So I just recently purchased a 2009 R56 jcw
It had several mods already on the vehicle some I liked so I didn't like.
The ones I liked were the Alta cai, Alta silicon hosing (red)
H&R sport springs, and kazera 18" wrapped in khumo rubber, a little aggressive on the fit of the wheels because it rubs on the rear wheel well on every bumb

The two mods I don't like are the muffler single large oval tip drones like there is no tomorrow, and the engine vibration I get from the BSH engine mount, the energy transfer is good but there seems to be extra vibrations in the cabin because of the mount.

Back to the exhaust what a POS it bothered me soo much I switched it to a used magna flow my exhaust shop guy had and still drone everywhere
So I bit the bullet and purchased a full oem (stock) jcw exhaust from the dealer front resonator and rear muffler with a 50 mm clamp
God bless America drone gone and no power loss if you ask me, I think the power one gets from an after market exhaust system is a little overrated it's more an sound modification then a big HP gain.
And with the drone most of these exhaust give off it's a bad decision if you ask me, $800-900 I'd rather spend it on a tune where you gain more then 10 HP

Oh I almost forgot the little ALTA mod I did was a rear sway bar set in the middle or 2nd position the car prior to this sway bar felt as if the rear fishtailed and rolled, this was scary to me as this became apparent at higher speeds,turning etc.
Wow what a mod that sway bar cured the fishtail feel and the roll

In summary I highly suggestvto the noobs like myself stick with your stock exhaust unless you like drone, purchase a tune instead,
And secondly get yourself a sway bar it's a must
Sorry for the length of this thread I hope I can help a noob
Just like some have helped me on this great forum

 

Nice informative post.

If my car wasn't my DD (and a company car), I too would do the front and rear sway bars as they can help out a lot with handling. I'm just sticking with doing the DoS CAI ($300 for 5-10hp gain) and Alta AccessPORT ($900 - Stage 1 ECU reflash = 30-50hp gain) as that should be enough for my daily (and some weekend) driving.

FWIW on the exhaust, in my limited experience, some people do the exhaust upgrade for the sound, but most people who track their cars do the upgrade for the weight savings. A lot of the full titanium type exhaust setups can save 20-40 pounds of weight (plus maybe 5-10hp gain if you go with a cat-less setup) versus the normal stainless steel setups. At least that is the case with my other car.

 

Hey grimnebulin I will look into the front sway bar in the near future, but the
Alta tune will definitely be the next mod, I must say the stock exhaust was soo light, but I can see how the ti model would shave a pound or two.

 

Well my other car is a S2000 (AP2) that comes with dual rear piping and exhaust cans...so changing out from stock exhaust from header back saves a good deal of weight. Since I don't have my JCW yet, I'm not sure what the weight difference of the stock exhaust is...so not sure how much weight savings there would be.

Can't wait to try out the ALTA AccessPORT though.

 

In a lot of cases, other upgrades are needed to take advantage of a larger diameter and freer flowing exhaust system. Unless the exhaust is a really restrictive, replacing it probably won't do much good with a very mild state of tune. Sounds like that's what you discovered (noise issues notwithstanding).

 

I think the JCW exhaust is the best exhaust for the Mini.
It looks cool and sounds the best. Especially when it pops. Also not too loud.

 

I fully agree with you ej I had an audi A3 with after market
Cherokee srt8, and most recent 2008 M3 e90 with full catless system they all droned some more then others, mind you these were systems that went for close to $5k list price they were obviously only sold for sound and slight performance gains, I must say my M3 sounded amazing but in the end I had to get rid of her

The oem jcw is the best in my eyes IMO

 

I had a 2004 M3 with a Supersprint Race Muffler and it sounded amazing. I too had to get rid of her.
I must say that my 2010 JCW is more fun to drive, handles better and the Brembo Brakes are way better than my old E46. But my old M3 was faster.

 

JCW oem + Milltek DP = perfect sound
Just a tad louder than stock
A couple of short clips my friend took last summer (crappy quality)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uph_1CeBqAE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QD4VTOJEck&NR=1

 

de res'd invidia

http://vimeo.com/22124043

http://vimeo.com/22123103