Im very well aware of the differences between pre facelift and post facelift R52/3 JCWs, but is there an advantage/disadvantage between 05-06 and 07-08? I'm once again shopping for another Cooper and found a very well priced 08 JCW convertible (priced/listed at dealership as a regular Cooper S) and an '06 JCW convertible. Wondering if there were any model year differences in Cooper S, and JCW installations.

Thanks!

 

Personally I'd rather get a factory JCW than a dealer installed tuning kit one. I don't think the R56's had factory JCW's until 2009. The '06 JCW could be a factory car.

 

2008 would still be a first generation body style convertible, R52.



Run the VINs, as long as their both factory cars I don't think there would be any difference other than options.

 

Yes, the '08 is still an R52 (first gen). I wouldn't buy a turbo Cooper, never been a fan of the handling. Vin doesn't have JCW anywhere on carfax. Dealer also has it listed as Cooper S, but it's definitely an '08, and it's definitely a JCW.

Thanks fot the help. Less rust would be a positive for a newer year I guess. There are so many great low mileage Cooper S's out there, not so many JCWs.

 

I just ran the '08 JCW VIN on a Mini Decoder site and it shows:

- "Interior mirror with automatic-dip" (Never heard of that on an '06).
- "Tire pressure display".. would that be a PSI readout like newer cars or just tire pressure nanny light?
- "Differential lock 25%" mean LSD?

 

I hunted down my JCW car, and travelled a few hours to purchase it. Since I bought mine I have seen none for sale on Craigslist within 2-3 hours of where I live. They are getting rare but well optioned R53s are still readily available.

The 2006 Factory Cars have the option labelled as JCW on the build sheet breakdown when you decode the VIN.

I've used bimmer.work and it's listed as "3AL - John Cooper Works Kit." It's listed as "S3ALA - John Cooper Works Kit" on myminivin.com. The limited slip diff also always shows up with factory cars as a separate option as you described.

Do you have pictures of the cars? The VINs? Dealer Window Tags? Unless it shows up on the build sheet I'd say it's a dealer equipped car, but take that with a grain of salt as my experience is limited to 2005-2006 R53s.

 

The '08 shows JCW on vin decoder too, forgot to mention that.

So the question is: do I get higher mileage JCW and drive 3 states away or do I get the local, well optioned low mileage Cooper S and add a pulley/exhaust? They're almost the same price.

 

There's a lot of factors. You and I are both in the rust belt, is the other car in the south? I went south to buy my Mini because I wanted to get one that had seen limited road salt. Does the other car have a limited slip? Other options you want? Has the JCW car been COMPLETELY disclosed? It took me a while to work up to travelling to buy my car, but the seller was absolutely transparent and extremely good with communication. Maintenance Records? Overall appearance of upkeep?

The big things that sold me on wanting a 2006 JCW car was the LSD, the fact that the tuning package was comprehensive and not just a pulley and exhaust, and that it is associated with John Cooper, if only in name.

 

Having a late build '06 convertible...I believe that the differences between the 05-06 R52s and 07-08 R52s is minimal. As for JCW differences, I believe they are identical. That being said I know that my '06 has a built in aux connectors in the glovebox that I believe became a standard feature in the '07-08. So I think there are small things that the later cars have that the early R52s do not. One big item is the option for the English "lounge" leather in R52s that was started with the sidewalk editions (brown in color) and ended with the 2008 last of the supercharged cars getting black English leather seats (that I've dreamed about since I saw them).

If I were in your shoes, I'd go for the 08 JCW R52 as they are truly the last year of supercharged JCWs. Also, the factory JCW gets you the LSD and I believe the JCW brake kit (red R56 calipers and bigger rotors) as well.

I think the auto dip mirror is just the self dimming rear view mirror, but I'm not sure on that. Also, as far as I know the tire pressure would be the nanny light not an actual readout.

 

Other than the factory JCW install, the 07/08 came wired with an Aux input for the radio. Its in the glove compartment, driver side. I also think the top mechanism was reworked a little although the rear rain rails still rot out.