I've had an R56 for about 2 years now, but every time I hear a R53 whizz buy on the road, that supercharger whine makes me so jealous. I found a 2005 MCS (that I'm REALLY interested in) online today at a local dealership, and the ad says it's a got the JCW kit. The only problem is that it doesn't have any of the JCW badges on the car, and there aren't any pictures of the engine bay on the website. The only thing there is JCW wise is a sticker that says "Attention: JCW sports suspension installed."

I'm going to check out the car on Monday, how can I make sure the thing actually has the kit? Just buy the badges on the intake, exhaust, and intercooler? I've been Google-ing it all day but can't seem to come up with much. Does it really have over 200 hp with the kit installed?

Also, it's $17000 for a fully loaded '05 with 60,000 miles. It's got NAV, sunroof, xenon; almost everything except the aero kit. Does that sound like a good price/good buy? And would you guys trade a 2008 MC with 22k on it for it?

If all goes well and it really is what the ad says it is, I might be a member of the R53 family very soon.

If there's already a thread about this, you can just give me a link.

Thanks guys! Please pardon any of my R53 noobness.

 

Got my 05 R53 with 26k for $15.2k almost a year ago. Paying 2k more for more than double the mileage and the JCW stuff sounds like a bad deal IMO.

I'd take the saved cash and get a lower mileage regular MCS than get some light mods to make it your own JCW.

- Andrew

 

If it is a "full JCW" should have over-sized brakes for a r53...the same as the r56.....painted RED....that is one of the several kit parts that all together make it a Full JCW....many cars were sold with one or more JCW options.....
The 05' should be the JCW 210...so it should have the JCW CAI, and the 380' injectors too....and updated software...a different SC pulley (about 11% reduction from the S)(all 2005+ S's had the black SC coating), JCW exhaust, JCW suspension.....
It sounds like the car you found may have one or more components...call MINI....if it is a true JCW, it was a dealer installed option...it is recored I think....A VIN# get you all you need to know....
The head was also VERY mildly ported too....

 

R53 factory JCW's didn't become available until 2006. A 2005 JCW would have a dealer installed kit with all the same drivetrain modifications. The installation should be listed in the service record if you ask a dealer to pull it up (based on VIN). Visually some things to look for are badges on the intercooler, intake and exhaust. The dealer kit does not include the red JCW brakes (but could be added separately).

 

I have to agree the mileage is a bit high but...

If I remember correctly a dealer installed JCW Kit, same as the factory including brakes, was 6300 dollars.
The JCW suspension, dealer or POE install, was 1500 and the factory Nav was 1700.
So if you add that on to the total cost of a regular MCS then that price doesn't look so bad after all.

You can get a lot of performance for less money with aftermarket if you want.
My opinion is if you prefer factory over aftermarket go for it!

Hope this helps...

 

There were three separate JCW option packages; engine, suspension, and brakes. This car could just have the JCW suspension option added and not the other two JCW options.

The suspension option added shorter/stiffer springs and matched shocks. The JCW springs are red.

The brake option added larger front calipers and rotors. The calipers are red and have a JCW decal on the caliper.

The engine option added a modified supercharger with a 12% smaller pulley, ported cylinder head, spark plugs, fuel injectors, air intake, cat-back exhaust, and JCW labels. The fuel injector tops are blue instead of white. The exhaust tips are stamped with JCW. There should be a JCW label in the engine compartment.

 

Thanks guys. I actually looked at 2 r53s today. The first one was an '04 with 0 options for $17k and 20000 miles. It handled so much better than the r56 I couldn't believe it. The dealer wouldn't even budge on the price and it was by no means excellent condition. The second one I looked at, which was supposedly the jcw, wasn't actually a jcw. It has the jcw exhaust and suspension, with an Alta intercooler and intake, and it has almost every other option besides the actual jcw package. That one was an 05 with 60000 miles for $17k. The hood didn't exactly close all the way, and it looked like it was beat on quite a bit, so I'm pretty skeptical about it. I'm going to keep my eye out for some more but they're hard to come buy around here.

 

If the 05 car has a upper front strut brace (between the two strut towers) it could be that the hood not closing properly is as simple as the brace hitting the hood insulation which can be easily resolved.

 

I just had to add my 2 cents... Are you nuts?

Years back I used to build race engines and I would never buy a used supercharged engine with 60,000 miles on it, never, never, never ever!!!!!

If I were you I would spend a few dollars on the car you've got. You can start with a couple of suspension upgrades then CA Intake, cat back exhaust and maybe a Forge or Helix intercooler, get rid of the hot side muffler and you will be styling with about 200+hp for under $3,000 on your much newer car. Nice thing here is you can do this bit by bit over time.

Or just go and get the JCW Tune kit for you R56, that will get you to about 190hp for less than $2,000.

BTW, a CAI will open up the voice of your Turbo nicely, You'll love it!

Cheers

 

If i read correctly, he has the non-turbo "MC".

 

All the JCW parts are availble from your dealer separately or other places pre-owned.

When you look under the bonnet, to the left of the oil filler cap, check for this plaque.



If you see this, the MINI is equipped with the JCW Tuning Kit, which includes the JCW Head.

 

He has a non-turbo R56???? Why??? I'm sorry I keep forgetting they make those.

So, if that's true, then forget what I said about doing anything to his car because he needs a new car. I still wouldn't buy the 60K mile JCW? car!

My bad

 

Dude, come on..

