This weekend a couple of MINI friends and I successfully installed the JCW upgrade kit on my car . Special thanks to RedBaronF2001 and apexer for the help :smile:. As the kit did not include any instructions whatsoever (purchased from Classic MINI in Ohio), we had to make a run to the local dealer to get a copy. Doing so was like pulling teeth but that's another story. I am going to try and scan them when I get a chance.

Upon opening the hood to start the project, we discovered my car had no clamp holding the intake hose to the airbox and it had disconnected itself . No wonder my car has been running a little strange lately . Don't know if that was a dealer screw-up or ? Got another clamp from the dealer. Randy Webb, who was doing a pulley party at my house all weekend, gave me a new crankcase breather hose which is one of the MINIUSA recalls and the cause of my recent deep noise when the revs drop - thanks Randy! . Noise gone and hose clamped.

The installation was straightforward with the exception of the 3 wires and vacuum hose hanging from the airbox for which we needed the instructions. Disconnected the positive lead from the battery under the boot. Removed the intercooler and cover, disconnect the plugs from the injectors, undo the fuel rail, disconnect the fuel pressure regulator, pull the injectors, and install the new ones placing a little oil on the o-ring of each injector. Swapping the injectors was OK save for some gas which went shooting out of the old injectors. Cleaned the injector holes with Q-tips as they were nasty! Installed the new ones which was cake however we forgot to hook the fuel pressure regulator back up and the car sounded like it had a big air leak as it made a sucking noise when I first started it - DOH . Removed the intercooler once again and connected it no problem then reattached the cooler and cover. Taking the old airbox out and installing the new one with a different shroud was fairly easy. Be sure you get it mounted back on the two ***** and seated properly. Once we had the instructions in hand we reviewed them and grounded the black wire behind the airbox and just below the windshield, connected the red wire with pin into the correct slot (#8), and spliced the yellow wire with the red & white wire from the ECU boxes immediately to the right of the airbox. The vacuum hose T-ed into another hose to the left and down below between the intercooler and intake hose/throttle body.

We also thoroughly cleaned the inside of the intercooler with a spray cleaner and wiped down the two side boots (thanks apexer! :smile.

I think we had the main work done in about 1.5 hours (without connecting the wires and vacuum hose) taking our time and making sure everything was double checked plus fixing the hose problem, but then we had to go the dealer for the instructions. I dropped one of the intercooler bolts into the fan which took a while to find - had to jack up the car and undo the skid plate. Then it was maybe another hour or so to finish the wiring which required a splice, crimp, heat shrink, etc then a little more time to reconnect the pressure regulator. Total time maybe 3 to 4 hours with no rush and including the time correcting the minor issues (hose to airbox, lost bolt) without the trip to the dealer.

I have an appointment on Wednesday to get the ECU flash which will "activate" the new injectors. The car drives just fine without the flash. As we found out with a test, the flap in the airbox DOES indeed open at 4500rpm with everything connected but without the flash. The engine feels even more smooth with a tad more torque on the bottom end. Above 4500rpm there is a high-pitched sound like the Alta (rode with Randy in a customer car last night) and it pulls even harder to redline! It feels like there are a few additional ponies, but we'll see what the ECU flash has to offer...

 

Very interesting. Sounds a bit difficult for most to do, at least with the fuel components. Even more interesting is that the ejectors and flap work without the reprogram, which means its probably just a remapping. But doesn't doing this yourself voice a big advantage of the JCW--your warranty? Is your dealer charging you for the reprogram? How much are you really saving? Thanks for the details it certainly helps us better know what is going on with the upgrade.

 

The problem is - our dealer has been making some horrible mistakes (just read above and read about missing oil pan plugs). I'm glad Mike did this because we found several things to correct while we were under the hood. His IC was dripping with oil and leaking out of the right hand side (exit) boot due to the clamps being loose (lost boost anyone?). He had no hose clamp on the airbox inlet.

The install is actually very simple. Once we received the instructions (for the vacuum hose diagram and ECU pin #s) it was done. The injectors are easy to remove and reinstall. The airbox swap is straightforward.

Once Mike gets his ECU updated we'll head over to the dyno and see what it can do.

 

minicoopermike,

The reflash is not needed in order to operate the upgrade kit. It is needed to optimize your new settings. One thing that I am curious about is whether the reflash also updates the mpg calculation in the car's computer. This was always a drawback going with aftermarket injectors since the mpg would skyrocket on the MCS's computer. I know the injectors aren't a lot larger, so the impact would be small regardless.

I do have the '05 JCW on my car, and the complaint in the past was that the JCW ran pig rich. At this point, after 1,000 miles my tips are clean as can be. On my stock '03 MCS the tips were always black within a few hundred miles. Does the fact the JCW tips are cleaner have any indication of the a/f ratio?

 

From memory:

There are three wires - one black, one yellow, and one red. The black (ground) routes through a grommet to the "bonnet ground". This wire has a supplied "ring tongue" that fits right onto the factory ground.

The red wire comes with a supplied connector to fit right into the ECU harness (the rearward, smaller one). You must remove the plastic piece on the top and one on the side for this connector to fit (it will snap in). This red wire fits into pin #8.

The yellow wire splices into the white/red wire in the front (larger) ECU harness. The wire comes with a supplied crimp on butt connector. The supplied one is too large IMHO and a smaller one would make the job easier. I used the supplied one and had success though. Heat the tubing to shrink it.

