Just back home from an out-of-state job in Missouri, found this book at an antiques store there for $10.

Never realized that JCW had prototyped a carbon fiber bonnet -



- would have been cool if it had made it into production, although realistically I've read that such a bonnet usually only saves around 7-10 lbs?

Regardless, fitment and finish would have surely been much better than the aftermarket offerings.

Now,
what I'd love to see is someone to develop an alloy block!

 

For anyone looking for a pair of JCW sill covers,
this chap in Italy has some:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175349902...4AAOSwO3xiJN1r

He actually has quite a good many of them apparently...



...wish I would have saw those mega-rare scuttles in time because I would have bought them dammit!

Also,
has sold a few JCW certs + rocker plates,
so far these:

18613
18617
18618
18619
18620
18624
18625
18634
18638

 

I thought that the genuine JCW door sill things were made of metal? At least the Cooper S ones are. Those look like domed vinyl stickers.

 

Yep, gel domed decal thingies --- I think that they were designed specifically for use with the aero side skirts which have smooth tops as opposed to stock which has an inset.

ECS has good reference photos still on their site:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/51710305557/




Illuminated version appears to be metal and fit within the stock inset,
though they are insanely rare.

Difficult to find even a reference photo!

 

My previous R53 had the normal side skirts with the inserts and plastic surrounding it like the above picture. My current R53 jcw has an aero kit and I haven't seen these stuck to the aero kit at all. The side skirts are just bare with no plastic whatsoever, just body paint. How are these stuck on? As is, straight onto the paint with no surround? How does that look?

 

Straight on to paint, basically to dress up the aero skirt a bit, and maybe add a little scuff protection. Some stick them over the aluminum on the stock skirts. Some remove the aluminum and file down the plastic screws underneath, so there’s a smooth surface to apply the gels. The OEM gels actually have a very thin aluminum base, but you can now get reproductions (I have both) that are almost dead on identical minus the metal base.

 

Yeah, they were an accessory you had to buy separately in the grand tradition of BMW-style piecemeal parting technique.

Adhesive backed,
just stick on.



BaT is a good image archive for referencing various stuff,
this listing was fitted with the sill strips,
but the pics aren't the greatest...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...oper-s-jcw-28/

:

...similarly,
GP was fitted out with such gel strips too and those are still easily available:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...h/51777182559/

 

The GP gels are more readily available than the GP itself lol.

 

In looking at these, I found some interesting graphics replacements for the rear aero bumper. Mine look terrible right now
Aero rear bumper graphics

 

Those look pretty good, never really know though until you actually have them in hand to inspect detail,
but to my eye they look better than the similar version that JackMac posted in this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...r-inserts.html





:

The Genuine ones are long gone I guess?

 

Take your time picking out a new set, there are quite a few repros available. Believe it or not, JacMac recently scooped up a set of new OEMs (silver w/black dots) that were listed here in the marketplace place. Sold within minutes lol. Gotta be quick.

 

I think I have read all the pages, so sorry if I missed it, but re: the carbon JCW wing.

Edit: Was that part of the JCW factory installed aero package and could be deleted, or an official dealer add on part? Curious because I had never seen one EVER even in media till I bought the JCW on Sunday and it had it and I did a google image search, lol.

also I added ours to the registry today,

vin WMWRE33576TL21247
factory 2/09/2006 build date
cert number S11458 still sealed in plastic bag, and NOT filled out with date or vin like I understand dealer ones would have been.

 

The aero kit was never available Factory installed and wasn’t even a JCW branded item, it was just the aero kit. The JCW spoiler was also a Dealer only accessory and not available from the Factory. Same with the JCW suspension, except for on the GP. There was also an aero spoiler that was similar to an S spoiler, but solid all the way across the hatch and is probably more rare than the JCW spoiler.

The bonus with a Factory built JCW was the inclusion of the JCW brakes, the LSD, with the VIN confirming it was built that way from the Factory and not added later.

 

Cool appreciate the knowledge drop before I made an **** of myself at cars n coffee or something! Lol.

 

Technically, to identify a Factory JCW you have to use a VIN decoder to ensure option 3AL was included in the build

The only first Gen JCW that can be identified by looking at the VIN is the GP ... it will have a "Y" in the 11th position, indicating it was assembled in Bertone's plant in Grugliasco, Italy.

 

Also common to have factory install as S3AL on the build sheet. S as in MCS.

 

Interesting, I didn't know that the aero kit was a dealer only option too.

I replaced the JCW wing on my car with the aero spoiler back in 2014 I think. My car doesn't have the aero kit, so the JCW wing looked a bit out of place, and I never liked the look of the standard spoiler... the aero one has a flatter shape than the standard item, in addition to not having a hole in it. Anyway, I don't think the aero spoiler is that rare, it was still available from BMW a couple of years ago.

 

Yep the old aero stuff and a bunch of items were dealer installed, i believe after talking to dealers back in the day the demand was so strong, the dealer could add and mark up even more and add it as a sheet to the dealer MSRP sticker on the MINI. They used to do this with the MC40 and checkmate editions...etc and then put them in the showroom as a loaded dealer demo. A great way to make money and to show all the things you can do with a MINI.

 

Rare in the sense that you don’t see them out in the wild, for sale used, or even really talked about because people don’t know they exist. Possibly because it was similar to the S spoiler unlike the JCW spoiler. Being still available is probably due to no one buying them leaving a lot of NOS spoilers remaining.

The last used “aero” spoiler I’ve seen listed for sale isn’t even an aero spoiler. It was a regular R50 Cooper spoiler, although not common itself, mistakenly listed as a “RARE aero spoiler”.

 

I think I've seen that too

There's one new (unused) for sale at a Finnish Mini forum...

 

Is this the R50 aero spoiler -

 

Is this the R50 aero spoiler ?

 

Yes, that’s the aero spoiler. What I was referring to as the R50 spoiler is the short spoiler people usually look for to use with a GP style wing to cover the hatch holes after removing the S spoiler.

Looks like they’re no longer available. I wonder if they blew them out like the mellow yellow full interior door panels at $19 each, or the amber euro taillight kit with rear fog and harness adapter for $60. The door panels were listed over 90% off.

 

Good eye!

I didn't catch that Seattle MINI had automatically diverted to the superseded part number which is the "short" version and seem much more plentiful.

51710140633 is the big one, unprimed, they had separate parts numbers for the already painted versions.



Deep discount is the best!

I would have loved to get in on the amber euro taillight kit at that price!

Whenever the blowouts happen they are glorious but seem random and I never know in time!

 

Doubt the amber 2005+ will go on blowout. The 2002-2004 taillights are starring to go nla and they ever dropped the price :( Clears went nla and never dropped, we got the last set from MINI in the world. I have the last R52 body kit and the JCW sill, i got the last set. Also i have the last set of Leather Gen 1 red stitched down tubes that were for the GP1 at one point.

What door panel, they are not one piece? "amber euro taillight kit with rear fog" Those are the ones i have on my R52 I got the last set in the world also. Bunch of them sold out in a week or so.


Got 3 of these then nla worldwide.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Sit...h/36116775855/