+1 Winner!

 

I would sum it up like this, you either have the money to buy the crown jewel Mini (JCW) or you don't. If you don't have the financials for the prestige of owning Mr John Coopers' gem than you buy the S and your modding to get to the JCW specs (and above) and you get to make it your personalized modded Mini S.

Personally,I own an 04 MCS JCW and love the build, badging, personal serial # (dealer kit) and all that goes into owning the crown jewel Mini. My gf owns an 06 JCW built at the factory and it's even faster than mine. We love our JCWs and will spend again for the pride and prestige of owning a JCW. Now it won't be an R53, but no other Mini after 07 will be.

Did you even consider the Big Brakes...? Those aren't cheap and the style of the JCW BBs look killer on a nice set of aftermarket 18" wheels 😜

 

Dd.

Want vs need.

I need to ask do your track your car? Do you Autocross? Do you have a frown on your face when you are carving twisties because your mini is not keeping up with YOU?

How you spend your money is your call but I would not get a JCW for me because I use the mini as a DD and do not track it. Our R52 is plenty awesome for driving about. That being said I have another car for more sportsman-like driving.

If you are not motor sporting JCW is just bling bling. Using the benefits on a public road will just get you tickets or worse.

 

I think the odds of him answering you are about the same of you and I winning the lottery on the same day.

Given his post is 10 years old and he had a whopping 36 posts...........

 

Zombie threads are always fun. It's kinda like traveling to the future without having to get out of your seat.

 

Just got my car 3 days ago, subscribed today, and today I also realized I have a, previous owner installed, LSD, it makes it an incredible car to drive, it is S/C so I didn't expect much torque steer but with LSD I can power out of turns WOT and be perfectly stable and straight, it also help for gnarly 60ft+ burnouts lol

 

edit

 

This thread is about the first gen JCW.

I do agree with your reasoning. Nice beefed up internals in that French engine. There is a reason the factory beefed up the engine & drive-train.

 

What beefed up internals? Mild partial polish on the valves, slightly bigger injectors, pfft.

 

 

My reply was to Z06 who was referring to the Prince engine, not the one in our beloved R53. Hope that clears this up for you. It is confusing because he edited his post to say nothing....

 

actually, i was trying to be less confusing by removing my statement when you mentioned this was a first gen thread. i completely screwed up and didn't see that. I hate sticking my nose in where it doesn't belong, so I was trying to just get out of the way.....but maybe that made it worse.

My statement regarded our decision to go with a JCW was primarily the beefier engine and clutch, but of course, that's an N18 in a CM...

 

Maybe this will help since it is related to the R50/53

Internal differences Here are some comparisons between the MC and MCS engine itself, quoted from BMW'S internal training manual, "Introduction to the MINI":

R50 MINI COOPER Engine Number W10B16 Weight 129.22kg (referred to as the W10 engine)
R53 MINI COOPER S Engine Number W11B16 Weight 138.05kg (referred to the W11 engine hereafter)

Engine Construction
The engine block and bearing ladder are constructed from cast iron with an aluminum alloy cylinder head. The oil pan is manufactured from aluminum alloy to reduce weight. Despite the iron block and ladder bearing, the engine is very light (129.22kg). Main features of the engine include:
16 valves, single overhead chain driven camshaft
Hydraulic lifters
Automatic adjusting accessory drive belt
Supercharger on MINI COOPER S

Engine Block
The engine block is manufactured in two halves from sand cast nodular iron. The top portion (main cylinder block) includes the cylinder bores and has provisions for five main bearing top shells. The lower portion (support ladder) incorporates the lower main bearing shells and support for the rear main oil seal. The engine block and ladder are machined as a matched pair and are not serviced as individual components. Three locating dowels are used to ensure perfect alignment between the support ladder and the engine block.

A number is stamped on the engine block and the same number is stamped on the bearing ladder. This ensures that the matched pair of components remain together during engine assembly. The other number stamped on the block is the engine plant serial number.

Crankshaft Assembly
The MINI COOPER crankshaft is machined from nodular cast iron. The MINI COOPER S crankshaft is machined from forged steel. Both crankshafts provide a mounting point for the crankshaft sensor reluctor ring that is retained by three bolts. The drive for the oil pump is provided by machined flats towards the front of the crankshaft. The auxiliary drive belt pulley is a press fit on the crankshaft and retained by a bolt.

Crankshaft Bearings
All MINI COOPER engines use five main bearings. Lubrication is supplied through holes in the upper shell directly from the main oil gallery. The upper shell is grooved to transport oil to the lower plain shells located in the bearing ladder.
A thrust washer built into the center upper main bearing shell controls crankshaft end float. The connecting rod and main bearing shells are made of an aluminum base that is rolled onto a carbon steel backing.

