hi all...not sure if this is the right place to post but fig u would know where damage can be done if a mcs with engine upgrades was thrashed on its way to 15k miles ..thining of buying an o4 with jcw but i have zero idea where to check for problems or wud a ppi from a dealer find all/any issues re engine damage etc??

thks in advance

 

15k is pretty low mileage. The JCW kit shouldn't be considered aftermarket. It was installed by a dealership and carries a full warranty. Most aftermarket mods you need to be careful, because 1)they don't carry a warranty and 2) they could actually negate a warranty (not that they inherently do, but that they could). Neither of these is true for the JCW. Also, with aftermarket mods you need to be careful because 1)you don't know how they were installed 2)You may not always know the impact they have to the car (i.e. something could have been bought off of ebay and was defectvie) 3) you don't know how all the different mods impact the vehicle in conjunction with each other. Again, none of these hold true for the JCW. The JCW is designed to work together, fully quality tested, and has a warranty. A JCW (according to both JCW and BMW/MINI) will hold up just as long as a stock MCS. That is how the system was designed. You still have a lot of warranty left on the car, which should flush out any minor bugs that may creep up. JCW has sold 7500 kits with none returned, so it is a pretty good track record. Also, to be on the safe side you should make sure the JCW kit was installed by a dealership. This should always be the case, but it seems like a tiny handful were purchased somehow by people and then installed in their garage. In my opinion, and I own a JCW, I think you should be safe. The MCS is a very strong car capable of taking a tremendous amount of abuse.

This is not a rip on aftermarket parts, there are a lot of good parts out there with good installers. You just have to be really careful. Does the car have any other aftermarket parts besides the JCW? If so, can you list them. We might be able to provide you a little more advice.

 

If the car has no dink should be good to go!...JK

I think most of the MINI Drivers take a really good care of their cars and yet drive the car like it was ment to be driven. I would look at his everyday tires and see how bad or how good they are. You may get some idea of how he using the car.

 

First, try a spell checker. Or is this internet ebonics?
(was that my outside curmudgeon voice? )
Second, have a competent mechanic do a compression check and leakdown test, as well as giving the car a 'once-over'. Well worth the $100 investment on what should be a mid $20K car.

 

thanks people's!!!...i just wasn't too sure how much hard driving an engine of this size could take ....leaks down test sounds like it would at that little bit of comfort-factor.


The leakdown should be done at a different dealer from where it was normally serviced correct?
Also do you think a fully loaded 04 with older jcw (ie not the new 05 pckge...and no nav) with 15k miles for $24k is fair value?

thks again

 

hehehe..missed using the spell checker again!!! oops

 

I would say that's pretty fair value you're paying...


Good choice!