I had the JCW tuning kit installed two weeks ago and while there are many good things about it, the drone at highway speeds is intolerable.
I brought it back to the dealer confirm that there wasn't anything wrong. They said it was normal.
I have had many aftermarket exhausts in the past on BMWs and an STI and have not felt them to be anything like this. There's nothing pleasant about the sound. Under a light load it sounds like sitting in the back of an older jet plane; loud, booming, and makes me think my ears are clogged.
They have offered to put a stock R56 exhaust back on for me but I was wondering if there was another option.
Thanks!

 

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][/FONT]They probably didn't install it properly.Thats how BMW roll.
I have none with mine and the JCW is the quietest exhaust you can get.
[FONT=Calibri] [/FONT]

 

I've also heard that there should be no drone with the JCW. Check for leaks or possible mis-installation

 

From your signature you have the cooper s hardtop. When I was doing my research, the only owners who claimed of drone was MCS owners. I have a clubman, and few if any of them claimed to have any drone.. I suspect the smaller size of the MCS is causing some type of drone, but I would still check it out to ensure everything was installed correctly. One mans sweet sound is another drone, and I found it was to each town's taste

 

I think you are correct about that. I had the Mini dealership look at it again but they claim it was installed properly.
I just don't know what to do about it.

 

I've heard that it's worse if you drive with the seats folded down. Do you happen to be driving with them down instead of up? Kinda dumb, but maybe it'll help a bit. Sorry to hear you're having such trouble with the exhaust.

 

Could you have them put the resonator back in? I've thought about trying it with my clubman, but haven't done it yet.

 

Don't quote the guy who said that the JCW exhaust is the quietest....i have no idea what that's based off of.
1. if the resonator was removed, then it could be very drone-y
2. going from an mcs to the JCW exhaust could make you notice it more, the JCW exhaust at high speeds has a sound, especially with a downpipe
3. fold your seats up!

 

Yes, it is even worse with the back seats folded.
My dealership just informed me that they cannot put on the regular exhaust back on my car without removing the JCW ecu and intake and that they will have to submit a "puma" case because my vin now says it has the jcw ecu etc...
I asked about having them put on the exhaust from a factory CJW car but they said it was even louder than the one I have. I explained that the problem I was having was not that it was too loud, but that it droned... they didn't seem to understand the distinction.

 

I haven't heard any other aftermarket cat back exhausts that are quieter for the mini Drobinson. Its based off my own research and experience with other aftermarket set ups. If you think that’s wrong then why not post up the quieter one for the OP to look at?

I reckon try get a bigger resonator put on if possible or replace the original resonator with another muffler. I think your only option will be modifying the current set up.

 

oooh i thought you meant the quietest of the Mini brand exhaust. Slight misunderstandings.

I've heard the invidia is incredibly quiet at idle and at constant RPM....

 

The drone from the JCW S1 kit is the removal of the resonator. Have them put it back in and Voila! problem solved!!

I have S1 on my Clubman, chose to NOT put the JCW exhaust on, but left the resonator in and put the Remus Exhaust on mine. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. almost NO drone at all and sounds great.

 

i have a stage 1 kit and there is no removal of the resonator

 

I don't think they removed the resonator. I have the original exhaust in my garage and it looks just like the JCW one they put on.
Maybe I'm wrong, though.

 

I had the same droning when I had the JCW Stage 1 kit installed on my ’10 MCS in August of 2010. It was so loud at 75 going down the interstate that it gave me a headache. The dealer said the sound was normal (although they didn’t comment on the headache!). I posted on NAM like you and a NAM member in Canada suggested that I substitute the muffler from the factory JCW exhaust system for the muffler that came with the kit. I left the rest of the Stage 1 kit exhaust alone and only swapped out the muffler. Problem solved! No drone and the sound is the perfect balance (at least for me) between a sport exhaust sound and quiet. No dreaded check engine lights, either. Hopefully, I didn’t lose any power from the swap. I didn’t notice any difference. The only downside to the swap was I was not able to use the cool looking JCW-embossed exhaust tips that came on the kit muffler. But, the ones on the JCW factory muffler look pretty nice—they sort of remind me of dual cannon barrels. Anyway, I’m very happy with this solution. Good luck.

 

That sounds like a great idea and I think I read about someone else who did the same thing but when I asked my Mini dealership about it they said that if they ordered a "factory jcw" exhaust it would be the exact same thing I have on my car. Do you have a part number by any chance?
Also, did your mini dealer let you trade one exhaust for the other or did you have to buy it?
Thanks so much!

 

My solution was really easy because my friend with a factory JCW R56 wanted his exhaust to be louder and wanted a Stage 1 kit muffler. So we just took our cars to the muffler shop and had them swap the mufflers. We're both happy with the results.

As for the part numbers, see the linked website.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...03&hg=18&fg=20
I'm not sure which one of the three muffler part numbers listed below the diagram is the factory JCW muffler, but I think it's the second one of the three. The other two part numbers should correspond to the original Cooper S muffler and the Stage 1 kit muffler. For what it's worth, the numbers stamped on the lower side of my factory JCW muffler appear as follows:

585
03 10
327396
GB (might be G8)
650584

Hope it helps!

 

Thanks for sending that to me but I'm a little confused because the link you sent me shows an exhaust that has removable tips (like the jcw tuning kit) whereas I thought the factory jcw exhaust had tips that were part of the muffler.

 

Not helpful, but I could not resist

 

On an R55 Stage 1, the exhaust kit comes with the following...rear resonator removal pipe with 2 clamps, 2 mufflers with JCW Tips. not sure about the r56.

 

Before I ordered my Clubman, I tried out a regular S with the JCW tuning kit installed. From what I remembered it was pretty loud on the freeway. My Clubman is louder than I'd like, but it is quieter than the regular S with the JCW kit. I think it's from the longer body keeping the exhaut outlet farther away from the driver. It would have been nice if the dealer would have the knowledge of the sound with and without the resonator installed and ask the customer how loud he would like the car. That way they could keep or remove the resonator based on the customers preference, but it it doesn't sound like a regular MINI has the resonator delete like the Clubman has.

 

Drone is resonance in the exhaust. Resonance is constructive interference of the sound waves. It's completely dependent on pipe length and the wavelength of the resonant sound. THE BEST way to eliminate drone is to have side branch resonators installed. There are numerous threads out there that do a good job explaining what the technology is but basically you are adding a capped pipe or resonator tha is equal to 1/4 of the resonant sound wavelength. I did it on my 3 series and it was amazing. I got the idea from exhausts used on g35s and Zs. Take your car to a fab shop and describe the rpm where the problem exists. They'll fab up the parts and play with the lengths until that sound is removed. Here's a link to my setup.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=610417