Is this a JCW Mini or not? (Yes, it is)
 

I found a 2006 JCW Mini convertible for sale local to me.....owner says it's a JCW car.....says engine was replaced with a 70,000 mile one.....I asked him if the engine was replaced with a JCW unit, he does not know.....I asked him to send me a pic of the engine, which he did.....I'm still unsure....


Picture of engine below......I also got to see the VIN number on the left strut tower....I ran the number and it didn't say anything about being a JCW car....the VIN is below, can anyone tell me if this is a true JCW car or should I run away very fast? Owner says no spark to plugs


VIN -> WMWRH33596TJ42618


Thanks for any help here

That VIN does decode to a factory JCW as it has the S3ALA code. The engine in the picture does appear to have the JCW valve cover sticker but the JCW airfilter box was removed and some type of aftermarket unit is installed.

Running the vin shows the JCW package and lsd differential. As a factory JCW, it should also have the red JCW front brake upgrade.

With the motor swap, it’s not so clear if it has a JCW motor without seeing the exhaust ports on the head. The pulley can be measured, or might not matter if replaced, and the injectors can be seen below the intercooler. If they’re blue they should be the JCW 380’s. The valve cover is there, but could be from the old motor, and the exhaust isn’t visible from the pic. The JCW airbox is missing, but doesn’t necessarily mean anything unless you really want the factory JCW airbox.

The biggest thing is if it has the JCW head as that was the only difference on the longblock.

How much do they want for the car?

Yea, I saw the aftermarket intake box & filter assembly.....I also was wondering about the intercooler on top of the engine.....the JCW valve cover could have been added at one point.....


I don't have anymore pics of the engine or the brakes, just a couple of the exterior of the car....


He's asking $2,000, and the car does not run

Here are other pics

If you can turn your own wrenches and have time to figure things out and some spare cash laying around, it might work out. Not running could mean lots of different things; does not crank, cranks but does not, starts but will not stay running . . . . .

The intercooler is the same on the JCW as the S, but the plastic diverter was silver with a JCW emblem on the right. Only the GP had a larger intercooler. The only way to really tell if it has the JCW head without removing it is to remove the header to see the exhaust ports. From the factory the head were supposed to have a small red(?) dot painted on the head, but that could be added, cover with oil/dirt, or just worn off over time.

In the front drivers side view you can see the JCW brakes with what looks like the correct carriers, which are different than the R56 “Poor man’s JCW” upgrade.

As for not starting, it could be serious, or something as simple as a loose engine ground or a bad crank position sensor.

Yea, I got a full set of tools....I'm a retired auto tech since 1974


He says it won't start because he says the coil stopped working


The spare cash is kind of a problem.....but I can swing it if I have to.....

Year, bad crank sensor came to mind first

If it’s the coil, that’s the same as the S coil. The factory coil is also very good, even for modified cars, so it’s not really necessary to go with an aftermarket “upgrade” if you can find a good used coil.

See if he will take the coil off, turn it over, take a picture and send it to you. Sometimes the bottom of the coil will change color when they go.

Poor R52, hope you can bring it back to life. Looks like the JCW calipers and with the options back in the day that was a pretty expensive R52. I always thought it was a green dot on the head?

Not sure about green, but one of the red dot references is here: http://www.minitorque.com/forum/show...l=1#post296588

Too bad MINI didn't have some kind of indicator in the casting to identify a JCW head. If using a colored dot is true, anyone with a paint pen could add one.

Yep, i have seen the Green dot on the replacement JCW heads. So red might have been production and green might have been the replacement?

He's dropped the price to $1,500..... I may have to take a trip up there to at least check it out.

If I can get it running, great, but if I buy it, and it's a little more work involved, I might have to just part it out and recoup my money

Might be worth it for that price. I hope you can get it going again.

If I was into drop tops I believe I’d give it a shot for that price. Worst case, you could buy a salvaged or rebuilt engine.

For $1500 it's hard to go wrong. If this car is anywhere near Virginia I'd be interested myself.

I'm going to look at it tomorrow night......figure if I get it and if it's gonna be too much to get it road worthy again, I'll just save all the JCW parts and brakes for my '04 R53 and part the rest of the car out.....


It's about an hour away from me......I have the Schwaben scanner here that I bought from ECSTuning that I will take along.....just to see if anything pops up on the data stream


I need another project like I need a hole in my head.....but for $1,500.....I don't think I'll get hurt that much


I have 8 vehicles now, what's one more, right??

What site did you use to determine it was a JCW per the VIN???

Bryan

I like bimmer.work, but NAM has a built-in decoder.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...vindecoder.php

The NAM decoder has a disclaimer:
The following site gives actual build specifications ..

http://myminivin.com/

Went and looked at the car tonight, appears to have the blue injectors, has a 4 into 1 header, JCW exhaust tips, and large red brakes on the front.
Did they not put the red brakes on the rear?
The kid said that he put the ignition coil on another Mini Cooper and it worked. The battery was so dead it wouldn't turn over but a few times.
There's mold on the inside of the convertible top, drivers seat is torn. The silver intercooler cover is in the back seat.

The only problem is the kid didn't change the title over to his name when he got the car over a year ago. DMV said he had to go through emissions, problem is the car didn't run then either. I'm going find out how much the penalty is and decide from there. He ran a compression test, cylinders have 170-180lbs......

Car is black, has the Harmon radio system, navigation in the center pod

I'm still on the fence here guys, should I get it or pass.......

No red brakes on the 1st gen rears. The rear parts of the JCW kit were only different pads for the stock calipers and rotors.

The 421 header is most likely an OBX, a SuperSprint knockoff. Really inexpensive and sometimes had fitment problems, but a really popular mod and once fitted had good performance.

Keep us posted. If it turns over and no ugly noises, I would buy it for $1500!
2006 Had factory LSD, 380 injectors, red front brakes with larger rotors. JCW badges on the front lower grill and the rear diver side deck lid.
Silver intercooler shroud, and JCW serial number on the valve cover. JCW exhaust tips and stainless exhaust system with oval muffler and resonator.

The parts are worth that price easily!