I followed your build thread. I am glad to see you have put a bunch of miles on since you got it. How are you liking all your mods?

If you had to do it again would you do all of your mods up front?

I am happy with the way I modded my car... little by little. It also made it easier on the wallet.

 

Yes, I am really enjoying the car. No regrets on putting everything on so early. I guess the only negative (not in my mind) would be not having a base line for the stock car. I wanted something different right out of the gate and wanted it modded ASAP (obviously :-)...everything is paid for so it's all good. Now it have to plan for a few more goodies.

 

Erik, I have not tried that....thank you I will give it a go.
Thank you very much

 

Love my 2011 JCW. I've had an Alta FMIC and AccessPort tune since 8500 mi. Now at 14500 mi. it is really waking up and yet I'm still getting 27 mpg in city and 33 mpg on freeway. Not a single problem. Could do without the pop and burble. I'd buy a 2011 JCW again in a second. I would not buy a 2012 JCW unless I could order it without that Butt Ugly aerokit. What happened to make it your own?

 

I've had my 2009 JCW since Nov 2008. Several big problems...clutch & flywheel...turbo. But, I love it. I now autox regularly and do a few track days a year. OS Giken LSD, AST shocks, swift springs, lots of NM Engineering stuff. Will never sell it...it will be running for as long as I am.

 

I have owned mine for 3 months now (buying thread here).

Someone in that thread said "once you drive it you won't be able to wipe the smile off your face" and that's pretty much been the case.

I know you can buy an S and mod it to be better in every way for cheaper, but I'm not a mechanically-inclined person, and the only car work I've done is replace tires/battery/oil. With that in mind, the JCW was perfect for me, especially at the price I got. Stock it has more than enough fun in the package to keep me grinning!

Absolutely would buy again. In fact, I wish this had been the first Mini I bought instead of the Automatic S that ended up being a $4k mistake...

 

Answer: YES, a million times over!

 

 

Just wanted to report I sold my JCW. And no I wouldn't buy another one at least not until the car goes rear wheel or all wheel drive and they got rid of the hard plastic interior. Also, my car was full of crackle and pop (in a good way) until the first reprogram and after that it was never the same - yes the torque steer was mostly alleviated but with it went a lot of the fun. In case anyone is interested, it went for 23k with 15k miles and it was an 09 Jcw convertible.

 

I find the 2012 interior to be quite nice, but the 2010 and earlier to be a little fugly... and you definitely bought the wrong car if you want RWD. I don't see this happening with MINI.

Interesting that you lost the pop and burble. I have an Oct2011 flash more or less with the electronic anti-torque steer and lots of P&B. I am curious if it is possible for a dealership to flash the ECU with the wrong version...?

Anyways, what car did you get to replace the JCW?

 

I'll try to word this as non-douchey as I can, but...why on earth did you buy a Mini if you wanted RWD? The whole point of a Mini is their small size, hence the FWD.

 

I had liked front wheel drive or at least I thought I did when I owned my 84 jetta and my 85 Saab Turbo. But the torque steering was a little much for me in my MINI or should I say disconcerting to me or at least an annoyance. It was a little speed demon at first but then there was a recall of sorts and they reprogrammed it when I brought it in for an oil change and Torque Steer was mitigated but at cost of a little of the rawness that attracted me to the car. RWD or AWD are just my thinking of a way to alleviate the problem of Torque Steer while also not infringing on Performance Potential. My car was serviced at a corporately owned dealership so I don't think it was a mistake. I bought and am keeping my 135.

Listen, I don't want to sound like a complainer or rain on anyone's parade but I think it's helpful to have peoples opinions across the board. I also have to say that my mini was really cool and got lots of attention on the street. I drove it across the country several times and raced Porsches and Ferraris on desolate stretches of highway and its small size made for great maneuvering between semis and it also had world class get up and go as I found out on these trips. And, it was a fantastic city car bar none because of its small footprint which was easy to park in places no one else could. My JCW Mini Experience also led me to the 135 which is a great car and with out my experience with MINI I would have never found or been attracted to the 135. So please don't see me as raining on anyone's parade. I just wanted to give some feedback that pertained to this comment line.

The buyer of my mini was an independent used car dealer in a warm state and he was VERY VERY HAPPY with his purchase, and at the price point there was a lot of interest. The dealership where I purchased the car only offered me 20k as trade in value which was why I turned to ebay. I put zero down and after exactly two years I was able to walk away from it so I was very happy with that arrangement in a financial sense. All in all I don't regret my purchase, I just been there and done that and wouldn't do it again unless some of my issues were addressed like AWD and a more comfortable interior - and I'm not just talking making the plastic black instead of grey.

 

Well at least you are still in the "family" with the 135

135 is a great car. Fantastic inline 6 but I don't like the looks. I hope you continue to enjoy it.

 

The convertible 135 looks better than the hard top at least it does with the top down IMO, but I understand that it's not for everybody. I bought one with sports pkg so it has great brakes and big thick rims.
Trust me when I saw the buyer driving away in my mini with top down there was a little regret and jealousy. It was a really cool looking car IMO and I was proud to drive it around.

 

Well the 1 series is nice (even if it has the wrong kind of transmission ), I really like the convertible look. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

 

jeanrabelais
What year was your JCW? When was the reprogramming done? I have an 09 and after they reprogrammed mine the only difference was the fan comes on after you parked it, (to stop the intake scoup from melting). I don't have much trouble with torque steer probably because I drive like an old man most of the time and don't really jump on the throttle in low gears (in an attempt to save the clutch).

I would buy mine over again, although the price sure has gone up recently. Not sure if I could afford it any more.

 

First you said that the torque steer in the JCW was "disconcerting" but after the reprogramming you felt the car lost "a little of it's rawness". You can't have it both ways! Personnally I think the reprogramming made the car much more manageable as a dailiy commuter, and it's still a blast to drive ***** out.

 

I have a 2009 factory JCW and when I went in to have the recall done the dealer replaced all of my timing chain components as well as reprogram my computer to the latest program.

I don't know if it was the new program or the replacing of my timing gear components but my car is more responsive then when I drove it in.

I do notice that 90% of the torque steer is totally gone. It never really bothered me anyway. Just floored it and hung on before the update.

Like Teibito say's:

 

Having never had driven any Mini, yet have two co-workers who have owned them for years and have loads of info to share, theirs are S model hatches, so my motivation was Most importantly Fun factor, as I as have many-a-gear head spent oddles of cash on so many cars and trucks over recent years that it's about convenience + fuel economy, in not having to Fill up every 2 or 3 days with 14mpg trucks it gets old very quick no matter how good that truck looks, so the wife (Katie) tells me of a 09 JCW in Yellow w/ Nav/ cold/ premium and some other options is at a nearby dealer and we should at least test drive it,,,,Well, I say sure that will let me know if I would like it, now having owned Talon Tsi's in my past I like turbo cars, but Wow was that some kinda of fun, So after its all said and done I sell them my truck I just dumped about $5k into on extras in the previous 6 months and come out on top with much more than I owe and proceed to Drive that yellow short bus Home, as my wife teases,,,,,, now she wants her own!!!!! Oh Hell yes I love driving this little thing and it's very practical too boot!!!!

Going to look for her tomorrow!!!! She wants Nav and only the S model and also the heated seats is what she likes so far we shall see. My Goldwing has a bigger engine and they are both about the same on fuel, crazy!!!!!!

JCW mini life is just more Fun!!!!

She likes the All4 Countrymen but too new and not as peppy to buy one just yet...

Wish us luck!!!!

Larry & Katie