I am interested to know what kind of interior upgrades should we expect with the factory JCW? I presently own a 2011 All 4 and have been a bit disappointed with all of the HARD plastic surfaces (Door panels, Arm Rests, Dashboard, Hand Brake, etc....) -- I recently saw a JCW Coupe and was impressed in that there were lots of "soft touch" surfaces on various interior parts - Such as the dashboard...

To be honest, I love my Countryman so much (but really would like some more BMW luxury features in my Mini) that if Mini Offered Countryman Goodwood Edition I would seriously consider it! Just hoping that the JCW Countryman brings significant creature comfort interior upgrades also!

 

So I wonder if the '12 interior materials have changed. I picked up my '12 All4 this past weekend and I was surprised by the soft dash material (after reading comments such as yours, I was expecting cheap hard plastic). My dashboard feels almost like foam it's so soft, I can almost pinch of a bit of it (slight exaggeration, but you get my point).

I haven't examined the door panels, arm rest or hand brake closely. I'll take a look today.

 

Amen to that, this is pretty disappointing, with only 215hp it's not worth it, I'd rather have Golf R, this should have the N20 and minimum 250hp, I'm also disappointed they kept the cheap looking JCW bodykit, they should have at least given the car new bumpers, it should have been made to look tough like the WRC cars.

I do like the interior

 

too bad they didn't use the brembo brakes and instead decided to just paint the calipers.

 

I thought for sure you were joking, but sure enough, 2nd photo from the bottom of the motoringfile article clearly shows plain old calipers painted red.
There had better not be a big price premium for the JCW over the All4 given the very modest bump in power and lack of real performance differences. I could care less about some painted side-skirts and if I wanted a lower ride, I wouldn't buy the Countryman.

 

Heck, I could do that! Oh wait, I did. Surprisingly, stopping power didn't change going from silver to red...

 

Anyone with any insider info on when this will be available?

 

just take a look at the aero kit, 3500 for unpainted plastic

 

I think with the JCW for the CM, there is nothing to see here. Still waiting for the tuners to fully crack the ECU. That's the better route.

 

Anyone hearing anything about a US release date for the factory JCW Countryman?