Anyone have a set to sell or know who has them at the best price?

 

Morristown Mini sells JCW carbon fiber parts on eBay. I got my carbon fiber downtubes there for $352 plus shipping. That's about the lowest price I've seen for them new.

They don't have any listed right now, but here's one of their old auctions:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JCW-C...spagenameZWDVW

If you do an eBay search for "JCW carbon", it won't be long before they've listed another set.

Scott

 

I dont mean to hi-jack this thread, but how is the install of the CF down tubes?

BEATNUT

 

I'm still waiting for my car to arrive, so I haven't installed the downtubes yet. My plan is to remove the screws in the center console and move it out of the way enough to pull the tubes down and out of the dash.

I'll also be installing a Euro parcel shelf at the same time, so having the knee bolster removed should give me a little more clearance on the driver's side. Still going to tape up the downtubes first to keep from scratching them up, though.

 

Scott:

Thanks, but I already called and e-mailed Morristown, as I bought my own vehicle there and know they make good deals on parts and accessories. I don't have any reply yet, but I was sure I ran across a site this past week that had them for under $350 (and it seems the price is dropping on JCW CF parts for some reason; probably because they will not fit the new '07). Of course I didn't bookmark it and now I can't find it again.

BTW, in another thread or threads the folks on here keep referring to the shop foreman in Morristown (also now known as Open Road Mini, as it is taking the name from their big brother Open Road BMW) as Irving. I said I thought it was Ervin (as in Magic Johnson) and confirmed that today as correct. He often gets called Erv for short, so I am sure that was assumed to be Irv and short for Irving.

Blackie

 

VERY easy..2 torx screws underneath the panel below the cluster.....2 torx on both sides of the tubes and there out....ull need to open the glove box for the right side...and pull down the panel under the steering wheel for the other side.

 

Some of it depends on the year of the car. On the later cars (2006 for certain, possibly 2005 as well), the downtubes are flared at the bottom end and must be slid down through the oval openings in the center console to remove them. This also means that the cupholder must be removed from the right downtube before it will slide out.

To remove the newer downtubes, unscrew the two screws in the forward cupholders. Remove the shifter trim ring, then reach through the shifter opening and push up on the underside of the mirror adjustment panel to pop it out. There are two more screws under the mirror adjustment panel. After you've removed those four screws, the center console will move around enough for you to slide the downtubes out.

The carbon fiber downtubes don't have the flare at the bottom, so they can be inserted from the top and then tilted forward to align with the four screw holes in the dash. Replace the screws in the cupholders and under the mirror adjustment panel, replace the shifter trim ring and mirror adjustment panel, and you're done.

Scott

 

I just got them (the CF down tubes) from Morristown Mini and installed them today. I have the 2006 and I found it to be MUCH harder than what is written by Scott above (he identified all the steps, but here is what is a real *****); getting the mirror adjustment panel to pop out is easier said than done. Maybe it is because I also have the heated seat ***** in that same panel, but there are about six brass clips that flare out from the piece as it sits in place holding it in the compartment and getting all six to release so it can be slid up (or popped up or pryed up, carefully) out of the compartment to get to those final two screws is where the problem comes in (and once out, getting these two screws back in is also pretty awkward). It is true the CF down tubes go in easily due to these not being flared, but to get the old ones is NOT so easy.

 

I also have a 2006 with heated seats, and I didn't have that much trouble getting the mirror control / heated seats panel to pop up when I reached through the shifter opening and pressed up on it from underneath.

This is the only time I've ever removed this panel, so either mine is looser than normal, yours is tighter than normal, or I just got lucky. Regardless, I'm glad you got your CF downtubes in. Aren't they gorgeous?

Scott

 

Scott:

I agree on "the look". As to the degree of difficulty of the install, I thought it was going to be like ten minutes and fairly easy, based upon some things I had read on here (and this was before seeing your comments). I had my tool kit in my trunk and as soon as I picked them up I started installing them in the dealer's parking lot (Morristown Mini). Well, when I got to the part where you reach in through the shift boot (and here may be a difference between our vehicles, but one that shouldn't matter, mine is an AUTOMATIC - don't ask, but my wife refused to learn how to drive a stick, so this was a compromise I had to make) to press the panel from the underside to pop out, I couldn't get the thing to move. Of course, I didn't want to break it and I understood there were expansion clips holding it in, so I'm feeling around trying to press down the clips (or what I think are the clips, because you can't see them) and getting no place. So, I call over one of the mechanics there (a real nice guy called TJ, who next to Ervin is the next best fellow to have work on your car) and ask him what I'm doing wrong. He says really nothing, but that the clips "can be" difficult to get to contract so the panel pops up. He tried and I tried; finally after both trying and a little subtle prying with a flathead screwdriver TJ gets it to give a bit and we get it to come up, but this part must have taken 10 minutes alone between my efforts and his; he seemed to think this was a fairly normal situation (that some are just more difficult to get out than others, but mine was not unusual in any way).