I picked up 2013 N18 Mini Cooper JCW with 103000 mile. I believe the car runs perfect and the previous owner did maintain the car very well. I went to smog shop to get certificate and it obviously passed smog but while the car sitting for a while when they are checking, I've noticed that coolant was kinda boiling when the car engine was hot? I took a video of it when I was at the smog shop and came back home I let the car idle for a while until the engine gets hot and I noticed that once the temperature goes over the 105°C, coolant starts boiling in the reservoir and once the temperature reaches at 108 °C, the fan runs few moment and the temperature goes down fast and the coolant reservoir turns to normal amount. This is my first time buying JCW model. I used to drive type S model but I've never seen this before. Please refer to video and let me know if you know what's wrong. Thank you!

Mine runs around 215-219F JCW and S models are the same, JCW model tend to run a little hotter (not much) but again the sport button on or with the a/c on you will see a temp drop almost instant.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-cooper-s.html

The thermostat is controlled by the computer on both. The system if it has air in it will just the temp bouncing like crazy and sometimes through code.


Cannot tell if boil or just coolant cycling.

Thanks for the reply!

the fan turns on when it reaches 108 celsius = 226 F. I'm not sure if the thermostat stuck open or something? when you check on second video, coolant slowly comes up as temperature comes up and the coolant in the reservoir is kinda waiving inside.

I would make sure the coolant tank cap is tight and sealing. 105°C (221°F) is about normal temperature for these engines on "Regular" mode. "Sport" mode should lower the temperature target to 90°C. Alternately, you "could" get the car tuned to run at a lower temperature at all times. Almost all aftermarket tunes will recalibrate the temperature target to 90°C (195°F) whether "Sport" mode or not.

I was thinking of coolant tank cap so I just ordered part from amazon. will see.

Do you think this noise cause by cap?

Something is definitely leaking air there….

coolant reservoir cap was the problem but the temperature still same.

The temperature is completely normal. Normal for it to be in the 105-108C range, and fan to come on at 108C

Great! I was little scared when temp goes up to 108C. When I used to drive 12 mini cooper s, it went up to 105 max and went down right away. Never seen 108 in my life 😂.. Thanks for the confirmation.

I had 4x R56 car, including 3x race cars. Also went through quite a few thermostats. There is some variation from car to car, and also from thermostat to thermostat. However, I definitely had some combinations that would sit more at 105C, but others that would not kick in the fan until 108C.

Why does sport mode cause a drop in ECT? How does that work?

Had my R58 tuned by Mario and now my temps are always around 90°C (195°F). Just installed a new thermostat too. Always felt that the 105-108°C temps were to high.

This is because the temperature target is electronically controlled. Gone are the old school mechanical thermostats which had thermostatic valves that would open at predetermined temperatures. Modern engines use electronically controlled thermostats with solenoid activated valves. These new-fangled electronic controlled thermostats allow for multiple ECT targets, since it’s all computer controlled. With the R56, normal mode will get you an emissions friendly 220°F ECT target. Sport mode will change the ECT target to 195°F target.

+1 ^

My 2011 JCW stays between 105-108 degrees whether its in normal mode or sports mode, doesnt drop to 90degrees

I had several JCW's, and going into sports mode never dropped the water temp on mine. If I did a few full throttle accelerations that would put it into the 90degree mode, or going on track.
I think they did change the settings around a little over the years, and it may be been slightly different for different world markets. I am in Australia btw

I’m in Australia too, I guess Aussie spec doesn’t do it then