I always read about all the Cai's , but no one really talks much about the JCW one. Is it just as good , better , or worse than the others?

 

IMHO the JCW intake is really well designed, though it's not usually sought after as some aftermarket option. The other CAI's are mostly open-box and add some really nice Turbo sound.
They're all freer flowing, but between Alta, JCW, DDM, etc., whichever one is "the best" might be only like 1 or 2 hp difference better than something else, which is like the fudge factor on a dyno.
I had a DDM intake on my car and shortly thereafter I swapped it out for the JCW one.
It won't add nearly as much sound as the others, but they all add more air flow.

my .02 !

 

Thanks. Does the JCW sound better than the stock one?

 

I have the JCW CAI and am happy with the sound,no its not as loud as one could be,but for me its adequate.There is a bumper sticker for people like me which reads,"if its to loud ,you are to old".Q

 

Where did you guys pick up your JCW CAI?

 

1fastmini

 

Got the whole JCW tuning, so it came home in my trunk because of the DDM being on there, and I put it on later..

 

Is this the one?
http://www.1FastMINI.com/product_p/r...r%20intake.htm

Since this is a OEM product, I'm guessing I can get this installed at the dealership?

 

That's it. It's probably simple to install, but I would think they would do it.

 

they wouldn't do it for free of course 0
It's really simple, you can do it on your own and not have any finger-pointing problems. .. Taking it home in my trunk and having them install the rest of the kit saved me almost 100.00 off the JCW tuning

 

What i'm curious about is if I could get the JCW intake, and the JCW ECU upgrade but use my Invidia exhaust? I'm looking at the M7 AGS-R and DDM Works Intakes but they are a crapload of money and at least with the JCW stuff on the intake side and the JCW chip i won't have to even remotely worry about dealer issues...

 

Been down this entire road forever and amen, here.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=147312
Even got to hear from JCW division in Germany.
You could do that of course, but you will be forced to get the exhaust, of course you can try to sell that off to someone.

I had a DDM Works Intake on when I got the JCW tuning, and I just took the JCW intake home in a box in my trunk! But, then later I put it on anyway

 

Well my dealer can order the JCW exhaust seperate...so I was gonna see if they could get the ECU upgrade and intake seperate as well...Is that all that is in the kit except for the exhaust?

EDIT: Scratch that...reading through that thread you linked now lol

 

again... .... again.... all talked about in that thread.

My dealer could order it separately too, I went through the exact same hoops.
I told them to go ahead.
and they DID,
get a single JCW exhaust by itself. Then I started asking about the JCW ecu tuning, and at first they were like, sure we'll just upload the flash from our progman interface. Easy enough ?
Not.
The mini ecu has to have that darn vin# specific code that jcw assigns, in order for the higher performance tuning to make the car 'think' differently. It has to It has to It has to. My dealer was on my side, and they didn't even think so, so eventually they were in communication with the JCW branch of MINI, and even found out that ** JCW will NOT WARRANTY an individual part, such as my/your single JCW exhaust** IT has to part of the kit, so we found out, for them to be choosey enough with their warranty to 'ok' it. However, because my dealership found this out too late, they were going to be nice and warranty the exhaust anyway.
But.
When we found out the ONLY way to get the ecu tuning is when a KIT order registers with JCW they'll release it, then... I just had them roll the single exhaust that they had ordered and received into an entire kit. So they then "ordered the whole kit" and rolled that exhaust into it, got the ECU tuning, and complete warranty.
hope that helps!!

 

Lol, yeah sorry, I edited my post but I think it was after you responded again...I went to the link and was thinking "oops...this answers everything"
lol thanks for all the info...If I had the money i'd order the whole kit and sell off the exhaust...but maybe i'll just wait until the harness and chips from unichip have been perfected.

 

Hm. Well happy motoring whichever way you go!
Here's an angle you could try.
Because I just took the JCW intake home in my trunk, I did not pay for labor.
Because you already have the exhaust, you can take the jcw home with you in the backseat, and the jcw intake too because it's a snap to install anyway.

That'll save you drastically on labor, and you can finagle the dealership down to near 1650 to 1680 for the kit, or just get it from morristownmini for 1680.
It seems expensive at first and that's how a lot of people reacted to it,
but it's not too bad of a price, especially because it's all precisely manufactured to work perfectly, regardless of how good and how accurate aftermarket options can be.
The jcw ECU tuning I have to say, is really nice. That thread can tell you all about it of course, but I've really appreciated it and it definitely transforms the car I say this coming from going crazy aftermarket with my last mini and voiding everything I could get my hands on, to exploring the JCW routes with this one.

 

Just purchased the CAI for my JCW and all the tubes....good for about 10WHP and you get the bov sound.