Price does not appear to be out of line. Just remember that you can buy a 12 year old MINI JCW or "S" for allot less, do some simple mods and have a car that will outperform the GP.

 

....but it won't be a GP. Keep in mind, you can do a few simple mods to a GP and really have something!

 

Mine has 85,000 miles. I’m not watching the miles Just having fun with it!

I wanted a supercharger car and looked at the Cooper “S’s”, but just had to have a GP.

They are a little more money and I had to drive 2000 miles to get it, but it sure was fun driving coast to coast!

Mine is probably a strong 7 on a scale of 1-10 after some TLC.

 

To further answer your question, if you're living in the "snow or rust belt", no I wouldn't daily drive it but, if you properly maintain and not abuse it, it will be a great daily driver that you'll wake up every morning with enthusiasm about driving to work and look forward to the drive home. As for maintenance, it's as easy as any R53 MCS...it just has some really trick aero pieces, no back seat and more power.

 

 

trailing arm bushings and engine mount bushings are the typical wear items, other than that just drive it

I would NOT mod a gp, but that's me, I dont mod my JCW either aside from some camber plates, I kept the stock ones so I can revert back.

 

 

If you go with a sc pulley make sure you use the correct puller for the smaller JCW pulley so you don’t end up mangling the pulley and having to cut it off. Another option is to replace the crank pulley with an ATI 2% pulley to get some extra boost and take care of the problematic stock pulley at the same time.

 

very hard to revert back to the 11.5 % gp pulley, you have to disassemble the supercharger and press them on it's impossible for most, and most bend those stock pulleys getting them off so you would have to find one, I think way had some takeoffs.

the stock rear section of the exhaust is very good, but a header & high flow cat will open it up quite a bit, going back and forth on my r53 stock vs 4:1 the stock feels choked up and unwilling to rev at the top it's noticable

the gp intake is also one of the best there is, factory cold air cone filter I would not touch it, beyond removing the silencer BS that is on the tube that goes from the grill to the airbox, and mod the flap so it's always open in the back

 

GP prices have been all over the place. I have both a GP2 and 2 GP 1s right now. One I'm going to sell so it really comes down to what it's worth to the customer.

I can tell you the GP1 is the best R53 they made in my opinion and a few add on mods can really make it even better without taking it too far. But I also have a local customer that we have gone all out on and his car still surprises everyone with how fast it is.

I've kept my GP1 fairly stock, but better wheels and tires, ATI damper, tune, suspension. But drive it first and decide what you want it to do better.

 

Here is my take on the 06 GP1, if I can find one I can afford, it will be mine. I have seen several at Mini Mania events the last couple of years. They are just so cool and serious looking go carts for the road. I think I would keep it forever!
Just hope I get lucky one day! There are not a bunch out there, so you are going to have to pay up, if you want one. The only one I want is an 06!

 

 

Very good cars, just budget for rod bearings and subframe reinforcement and avoid smg they suck and fail, vanos bolts should be good by now

 

Cheapest i have seen has been around 11K, and that was high mileage and mis-priced at a carfax in LA, Cali. Most are around 15-17K and up.

Finding them stock and with the original floormats is hard.

Good luck on the search.

 

I have experience with both. Truly "apples & oranges". FWD vs. RWD. BMW stands for "Bring money with you!". Great cars, though, but as stated above, they have their problems. The late '01 and '02 M3 had connecting rod bearing recalls and coil pack problems. Yes, avoid SMG. If you're comparing the price of an '06 GP1 to a comparable mileage '06 M3, the M3 will cost you much more during ownership.

 

Didn't the E46 have the issues with the rear end coming apart/breaking? And on M3's, normally as with most other special factory enhanced models, the upkeep is much more involved and expensive.

 

 

E46 do suffer from rear subframe issues, but they're minor compared to what happens on with the E36.

An E46 with the S54 motor will require a bit more TLC and cost a bit more to maintain long term (previously mentioned rod bearings, vanos). Budget $5-10k to get the motor work done at 60k miles. The S54 is such a glorious motor however!

I have an E36/8 M Coupe with the S52 motor and maintenance is no more than my MINI, probably cheaper. A few common things that need addressing, but nothing out of the ordinary.

 

All the talk on the M3s just makes me mad with BMW as whereas the M3 engine output increased significantly over the years the JCW has not.

Last year of the S52, that is close to the release of the MINI over the pond, was around 240, and today its over 425. There is no reason why a Gen3 JCW owner should have to put on aftermarket gizmos to get 300.

 

And back on topic, I don't need to have JCW in my VIN to know my car is tweaked to be every bit of a GP and more . . . . .

 

I have to sell my 2006 Mini GP #1387, all stock, in Palm Beach Florida area. it has about 42,000 miles on it. not sure what I should ask for it?
Thanks
H

 

Last week, one on Bring-a-Trailer went for something like $17,500 and had about 10k more miles. Frankly, that seemed low to me but what do I know.