I just purchased a 2009 Clubman JCW and was looking at doing a cold air intake. I do have a couple questions.

1. Will this upgrade really help any?
2. Will this void the warranty?
3. Any suggestions on which one? don't want to send $400+ on it.

thanks guys.

 

Will it help? Maybe. If you have the JCW intake i would just upgrade the filter and that is about it. But that is my opinion. No it will not but, if something breaks because of the intake such as you break your MAF the dealership is not required to replace due to the modification. If you don't want to spend $400 on an intake which you should not have to but for some reason aftermarket companies think people who own MINIs are rich or something you can get an Alta intake. But just research here on NAM and the interwebs. Just use the search button to do so its the top right corner it will help tremendously considering there is about 2 billion posts on intakes.

 

My Take:
1. Will this upgrade really help any?
- Yes, in sound, possibly fuel efficiency and a small gain in power, though other mods are needed to add-power incrementally (a small step-up in power means you may not feel it.)

2. Will this void the warranty?
- Quite often yes, especially in the case of a MAF sensor issue. Though if you keep your stock box (theres no reason to get rid of it) you could switch it back... =P

3. Any suggestions on which one? don't want to send $400+ on it.
- The Best is the M7 AGS - Tests prove it and there are a couple for sale on NAM. Though for your stockbox; a K&N or similar filter, lightly oiled (to keep from MAF errors) will do the trick. There are also two or three companies making upgraded top-halves for the stock JCW box, which have bigger openings and allow for bigger filters.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

1) you have a JCW, the general consensus of this forum and any other out there is that an intake is purely a sound modification... unless you plan to show off your engine bay often and make yourself feel good, just get a K&N replacement panel filter (assuming your's is a factory JCW, not the dealer installed kit, if it's dealer installed kit, Madness mini makes a very nice velocity stack filter that'll replace the cone filter in the JCW stage 1 intake...)

2)if it's visible, and not what was there from factory, it'll void warrantee for that part but not necessarily the entire car. for instance, i have a voided warrantee on my intake because i have a DoS intake with alta soft pipe inlet hose.... nothing else is visible on my car... a dealership can void individual pieces such as intake, hoses, intercooler, exhaust, shifter, etc. but they can not by law not service your car when a problem arises unless they can prove that the failure was directly caused by the aftermarket piece. so they can't void your warrantee when your sunroof breaks cuz you have an intake, or say "sorry can't service your radio, you have an intercooler".

3. I'll have to disagree with Twister on this one... for a couple reasons, a) i've never seen any dynos for cars with either of the AGS intakes except the one that M7 has out there for the Super AGS, which btw is $440 and thats before shipping... and then the AGS-R is $690... b) i'm pretty sure randy just stated above he didn't want to spend $400+.

now please understand i'm not trying to bash M7, i think they have quite a couple very VERY nice products, just intakes isn't one of them. all their aesthetic exterior pieces, to die for! but when someone's throwing a gigantic filter box on a car with an engine this size and using the fact that it'll outflow a small V8 and huge filter area... well that's great, and very high in the what i want category, but unless i'm running a huge @$$ turbo, my car is NEVER going to NEED to flow that much air, then there's the fact that racing systems are 90% of the time closed air systems, whether it's getting air from a modified air box, fender well, or cowl induction, most high performance systems are closed (which is why i suggest sticking with your stock intake and just throw a filter in...) if you have the extreme need to do something to it, the best intake i have ever had on my car bar none is my current Defenders of Speed intake... now for fair warning, this is barely a sub $400 one... it'll be $400 if you get the second modified bulkhead, but it'll be worth it! it can go back to stock, there's no cutting, it'll give you the sound modification that everyone gets from an open filter and yet it'll keep everything in a closed system and make it look quite stock in appearance. and this is from a guy who's directly compared and had on his car Alta's CAI, DDMWorks Race Intake, a friend's NM Intake, and DoS intake. i've been around the block in intakes because i want to be able to come out and say here's each's ups and downs, direct side by side comparison, and real world/track driving. if you look at my sig, i'm not affiliated with any one company, i use the best products i can find to achieve the best possible outcome.

now twister IS, indirectly, making a very good point. a good company will charge a bit of money for a good product. so 9 times out of 10 you DO get what you pay for. however... when it comes ti intakes, i'll bet this years paychecks on the fact that the difference between the $40 K&N panel filter and the $690 will be minimal or non existent that you'll never see the difference (only hear... it WILL be auditory, just not butt worthy). reason being... that stock air box can flow without modification the amount that your turbo needs to reach 260bhp... it's been proven in europe, and is all over this forum, the power makers on this car are downpipe, intercooler, tune, and if you have the $$ turbo... an intake is your feel good modification and engine candy for your mojo.

