I own a 2010 Mini Cooper R56. It is for the most part a fun little car that is great for my commute. I average 33-34 MPG on the highway and with a round trip of 90 miles to and from work I find it to be a nice economically car to own, it is fun to drive and surprisingly roomy; I am 6’4″ tall, north of 250 lbs and I have plenty of room.
The down side of owning the Mini is that it has direct injection in which fuel is injected directly into the cylinders as opposed to joining the air in the intake manifold. This engine design apparently causes carbon to build up on the air intake side of the manifold requiring cleaning. Recommended method is walnut blasting at an approved dealer. My car unfortunately just rolled out of warranty and the check engine light came on indicating I have this problem.
So today I am embarking on the delicate task of walnut blasting my intakes because I am too cheap to shell out the 800 dollars or more I have seen people complaining that they had to pay at a dealership. This should be fun.