I would say since is shares with the R56 which feels great and not too harsh ( felt it ). And lowers a bit more since its a heavy car ( R58 ). ( Never been in a R58 with the tuning suspension kit ) but have been in the JCW . Since the R58 seem to be better planted at high speed and ride then the R56 , I bet this makes the R58 maybe the best handling MINI out there. That's my thoughts. Many agreed with me on the feel of the R56 vs the R58.

Here is some more info, for the R56 , but very smialir on the R58.

http://www.totalmini.com/forum/fitti...en/jcwsusp.pdf


Since its a MINI part I don't think the dealer will have a issue. If they install it , that would give them some value to warranty it under the new car. I would give them a call and see what they saw. Its a factory MINI part which they like to install.

If the MINI dealer does it they can print off the guide for the alignment specs.

 

its complete thats for sure, ive driven in a coupe with it, its nice. doesnt drop more than .5 over a stock jcw tho

 

Thanks for the info JCW_Coupe

 

I am not just looking for a drop. How is the handling improved?

 

The JCW sport suspensions kit will (of course) make the coupe stiffer. Sometimes it feels like driving a formula 1 car at country roads even on the high way. On the other hand the kit boosts the handling performance of the coupe like cornering and so on.

 

Yeah my main concern is that it would feel crappy on back roads. I don't mind a stiff suspension. I had the sport suspension on my old R56 and it was fine.

 

bit stiffer than the sport suspension, not bone jarring but roll is decreased and response was increased. you definitely know its not your average mini suspension, but not as stiff as say h+r

 

Sounds perfect. I am checking with my local dealer. ECS sells the kits too.

 

Ecs has a good deal on this kit, GL!

 

Does anyone know if the jcw suspension install needs to be done by the dealer to qualify for the full factory warranty?

 

Give the MINI dealership a call you would be using, they will know more about the warranty install side.


"Ecs has a good deal on this kit, GL!"

Thanks JCW_Coupe

 

With respect to JCW brakes, install must be done at dealer for warranty. With respect to suspension it's only 2rys and as far as I know, installation and alignment is not MINI dealer specific. The alignment shop will need the JCW Suspension Specs to align !!

 

So I called my local mini dealer about my '15 R58 JCW's suspension options and they don't sell anything for the car.

Maybe ECS can chime in here. Does the R58 JCW coupe have a JCW suspension option? Is it possible the factory sport suspension is the same?

I really want to know because I am considering flying cross country to get a GP, unless there is a good OEM option for more aggressive suspension on the R58 JCW.

It's one of the decision points I am considering anyway.

 

When we put in Vins for the R58 JCW models it populates the JCW Tuning add on suspension option.

The factory suspension on the factory JCW looks to be the same as the Sport suspension on the R58 Cooper S.

Thanks

 

Ok that is cool. So any idea to why MINI dealers don't know? it makes no sense to me. I mean they manufacture the stuff!! And their whole reason for existence is to make money. So I would think they would gladly sell me a kit even though it's very low volume.

I also called miniusa, and those people manning the phones had no clue either.

 

They are sometimes out of the loop on things and are not informed. You have to be a MINI guru to find things outside the normal part diagrams.

Like they don't know about Euro MINI parts, we do .

 

hahaha i was about to say dealers...know anything...not likely, but ECS is well versed!

 

The other thing is that if I am spending the additional scratch for OEM parts I wanted to know what the deal is with the warranty on those parts.

I would gladly buy from ECS if that maintains the same new car factory warranty but I want to confirm that with the dealer.

 

Actually, No....

The optional factory "Sport" suspension and "JCW Sport Suspension" are not the same, nor do they share components. While the optional Sport Package (a $1,250 option ) provided different struts and spring rates for the S and non-S models, it should not be confused with the Factory "JCW Sport Suspension" standard on the JCW's beginning in 2012.

