It has been 72 hours or so since getting my JCW 2016 Hardtop 2DR.

Misses...
On the initial drive home from picking her up at the dealer, the drivers side windshield washer jet does not squirt. I am not rushing to the dealer for this LOL. This is not my daily driver, nor will it see the light of winter, nor rain.

On the first wash and clay bar treatment, I noticed 3 bird droppings (two on hood passenger side and one on drivers side rear quarter panel) stains in the paint only visible under Neon lighting (and they say Mini owners are discerning lol). And this vehicle sat in underground storage at the Mini Dealership.

After about 300km's of break in driving, I find the engine at idle, noisey. It's weird to explain, it's not a diesel, and it is a four cylinder (I have had other 4 cylinder turbo cars MKIV 1.8T, 3SGTE MR2 Turbo) but I don't find it has a smooth mechanical sound to it. It's kinda clankity LOL, definitely not that sweet sound found at the other end of the exhaust.

The seat belt chime (for the passenger) will not stop chiming (PITA). There is nothing on the seat, and the only way to stop it is to attach the seatbelt. Is it my JCW, or, do they all do this...


HITS...
DAMN, that exhaust sounds (factory JCW) sweet, upshift and downshift. BrrrrBRAPBRAP. I am setting it as my new Smartphone notification LOL. Anybody know how they get 'electronically' the exhaust to sound different from Green mode to Normal or Fast mode? What is it that the ECU is able to do to generate the exhaust noise.

The JCW drives WAY more compliant, weighty, and composed than it should. How did you do it Mini? Oh yeah, it's a BMW in Mini wolf clothing.

- - - -
Anybody know off the top of there head what is the maximum Wheel spacers (or one that is pretty wide) I can use on the factory 17" JCW wheels and tires (I plan on keeping the 17" wheel size, due to the lousy roads we have)

Cheers everyone, appreciate the forum and love the feedback

 

Congrats on the new baby! Regarding how the pop and burble is generated, these are dirrct injected engines. They overfuel when downshifting, backing off the throttle, etc. to cool the cylinders and the excess fuel finds its way into the exhaust manifold, where it explodes. This creates the pops.

 

My passenger seat belt does not do what yours does, sounds like an issue.

 

Is there a sequence to get in the car and drive off without the passenger seat belt chime sounding off? Am I doing something wrong?

Is this to say, that for the rest of my days, I can never have something sitting on the passenger seat on the JCW

 

You are not doing anything wrong. It is defective. Get it fixed.

 

 

FWIW you can code out the seatbelt chimes. When I jump in my Mini there are no chimes no matter what and it starts in Sport mode. Best $40 I ever spent.

Best,
Gene :cheers:

 

Congrats on your JCW! I use a 12.5 mm spacer with my stock 17's and have no issues. I use the 17' for my winter set and I have 18's for my summer set. Have not had any issues with my passenger seat chime.

 

I also have the 2016 JCW and I can say that I don't have the seat belt issue.

I also used to have a MKII MR2 Turbo, and there really isn't a comparison between the two cars. One thing I do NOT like about the 2016 Mini is that it's very much refined. It drives very well and is responsive and holds the ground and is predictable.

I had a 2009 S with a JCW Tuning Kit on it and that think would bounce all over the road and the acceleration was more of a `kick you in the ***' type of action than a smooth, linear motion. Not that it's a BAD thing, per se, but I tend to like my sports cars, or sportier cars, to have some element of unpredictability. I especially don't like the rev match on my new car.

That said, I would never give up my 16 for my 09. But I would take back my 93 MR2 in a heartbeat!

 

Do you have spacers on your 18s?

I wouldn't mind a more aggressive look for my '16.

 

I have not tried the spacer with my 18's because the rims are almost flush to the fenders when I have them mounted on the car. I might try it out next spring.

 

I got the Dinan Power Module for my 17 JCW, and the extra 4 pounds or so of boost really adds that touch of unpredictability and fun that I was missing from my 06 JCW, and there is also a bit more noticeable torque steer, as it got my torque into the ~270ish range. Good clean fun!