The supplied vacuum hoses from the airbox fit into the vacuum line coming from the s/c. This line gets "T'd" off to the new airbox. This is best described with photos.

From the airbox there is a supplied DIN connector that just snaps on. This is the opposite end of the wires described above. This makes airbox removal easy in future.

 

I thought the full-on JCW kit included a new cylinder head?

 

It does, but I already had the full kit - just needed the "upgrade" which includes bigger fuel injectors and a new airbox. These items are part of the "full" 2005 kit along with the cylinder head, new SC, exhaust, etc. The "upgrade" kit takes the HP from 200 to 210.

 

It does. We installed the "update" to the JCW kit. New (398cc?) fuel injectors, new Airbox, and an ECU update (the dealer will handle this one).

 

Oh, I see. Thanks for the explanation!

 

Given the A/F curves I've seen, the addition of larger injectors for a JCW (13.9% pulley?) should not bring you any more hp. It may provide some additional comfort on the longevity of the injectors as the duty cycles are increased by the smaller pulley. The 10hp (crank?) is probably all from the CAI which is at the high end of most dyno established results for aftermarket CAI's.

For those of us with 19% pulleys the injectors would be most welcome if they were price competitive. Does Mini sell them seperately and what is the price?

 

~14.8% for the JCW kit pulley - this from a very reliable source who has had one in his hand and measured.

 

No they don't, but what I would do if I was you is buy the whole upgrade kit for $525 and sell the airbox. MINIUSA is selling the airbox by itself for $450. I'm sure you could get at least half of that if you placed it for sale in the Marketplace. I was told the stock (non-JCW) pieces run about $90 per injector!

 

That looks like a pretty good deal especially in CA as I am sure that the Airbox is Fed friendly. But will they sell a JCW upgrade to a non-JCW car?

 

The mpg wouldn't skyrocket. It would probably stay the same yet you'd be getting less actual mpg. So while your mileage decreases with the larger injectors, the computer wouldn't compensate for it and it'll show the "old" mpg.

 

Actually someone replaced their stock injectors with the M7 400cc and their mpg according to the in-dash computer was like 40+mpg. The explanation was that the computer was using pulse widths and then using an algorithm to calculate the mpg. Since the larger injectors are pulsing less than the stock injectors it thinks less fuel is getting into the cylinders. The explanation makes sense. So does this make sense?

 

Yes it does make sense. I didn't think of that. Thanks for the explanation dgszweda!

 

It also becomes worthless when you change wheel size, tires (even on the OE rim) put snows on for winter, etc. Like any other closed system it is practically worthless by design.

 

I have the install PDF if anyone wants a copy simply email me, I have no where to post it so its an email if your interested.

 

You might want to foward it to GABE to post on Motoringfile in the How To Guides section.

 

on my vehicle corrected the cruise control to stay within 1 mph of set, vs the old 5 mph. It also has gotten rid of the "stumble" that I had experienced during upshifts and when getting back on the throttle after a decel.
My fuel mileage has changed from an average of 26.7 to 27.7. (indicated)
Overall I "feel" that this upgrade has increased the torque in the lower to mid range a whole bunch. It IS faster in every aspect of everyday and hard driving!

The peak hp gain everyone seems concerned with does not tell the whole story, the car is as different now as the change from standard "S" to JCW initial kit.

just my .02 cents worth

 

After 1 week driving my 04' Works MCS w/ the upgrade kit installed & reflashed I can attest to the notion that the gains are very nice indeed: I expected very little and got a nice surprise. In effect, the "whole is greater than the sum of it's parts": While the raw data/specs of the upgrade kit may seem paltry, the transformative effect on the way the car drives and feels is rather brilliant (might be the "Best bang for the bucks" mod for an 03-04 Works car);
-Improved low end torque
-Improved throttle response (better modulated, seamless and faster spool-up and rpm drop-offs, not unlike the effect of a light flywheel mod.)
-Upper RPM 5000+, very impressive power gains, pulls hard and redlines in a blink.
-Excellent intake sound above 4500 rpm. Not the subtle, puny aural feedback as I had expected.
-Wheel spin & DSC engagement: the added power means it's harder to keep the traction to the ground. I now wish I had a LSD more than ever.
-I can see a decrease in fuel economy when I drive hard: city & highway mileage is the same and I see no difference in the trip computer specs.
-Exhaust note has dropped an 1/2 octave: nice artifact of the mod.
FYI: Some strut tower braces may not fit over the JCW air box (BMP will not clear.) The Dinan unit is a perfect fit w/ 4mm clearance.
KUDOS to JCW on this one!

 

For a 19% pulley the JCW injectors still don't spit enough. I believe they're 282cc/min versus the stock 265cc/min. That's a whopping 6.4% increase!

I think the M7 400cc injectors are the hot ticket, and I know Eric @ Helix was working on finding higher flow injectors that would fit well. And FWIW my OBC's calculation of mpg = totally inaccurate, even with stock injectors. I didn't buy the car for its fuel economy anyhow...

As regards the 19% - I don't remember the specifics, but jlm reported that they went anemic at high rpm (5500 on up). I am patiently awaiting the day when you can get a 19% pulley "upgrade package" - like bigger injectors + better TMIC for under $1K.

Yet I digress...

M

 

I would also like to see a copy of the install instructions, but I agree, forwarding them to gabe he usually posts that stuff on motoringfile for everyone

 

I sent him a copy

 

I have been searching this site and MINI2 for about 2 hours, and I cant find how big the JCW injectors are. Does anyone know the CCs of the JCW injectors?