The standard cooper and S models have front sway bars ranging from 21.5, 22.5 to 23.5 for; Cooper, S and Sport suspension. And, 24mm for the "JCW Sport Suspension". BMW spring catalog lists three different spring options for these cars, and additional 4th spring for the JCW Option.

If you own a 2012 or newer factory 208 hp JCW, it came with JCW Sport Brakes and the "JCW Sport Suspension" which has sturdier front and rear sway bars and springs dropping the car 0.4-inch lower equipped with a 24mm front sway bar and an 18.5mm rear bar.

Would seem you just need to contact someone at a dealer who knows what they are talking about. :P

 

Ok so I called my dealer's parts desk. I finally got someone who knew what they were talking about, and did the actual work. The answer I got was that it's not worth the cost. Technically they said (confirmed with the shop foreman) there is a kit, but the spring rate, and the swaybar size is negligibly bigger than the "Sport Suspension" (factory $500.00 option on the R58). The drop is 1/2 mm lower than the sport on the R58.

So I see it like this:
R58 JCW Standard
R58 JCW Factory-installed Sport <-- What I ordered
R58 JCW suspension aftermarket <-- what I was attempting to buy

Supposedly confirmed with other stuff I've read here, and on motoringfile the R58 suspension is not exactly the same as the R56 as others have stated. The parts counter confirmed this with a look at the system. Perhaps it's misinformation, but I would assume the dealer would rather just sell it to me if it was a decent upgrade.

In this case it most likely makes more sense to save my pennies for a GP2 bilstein kit for the coupe if I wanted to get more aggressive.

Anyhow I'm about a week out from getting the car. I'm going to drive it and see how it feels vs the GP. Then make my final choice.

 

http://mini.sewellparts.com/oem-cata...R58S-2012.html


Components for JCW Suspension for R58 are about $1800 + installation as you can see here. The basis of which I purchased / dealer installed the JCW Suspension was value, performance, the amount of drop and the hassle free 2 year warranty....

If you can afford to drop your car more than a half to 3/4 of an inch in your region then go for aftermarket adjustable Co's / front camber plates / adj rear cont arms. My JCW Suspension settled in at almost 3/4 inch drop and with GP1 body kit and I am scraping the pavement all the time...

Typically speaking when comparing R56L and R58/9, the differences are all above the belt line. For years they had no JCW upper strut tie bar listed for the R58/9, but the strut towers and sheet metal are the same so they worked just fine.


GP2's are having some front strut knocking issues so would put that idea on back burner for now.

 

Ok did some more checking on this. My dealer is just really odd. They don't want to sell parts I guess. Told me the bars are 0.5mm stiffer, the drop is only a few MM blah blah blah.

I said well then what about the spring rate and damping? I mean c'mon it's not like mini puts this stuff together for nothing. I'm not looking to slam the car so it's unusable on the bumpy local roads. I want it to dial out the body roll squat / dive. I like that it's an OEM full package.

My dealer did say it would cost about 1k to install the bits, then I would also have to get an alignment which I think I also pay for. That's all fine.

Is 1k for install a decent deal? I'm getting a quote from ECS on parts too.

 

I did some further spelunking in the realoem.com web site it seems that the JCW suspension kit is just listed in the R58 Cooper S, front axle area.

Here is some more info I dug up on the R58 JCW Sport Suspension (factory) v. the JCW aftermarket one:

R58 JCW Factory Sport Suspension (500.00 option)
Front bar 22.5mm
Front 31316855359
Rear bar 18mm
Rear 335526855363
Rear spring - Varies

R58 JCW suspension Kit
Front bar 24mm
Front strut 31316782719
Rear bar 18.5mm
Rear Strut 33526782741

So it looks to me that what you really get for 500 bucks in the sport suspension option is different struts, perhaps springs. But in the JCW kit you get stiffer springs (and red haha), differently set up struts, and the bigger front bar / rear bar combo.

I also re-read the motoringfile articles:
http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/08/...rt-suspension/
http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/08/...-at-the-track/
http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/09/...ion-long-term/
http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/08/...ally-released/