also just as a side note... take a good look at high HP cars anywhere... you don't see gigantic filters, you see relatively small K&N Cone filters most everwhere, only main exception that comes to mind off the top of my head are the porsche GT2 and Turbo... but lets face it, a MINI is not a porsche... and shouldn't be. if you want a mini porsche, be the first to throw an LS1 engine into the MINI and make it rear wheel drive :P

 

The Best is the M7 AGS - Tests prove it and there are a couple for sale on NAM. Though for your stockbox; a K&N or similar filter, lightly oiled (to keep from MAF errors) will do the trick. There are also two or three companies making upgraded top-halves for the stock JCW box, which have bigger openings and allow for bigger filters.


Where are the test results ???????

 

Agreed - Get the panel!

 

Well, thanks to all of you for the input.
dunphyj, it is a true JCW car and not a dealer installed kit. I called the dealer before the purchase to make sure and I used the below vin decoder and checked my vin.

http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi



I think for now I'm going with the K&N and just drive and enjoy the car. This car is amazing. The power is insane. I thought the "S" was fast but the factory JCW and what the factory is able to do makes this car more then I expected. The dealer installed kits are nice but the below quote sold me on the factory 2009 JWC.


In particular, as in the bigger BMWs, Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) that allows controlled slip of the driving wheels during “sporting driving maneuvers” is now integrated with the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) system on the Works Clubman. Even if the DSC system is turned off, an electronic differential lock system, like that on the new BMW 1-Series, rather than a mechanical limited-slip differential, minimizes wheel slip in aggressive cornering."

 

quick and easy way to know if you're JCW or JCW kit... if you have Cooper S on the back, it's the kit, if it has the JCW logo on in place of the Cooper S, it's JCW factory...

btw, don't have too much fun with the DSC adn DTC off... the eDiff works via brakes to lock up to 50% in the front (20% more than a traditional factory LSD) but it does so at the quicker wear of pads. public roads you won't even get close to over doing it... track, you will... auto x... you might....

 

dunphyj

lots of great info...thanks

 

happy to give an opinion and what i've experienced

 

not to dig up old threads but I figured this was the best for this question,
Can I just swap out the Cooper S air box for the JCW air box? friend of mines letting me have his and I was going to throw it on tomorrow.
Any modification? ECU difference? thanks

 

What would the difference between the stock cooper S and stock JCW airbox be?

 

Stock JCW box has a sticker on it! MCS box does not. The JCW top piece may be a little taller but parking my MCS next to my buddies JCW then look identical. If I were to upgrade the box i would go for the JCW "KIT" box as it has the cone filter.

 

^ As he stated, the Factory JCW stock airbox is the same as the MCS airbox. I have both sitting in my garage and have taken them apart just to see, and there is no difference.

The only different one is the JCW tuning kit airbox

 

Went with the K&N filter and left the car alone. Been enjoying it and really love the power and handling. Thanks for all the imput.

 

Ok interesting, I picked it up the other day and it's identical to stock one that's in my S. wasn't the Factory JCW car suppose to have a cylindrical filter in it instead of a panel filter?
Also he gave me the turbo inlet pipe, That's swappable right? the only thing that worries me is this tab sticking out (pointing to it)

I'd rather have smooth wall turbo inlet pipe on there instead of the ribbed one.

also is there a larger opening on the JCW turbo inlet than on the stock S?

 

The inlet hose from a JCW won't fit a regular S turbo. The inlet on the turbos are different sizes.

 

It's only an inlet difference of 2-3mm in size. If you take the rubber gasket thing out of your normal stock S inlet tube and replace the JCW inlet tube one with it, it works fine.

BTW - to use the inlet pipe properly you need to get the PCV tube that connects there to the valve cover for a perfect fit...or so I've heard

To answer your question Peter, the Factory JCW uses the same intake and filter as the Cooper S intake. The JCW Tuning Kit is where the "cold air" cone filter intake comes into play.

 

Thats Good To Hear, This thread had stickiable posts and lots of good information!

 

I have a factory 09 JCW and was thinking of replacing the factory flat filter air-box intake with the JCW factory air intake with the round cone filter. Will this help at all. Plus will this become an issue on the warranty ???? it is still a MINI accessory from the JCW catalog so I would not think so.....

 

I did just this on my 09 JCW Clubman. I honestly can't say I noticed a difference in performance. I can hear the turbo more though.

Was it worth the money? Honestly, I got mine used off of NAM and if I were to have to buy new I wouldn't have done it. Put the money towards a AP if you want the most bang for the buck.

Todd

 

No you won't have any warranty problems cause it is a factory part. I really think the JCW intake is a nice part.