Connecting Rods
MINI COOPER connecting rods are manufactured from 'non-coplanar' powder metal. They are manufactured in one piece and then fractured across the big end journal. The MINI COOPER S connecting Rods are manufactured from forged steel to provide additional strength and are fractured. The big end bearings are of a conventional plain shell design with oil supplied from a hole in the crankshaft.

Pistons
The pistons are aluminum construction with a grafal coating applied to the skirt to reduce noise, friction, and scuffing. The MINI COOPER pistons have flat tops. The MINI COOPER S has a concave piston top with a volume of 1.66cc to reduce the compression ratio.
Grafal coating consists of a fine colloidal graphite which is bonded with resin. It is between 10 and 20 micrometers thick and is applied by means of a printing process, followed by curing. Improved adhesion properties are achieved by a thin metallic phosphate layer or other proven methods which are applied prior to coating.

Oil Pan
The oil pan is constructed of die cast aluminum. It is secured to the support ladder by 13 bolts. The oil pan provides a mounting position for the air conditioning compressor on the right side of the engine (viewed from the crankshaft pulley) and for the engine tie rod bracket on the left side of the engine.
The seal between the oil pan and the bearing ladder has a washer fitted to each bolt location to prevent over tightening and distortion of the seal. A lip on the oil pan seal ensures correct location to the bearing ladder.

Cylinder Head
Introduction
The cross flow design cylinder head includes a single overhead camshaft, two rocker shafts, and four valves per cylinder. The valves are arranged in two inline banks, the intake side facing towards the radiator, the exhaust facing towards the firewall.

Cylinder Head Gasket
The head gasket is constructed from three layers of sheet metal and is termed as a "multi-layered steel gasket". Four small rivits on the outer edge of the gasket hold the three layers together. The head gasket contains an oil restrictor that controls the oil flow to the cylinder head. The standard thickness of the gasket is .065mm with a thicker (.095mm) available.

Valve Train
Camshaft
The camshaft is machined from nodular iron. Nodular iron combines many advantages including good castability, excellent machinability, wear resistance, and weight savings.
The camshaft consists of 5 bearing journals and three valve lift lobes per cylinder. The camshafts are identical for both derivatives. The intake side uses one rocker per valve, while on the exhaust side a single rocker operates both valves.
A machined recess in the cylinder head next to the Number 5 camshaft journal controls the camshaft end float. The camshaft retaining pedestals support both rocker shafts.

Rocker Arms and Rocker Shafts
The rocker shafts are hollow to allow an oil supply to the hydraulic lifters that are retained in the end of the rocker arm. The valves are opened by roller rocker/hydraulic lifter assemblies, which pivot on the rocker arm shafts.

Valves
Powder metal valve guides and seats are installed on both engine derivatives, the valves, springs, and retainers are of conventional design.

Intake Valves
The intake valves are made from carbon steel. The carbon content allows the valve to be hardened and tempered to increase strength and also to be locally hardened to improve wear resistance. The MINI COOPER S uses an upgraded material.

Intake Valve Seat Inserts
Powder metal technology is used for valve seat inserts as the sintered part requires little or no machining and any number of material compositions can be developed to satisfy particular engine demands.

Exhaust Valves
The exhaust valve specification is an austenitic steel, a particular type of steel with characteristics that are ideal for exhaust valve manufacture. The MINI COOPER S has upgraded exhaust valves.

Exhaust Valve Seat Inserts
Many characteristics for the intake valve seat inserts carry over to the exhaust valve seat inserts. In addition, the exhaust valve seat uses what is known as "Grade J" steel, this contains molybendum and tungsten. This provides high heat hardness giving increased resistance to indentation and wear. [ask if you would like me to provide an explanation of Powder Technology].

Timing Chain
There is a fixed chain guide on the intake side of the engine. The exhaust side has a semi-floating guide that is spring-loaded and contains a self-ratcheting tensioner to retain the adjusted position. Engine oil pressure fine-tunes the free play using a hydraulic tensioner.
The timing chain incorporates three copper color links that are used to assist timing chain installation. Both the crankshaft and camshaft gears incorporate timing marks, which are used in conjunction with the copper coated chain links.

Timing Chain Tensioner and Drive Gears
A key way locates the crankshaft gear (23 teeth). The camshaft timing gear (46 teeth) is located by a key way and is retained by a central bolt. The camshaft gear is driven by a roller timing chain.

