Newbie from the UK

Hello all!

I'm Chris from the UK and I'm pretty knew to cars in general despite having an engineering degree 😅, having got my first one (a 2003 Mini OneD which I've had remapped) last year. I've now upgraded to a 2012 BMW 120d.

I'm in the Navy so haven't got an abundance of time but want to learn everything there is to learn about tuning/building/fixing cars having been very dissatisfied with the lack of such knowledge gained in my degree...

To do this I want to improve my car beyond what anyone would expect from a 120d as and when I can. I'm not entirely sure what I want it to end up looking like but I know I want to start with rebuilding the engine as the ones on these can have a number of costly fixes at the mileage it will be reaching in the next year all of which I could do easily if already rebuilding it.

I look forward to learning everything I can and being a part of this community, any and all advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Especially if anyone has a suggestion for the sequence of courses (and corresponding improvements) I should do!

Welcome Chris!!

Welcome to HPA and the world of cars mate!

Sounds like you're off to a great start with a list of things to sink your teeth into regarding the 120D preventative maintenance. Should be easier to work on than the Mini too, they really sandwiched things into those quite tightly!

I've attached a bit of a 'course map' for you. Given what you have said there, even if you're not planning to add any aftermarket parts quite yet, the engine building courses would make the most sense to dive into off the cuff and add an OEM workshop manual for your BMW to the 'toolbox' too if you haven't already. Some people prefer hard copies but you can get them all online pretty easily these days too.

It is generally better to watch the courses before you need them too, and then just reference what you need at the time for a refresh rather than waiting till you are ready to get on the tools to start learning.

Enjoy diving deeper and deeper into things 😎

Thank you! The mini is tight indeed 🫠

Already been getting my teeth stuck in on the engine building courses, moved on the the practical one having finished the fundamentals one. Managed to get the workshop manual online, physical ones don't seem to exist!!

Also, sorry if I'm being slow but I can't seem to find any attachment on your post with regards to a course map...

Thanks again for the welcome to all of this, I look forward to hitting the forum with my questions when they inevitably arise 😁

Oh, sorry, hopefully it works this time re the attachment!

Online ones are usually better anyway. Everyone is different but I have a few clear file folders setup for some vehicles I've own for a while, but whenever I need a manual I usually just download it again to my phone right then and there anyway instead of searching for the clear file folder 😅