of which is pretty much free, while the other I have to pay out on if it breaks. So I'm looking to differentiate the two by making it more performance focused, so first off strip out a lot of the unnecessary weight by removing the ICE etc and other weight saving measures in other areas. Not to the extent of making it a full on track car etc, I just don't see the logic in carrying around 40kg of audio kit I can't hear properly. There's no need for any more power, however dropping weight does the same thing and if done in a considered way it should balance the car out a little better

I'm also going to put a lot of focus on getting the handling sorted. It will be 225s up at the front and I'll probably replace the 275s with 265s or 255s, after the rears have worn down due to a few trips to the Pod A flat front under tray and the arch liners should help too, then coilovers and ARBs, depending how it feels after the other changes. Traction control would help reduce the terror factor of hitting full boost in a low gear, so it's one to ponder.

I've been waiting for your next update. Very intrigued to see what you do, as well, I might borrow some of your ideas What's first on the "to do" list?