Lubrication System
The lubrication system is the full flow filtration pressure feed type. The oil fill process at the factory allows for a tolerance of 4mm above and 4mm below the maximum mark on the oil level dipstick. The oil level will depend on the oil temperature and length of time from the last engine switch off.

Oil Circuit
Oil is drawn up through the oil strainer to the oil pump, which is located at the front of the engine: the oil pump delivers oil under pressure throught the full flow oil filter to the main oil gallery.
The main oil gallery runs the full length of the engine block and delivers oil to the main bearings. Diagonal drillings in the crankshaft webs deliver oil to the connecting rod bearings. The cylinder bores and connecting rod small end are spash lubricated from directed slots in the connecting rod thrust collar.
The main oil gallery also supplies oil to the cylinder head assembly via a vertical hole on the exhaust side of the cylinder block between bores two and three. The cylinder head gasket incorporates an oil restrictor to ensure that oil volume to the crankshaft is maintained and oil volume to the cylinder head is reduced.
Upper engine lubrication is provided by one main feed to the number three camshaft bearing cap. Oil is then routed through the rocker shafts to the remaining camshaft bearing caps and rocker arms/hydraulic lifters. Oil returning to the sump pan from the pressurized components supplies lubrication to the valve stems.

Piston Cooling - MINI COOPER S Only
The MINI COOPER S incorporates oil "squirt" jets to assist in the cooling of the piston crown. The four jets are located in the cylinder block next to the main oil gallery. Oil spray is controlled by a ball and spring. These allow oil flow only when the oil pressure exeeds 2 bar. The position of each jet is critical to the effectiveness of the cooling.

Oil Pump
The oil pump and pressure relief valve are located on the front cover (internally) and are secured by 10 bolts. They are both manufactured from aluminum. The oil pump consists of two gears. The internal gear is driven directly from two flats on the crankshaft nose and is in permanent mesh with the outer gear.
The eccentric rotation of the gears creates a low pressure at the inlet suction crescent end of the pump and draws in oil. As the gearwheel rotates, oil will be compressed between the gears and discharged at the outlet port end of the crescent at a high pressure.

Oil Pressure Regulator
The oil pressure relief valve is installed in the oil pump housing. The valve consists of a spring, retaining cap, circlip, and hollow plunger with radial holes.
If a blockage or restriction occurs and the oil pressure is sufficient to overcome the spring tension, the plunger will be forced back, exposing the radial holes, and the oil will return to the low pressure side of the pump.

Flywheel
The MINI COOPER flywheel is constructed from steel and is retained on the crankshaft by eight flanged head bolts. Two dots are used for correct alignment, one on the crankshaft and the other on the flywheel.
On MINI COOPER S a dual mass flywheel is used to insulate the gearbox from torsional and transient vibrations produced by the engine or drive line. The flywheel consists of a primary and a secondary wheel. The drive between the two is transferred by a torsional damper made up of four coil springs located in the inside diameter of the primary flywheel. Under high torque loading conditions the secondary flywheel can rotate in either direction up to 70 degrees in relation to the primary flywheel.

Cooling System
Engine cooling on the MINI comes in two forms, although the basic layout remains the same. Both systems use a 50/50 coolant solution with standard kevlar reinforced EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) cooling hoses.

Cooling System Operation
When the engine is cold the thermostat is closed, preventing coolant from circulating through the radiator. Coolant is able to circulate through the heater core, expansion tank, and on the MINI COOPER S, the oil cooler. The MINI COOPER S has a pressurized expansion tank, and allows coolant to enter the top via the heater core pipe, and exit the bottom of the tank to join the heater core return pipe. As the coolant temparature increases the thermostat gradually opens. This allows a bleed of coolant from the bottom hose into the cylinder block via the coolant pump, and allos hot coolant to flow to the radiator via the top hose. The flow of hot and cold coolant is balanced to maintain the optimum engine temperature. When the thermostat opens fully, the full flow of coolant passes through the radiator.

Coolant Pump
The coolant pump is manufactured from die cast aluminum and is driven by the auxiliary belt on the MINI COOPER. It is installed on the intake side of the engine block (towards the front of the car).
The MINI COOPER S coolant pump is driven by the supercharger via a reduction gearbox. The coolant pump is fitted directly onto the supercharger housing and is connected by a two legged dog drive.

Thermostat
The thermostat is located in the cylinder head and is retained by a plastic housing (aluminum on COOPER S). The thermostat begins to open at 89-92'C and is fully open at 103'C The MINI COOPER thermostat housing also includes the cooling system pressure cap (MINI COOPER S system pressure cap is installed on the expansion tank).

