New Mods: Window Tint & AVIC-N3 Hack

In the past two days I have added more mods to G8RMNI.

Window Tint
After work yesterday, I took G8RMNI to LA Tint in Sterling, VA to get the back side windows tinted. I went with the 38% Ultimate Series tint.

LA Tint exclusively installs Formula One tint. There were three different levels to choose from, all offering different benefits. I ended up going with the mid-priced option which utilizes a "metalized base for optimum reflectivity and heat rejection" ... whatever that means.

Bottom line: the car looks awesome. I'll post a photo soon.

Pioneer AVIC-N3 Headunit Hack
When I was at Circuit City a few weeks ago to buy a Sirius tuner, I had a short conversation with the car audio salesman. He told me about an easy hack which allows full operation of the menus of the AVIC-N3 headunit while the parking brake is not engaged.

Previously, I had to stop the car and pull the e-brake up if I wanted to enter a new address while in navigation mode. I also had to do this if I wanted to check my stocks and sports scores. I guess Pioneer received a bunch of complaints with previous units (AVIC-N2, N1), because now they make it really easy to get around this annoying safety feature -- if you are willing to void your warranty.

After I got home from Circuit City, I jumped online and Googled the hack. Here's a link to the forum I found which discusses the hack (amongst other cool stuff to do to the headunit).

Now, here's the hack:

1. Pull out the headunit from the dash and flip it over.
a. On an '06 MINI, there are two screws on each column that will need to be removed.
b. Pull the columns down and to the outsides of the car. You will be able to see the four screws which secure the headunit in the dash.
c. Unscrew the four screws, then pull the headunit out.
d. Flip the headunit over.

2. Remove the four tiny screws on the face plate of the headunit.
a. You will need to slide the sleeve to the rear of the headunit.

3. Remove the silver sticker that is on the bottom of the unit. Congratulations. You have voided your warranty.

4. Now that the sticker is removed, you will see a black switch. With a small (really small) bladed screwdriver, slide the little switch to the left.

5. Next, you'll need to ground the light green parking brake wire to a negative wire on the car. I found a run of the wire near my iPod adpator and spliced it into the black wire of the adaptor.

6. Put the headunit back into the dash and screw everything back together.

7. Reset the headunit (make sure the Nav DVD is loaded).

Congratulations, you can now watch a DVD while driving (don't crash). You can also take full control of all of the Nav menus while under way.