I love my car, and trust me, if my broke college student self had any more money, I would have bought an S without question. Actually, if I was smart and did my research before buying a MINI, I would have just bought an R53 in the first place. So give me a break!

 

It didn't have a strut brace. The hood almost looked like the front of the car hit something. And the dealer told me it had the full JCW package, which it obviously didn't. No badge in the engine, on the boot, or on the front bumper. It had a sweet interior with NAV, but the battery was dead so nothing would turn on. So all that right there is a huge turn off for me buying a car.

 

The r53 is certainly a fun car, and combines so many elements that are dumbed down in newer cars to make them more appealing to the masses...the fact the r53 has just a bit of rawness to it, it is an awesome drivers car IMO....and a Visceral experience every time you drive it.....in a word, it has what is lacking in so many other cookie cutter cars.. and it is so infinitely moddable....this is the time to find a lightly used r53 if you want one...they are going fast!!

But back to the OP....
If you want the JCW for it's collectiblility, get one, but if you want it for the performance, save your money, and get a lightly used, unmodded, low mile r53, and take the money you saved, and modify it...it will be faster, and for less money. Unlike the r56's, the r53's in JCW and non-JCW builds Very similar...the differences are all simple bolt-ons....and you can get better bolt-on that are NON-OEM that are cheaper, and make more HP.
The head on a JCW is very lightly ported...you can do better with most any ported one....and the exhaust is fine, but the aftermarkets are well liked....you get the picture....and on the 05+ cars, even the SC are the same except for the pulley (the 2005'+ cars had revised gearing too to make them faster, and have a few more HP than earlier years)....the JCW 210 package, on 05's+ is pretty good for a factory kit, but very pricey compared to aftermarket, and a tune.

 

One thing to consider....I think the NAV maps are not being updated....so you might be better off with a more modern portable unit on a mount, and the gauge package....

 

Not to mention that not all JCW kits provide the same performance for each MINI either.......

We had a guy in our club who purchased a brand new 05 MCS, added the JCW kit from dealer and only gained 5hp.....back to the dealer about 6 times. They could not figure it out. And dyno didnt lie. They ended up giving him a deal on a new 06' GP.........

 

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but you also have to add the LSD if you want to build your own (factory specs) R53 JCW Cooper. And that ain't cheap.

Hope you're able get one. You won't look back.

 

I just picked up an 2005 r53 with 41k miles and the JCW engine kit for $15000. It is loaded on the interior just like the OP mentioned (nav, heated seats, sunroof)... It's a gorgeous build. Did I make an ok deal? Honestly, it doesnt matter, cause I love it and feel that it was.. but just curious what you guys think..

 

My son has been looking for a mini for almost 6 months - lots of great cars in Dallas or Denver, but all too far from home to see and deal on... last Sunday, I pulled into our local Toyota dealer - they had 2 minis on the lot - on the front of the S was a Works badge - looked and drove it on Monday - JCW Tuning Kit III on the badge under the bonnet - we traded for it on Wed - 46K, fully loads except for Pano-roof for $17K - my '05 S is a nice car, the JCW is just that much nicer...

 

hey, new here, just wondering if i could get some help....

my g/f has an 04 MCS ...but a guy at the dealer and her too, believe it to be a JCW...i've been searching and searching and was wondering if you coould either help me or point me in the direction i need...

i know that we could do a VIN look up and all but is there any other way to check if this 04 is a JCW?
It has a CF dash board with the JCW logo on it, but doesn't have a JCW stamped exhaust or intake...i'll check to see if there are the red springs someone mentioned earlier but i don't think it has a stiffer suspension than normal S models.....
Could it be that the previous owner just bought the CF dash to make it their own JCW version? I haven't really seen the dash anywhere....
she also has leather sport seats (boltsters are kinda small for me to consider sport but hey..it's what she was told )
the car also has 2 piece BBS wheels with anthracite centers (not BBS' i've seen on other mini's, but have a mini center cap, [i know you can buy such things, but still] ...it has jcw shift **** too...

i just want to be sure of what the car is before i start to really mod it....i was excited when i found that JCW had a CAI of their own and thought it was in the car but when i saw it was only used on 04+ and she didn't have it, i assumed it was 04.5+ ???

any help would be greatly appreciated ...i'm just getting into the mini thing since i'm a VW guy but this car is going to be my new toy and would like to know where me and my g/f stand with "monica" right now.

thanks

 

The engine compartment should have a JCW sticker, as seen in post #11. The JCW fuel injectors have a blue top instead of white. You already stated that the exhaust was not JCW.

 

so all JCW should have that engine compartment sticker and the injectors.....

i'll have to look forward to checking this after work...

 

Yes. The engine option added a modified supercharger with a 12% smaller pulley, ported cylinder head, spark plugs, fuel injectors, air intake, cat-back exhaust, and JCW labels.
By just looking you cannot see the difference in the cylinder head, spark plugs (unless removed), or supercharger pulley (unless measured). You should be able to see stickers, JCW on air filter box, JCW on exhaust tips, blue tops on fuel injectors.

 

well i know for a fact that there is no sticker on the intake and the exhaust tips...

so from researching in here more, there are 3 different JCW packages? engine, suspension and brakes? what about cosmetically? Like i said, it has a "JCW CF dash" with the JCW logo on it and a shift **** with the design as well.

sorry about the questions, i want to understand what she bought since she bought it 2nd hand from a dealer with 20k miles 2 years ago.

It'll just help me in modding the car to know which exactly it is.

thanks again for your help, i appreciate it.