Expansion Tank
The plastic expansion tank for both models is located between the primary and secondary bulkheads. The MINI COOPER expansion tank is a non-pressurized type, it is only used to collect excess coolant due to heat expansion, and this coolant will be drawn back into the system as the coolant cools.
Both models use a pressure cap to pressurize the cooling system to 1.1bar at which point the cap vent will lift to relieve pressure. The MINI COOPER S is fitted with a conventional pressure cap on the expansion tank.

Radiator
The radiator installed in the MINI COOPER (COOPER S) is a conventional cross flow type. It is constructed from aluminum tubes, wavy corrugated strips, and plastic end caps. Coolant flows from the top left to the bottom right (viewed from the front of the car).
There are two radiator arrangements for the MINI COOPER (manual or automatic) and only one for the COOPER S.

Oil Cooler (MINI COOPER S)
The MINI COOPER S is fitted with a plate type oil cooler mounted directly onto the oil filter housing. Engine oil from the filter housing and coolant from the hoses flows through the cooler tubes adjacent to each other. This process takes place continuously: there is no thermostat control. The inlet and outlet pipes are connected in parallel with the heater core pipes.

Auxiliary Drive Belt Tensioner
The MINI COOPER uses a torsional spring to apply load to the belt and a friction damper to reduce the pulsating vibrations from the engine.
The MINI COOPER S spring travel stop uses a compression spring to apply load to the belt and a hydraulic damper to control the engine pulsation. The auxiliary belt should be repaced at 100,000 miles on MINI COOPER and 60,000 miles on Cooper S.


Supercharger (MINI COOPER S only)
The MINI COOPER S is fitted with a "state of the art" supercharger that has been specifically engineered for small engines. It was designed as a compact unit with the ability to provide performance that is synonymous with the COOPER S name...


Intercooler (MINI COOPER S only)
MINI COOPER S uses an air to air intercooler. The major advantage of the air to air intercooler over the air to liquid intercooler is its capacity to reduce the temperature of the compressed air charge to around 40-50'C


EXHAUST SYSTEM (MINI COOPER S)
The MINI COOPER S has a center silencer but its size has been increased to 3 liters. The rear section of the exhaust consists of two silencers, one mounted on each side of the vehicle. The rear silencers are mounted by two sets of silicone based hangers. Two pipes leave the left hand silencer and exit the body in the center of the vehicle. The tail pipes are finished with polished stainless steel trim.

 

Nice. Thanks! Is there any infor like that for the differences between the S and the JCW?

 

The internals on the R53 and the JCW were the same. But here is a list of things done to make more HP from the JCW.

2003-2005 JCW Kit - 200HP

- Uprated cylinder head, gas-flowed and ported
- Uprated supercharger, faster-spinning
- Uprated spark plugs
- Uprated exhaust system
- Remapped ECU

2005-2006 Factory JCW - 210HP

- All of the above from the 2003-2005 JCW kit
- Uprated air intake system and air filter
- Uprated 380 CC Injectors

 

I believe the 05-06 also featured Big Brakes in the package,yes?

 

They were ala carte options. Just like the suspension and aero package.

 

And I belive the exhaust system was ala-cart as well?

 

Nice thing most don't know is the R56 is basically a Big Brake upgrade on all the prior models, just need to get the 56 caliper clips and they'll bolt onto the exiting wheel assembly. Fresh coats of paint and they're custom big brakes for a fraction of the price.

 

No, that was standard.

 

if I may add to this lovely post I was enjoying with Braminator

so I was wondering with the hp increases what does that do with everyone's gas mileage? I would love to increase my hp, I had a Rav4 269 hp 4x4 that everyone thought I was crazy to get rid of for a MINI. Hp was a main issue when I bought her. But with the MINI I did not even ask....all I saw was a RED CONVERTIBLE! so now that I know it has 85 shetland ponnies I have been searching the threads. Oh and I am broke so adding a JCW kit is not gonna happen if its even possible.

 

I drive "normally", no autocross, etc., so the "S" version of the Roadster works perfectly fine for me. However, the JCW exterior was a 100% must-have for my Roadster. The looks are superb, outstanding, brilliant, awe-inspiring - you get the picture. I added chrome driving lamps for just a little flair.

 

Where did you get your chrome headlight covers? How much were they?
Thanks,
Gary

 

Check the post - I ordered "chrome driving lamps", not chrome headlight covers. Chrome driving lamps come with white vinyl covers and the black-trimmed driving lamps come with black vinyl covers. Factory-installed chrome driving lamps sell for $664 and the driving lamp switch is $202, although I think they're actually installed at the VDC.

 

Didn't see this answered yet. 1600 miles into ownership, my JCW Hardtop is averaging 33.8 mpg. I find that to be pretty amazing given the power this little machine has.