hey, is there anyone out there with the JCW upgrade on their mcs?? i am getting my mcs at the end of the month and seriously considering having the kit installed before i take delivery of the car. i have driven stock mcs's and would want to improve the performance with after market products anyway. however after reading various reviews from different sources i am liking the idea of the JCW engineering and warranty.undefined

 

I have an unmodded MCS. I took a test drive of the JCW MCS at the dealership the other day. All I can say is WOW!

If you want the JCW, you're going to notice a difference. Take a test drive of one at the dealership sometime.

I'm heading the direction of modding my MCS with aftermarket parts for the cost savings over the bloated JCW price tag. However, if you can afford it, by all means get it if warranty and max performance is your quest!

 

thanks for your response. i will go for a drive as soon as i can. i was going to go the after market route as well but i am wanting to not spend as much time on the car and with all of its quirks the warranty seems to be important. i don't have the car yet and here i am on line.....:smile:

 

I have had the JCW kit fitted for nearly a month now. I am in the UK and had it fitted by John Cooper Garages. My car had done 6000 miles before the fit, so it was well run in. The JCW test car I drove felt good, but I think mine performs even better. I'm really pleased with it. The car feels like it was built with it. Not stressed, but loads of power. Much less requirement for changing down as well. If you really want to use the performance, you'll need to turn off the ASC, else the engine just keeps cutting when powering out of bends. Apparently, it should be run on 98 octane fuel to get the best performance, but so far the best I have found here is 97 octane. I thought the JCW route was worthwhile to keep the warranty, but as the bill lists all the parts supplied, from the bare head, valves, springs, camshaft, supercharger, exhaust, and labour charges for modifying the head, I still consider that the old bits should be returned to us, rather than being shipped off to BMW. Good luck with the decision. Let us know what you decide and why.

 

>>hey, is there anyone out there with the JCW upgrade on their mcs?? i am getting my mcs at the end of the month and seriously considering having the kit installed before i take delivery of the car. i have driven stock mcs's and would want to improve the performance with after market products anyway. however after reading various reviews from different sources i am liking the idea of the JCW engineering and warranty.undefined

First of all have you reserved a kit for your MCS? If not then you need to get on that first. The JCW kits are in short supply and very hard to come by. So far in my state we have gotten one kit and it was installed within a day or two of arrival. It is not from the factory and must be installed by your dealership. Cost is about $4500 for the kit itself and at least 10 hours of labor so about $1000 more plus tax and shipping of the old parts like the supercharger and the cyclinder head back to BMW in europe. Expect a total cost of nearly $6000 per car. Warranty is up to your 4 year limit and there is a breakin time of about 1200 miles.

Even though there is a good warranty, most people think that the price is too high. The lack of kits doesn't help. Similar upgrades are possible but you will have to pick and choose your upgrades and work with a shop to install them. The final results can be very similar. You can save up to half of the cost but again no warranty. Your choice.

 

I've had mine since June 12th and absolutely love mine.... nothing wrong with a stock MCS, but this is the way the car should have been to begin with.

Some say the price is too high, and that is a very valid arguement against it...

but I looked at it this way.

If you had a choice of buying a brand new Works MCS for $25,000, or a brand new MCS with aftermarket mods that create similar performance for $23,600 but NO WARRANTY, which would you choose....

These prices are just rough figures I threw together in my head, assuming the afterrmarket car had a new pully, new ecu, and new exhaust all professionally installed. Identical cars otherwise, the MCS is official with warranty and the aftermarket is just piecemeal and no warranty left on the car. Stand back and look at it that way, which one would you choose....

Figuring a helix ecu upgrade at about $1k, Supersprint Exhaust at about $2k, and $600 for a pully installed. I think I am close on the prices, and if not let the labor charges make up the wiggle room on it.... and assuming stock MCS cost about $20.

Personally, though it is by no means a "bargain," I feel the Works kit is reasonably price when you look at it this way. It's also a wash in the dollar-per-hp ratio over the stock S if memory serves me correctly.... hp gain over stock is nearly the same percentage wise in the cost of the Works MCS over a stock MCS percentage wise.

 

>>I've had mine since June 12th and absolutely love mine.... nothing wrong with a stock MCS, but this is the way the car should have been to begin with.
>>
>>Some say the price is too high, and that is a very valid arguement against it...
>>
>>but I looked at it this way.
>>
>>If you had a choice of buying a brand new Works MCS for $25,000, or a brand new MCS with aftermarket mods that create similar performance for $23,600 but NO WARRANTY, which would you choose....
>>
>>These prices are just rough figures I threw together in my head, assuming the afterrmarket car had a new pully, new ecu, and new exhaust all professionally installed. Identical cars otherwise, the MCS is official with warranty and the aftermarket is just piecemeal and no warranty left on the car. Stand back and look at it that way, which one would you choose....
>>
>>Figuring a helix ecu upgrade at about $1k, Supersprint Exhaust at about $2k, and $600 for a pully installed. I think I am close on the prices, and if not let the labor charges make up the wiggle room on it.... and assuming stock MCS cost about $20.

Stock MCS- $20,000
JCW kit parts- total cost about $5500 to 6000 est.
Pulley/belt upgrade
ECU upgrade
Cylinder head upgrade
Exhaust upgrade
Spark plug upgrade
badges
4 year warranty

Aftermarket upgrade cost- est
Pulley/belt upgrade $400 installed at pulley party
ECU upgrade $700 installed at pulley party
Cylinder head upgrade expensive- skip for now
Exhaust upgrade $750 for installed/shipped Magnaflow or Borla Sport
Spark plug upgrade skip for now
badges Make your own or see RandyBMC if you attended a pulley party
4 year warranty Write "4 years- complete warranty" on a piece of toilet paper and stuff in glovebox
Grand total so far $1850

So this leaves about $4100 for doing stuff. But I would argue that the two upgraded cars are close in overall looks and performance with the edge going to the aftermarket upgraded MCS for exhaust sound due to the sport exhaust/magnaflow. If you like stealth exhausts then the JCW kit exhaust sounds great and looks good too.

So about $4100 is the cost of the Cylinder head and warranty. Figure about $1100 and $3000 repectively. Profit and extra labor is mixed in there liberally applied.

For about $4000-$6000 you can get:
Cold air Intake $250
Lightweight wheelset $1500 to $2500 delivered
Header $850 installed
Throttlebody $550 installed
Suspension upgrades $800 to $2000
Stage 1 brake upgrade $900
Totals $4850-6850 est.

>>Personally, though it is by no means a "bargain," I feel the Works kit is reasonably price when you look at it this way. It's also a wash in the dollar-per-hp ratio over the stock S if memory serves me correctly.... hp gain over stock is nearly the same percentage wise in the cost of the Works MCS over a stock MCS percentage wise.

The kit price is what the market will bear. Low supply and enough demand due to the advantages of a full warranty will keep prices competitive. If Dinan or any other name kit comes out with many of the above upgrade components and costs $2000 less than the JCW kit, would you go for it? Hell yes! So Dinan, some of us are anxious to hear from you. And to Dinan's competitors- bring on your version of a power upgrade kit for the MC and MCS and lets decide.