I'm new to MINI, and just bought a 2015 2 door hardtop S JCW car. I had to buy it online and haven't actually seen it in person, only in pictures. It has a JCW emblem on the rear hatch and a JCW serial plate on the engine cover. How do I be sure, when I take delivery, that it is actually a JCW car?

 

Run the VIN#

 

Yep.

Last 7 digits of the VIN plugged into Realoem or a BMW vin decoder.

 

 

BMW Vin Decoder will tell you if its a JCW when you enter the vin and it reflects the body codee trim and features. If its not on there then its not a JCW.

 

It might me an S model with the JCW tuning kit installed...

 

Yes its true it could be a JC Tuning Kit which in that case is not a factory JCW vehicle but does have JCW goodies installed.

 

For Gen 2 cars, the JCW Kit did not share anything with the factory JCW Option. The Kit was essentially external parts, but the factory Option had strengthened internal parts and a bigger turbo running at a higher boost level compared to the S.

However, the Gen 3 cars are a mystery. The MINIUSA site doesn’t shed any light on the situation so I’ll have to search elsewhere...

 

Ah, more information from the motoringfile.com site...

The JCW Kit takes the S from 189hp to 208hp. This is way short of the fJCW at 228hp. The Kit is external and has no modified internal engine parts. It is intended to be installed at the port or a dealer. The fJCW Option is only installed at the factory.

 

I know the JCW Tuning Kit comes with a badge for the engine compartment that bears the kit #. Also, does the car have the Brembo brakes? The speedo should have a JCW emblem on the bottom of the display.

 

If you've only seen pictures, the other clues are the bumpers, JCW has the black grills instead of front foglights and rear has the black grills either side. Wheel arches have that little extra lip too.