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JCW GarageInterested in John Cooper Works (JCW) parts for your 1st Generation MINI? This is where JCW upgrades and accessories for the Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs are discussed.
bought this 04 mini. Was told jcw. But can't confirm since it doesn't have certificate of authenticity. It also doesn't have the intake box and the brake calipers are painted blue. It does have the tuning and the supercharger cover. Any help is appreciated.
Too bad about the missing COA. Still should be a JCW badge with the kit serial number on the top front of the valve cover (your left as you look at the engine with the bonnet up). Not sure the intake box and calipers were part of the kit for 2004 (which was dealer installed at the time, not factory as with 2005/6). Perhaps the resident JCW 'experts' can weigh in with more particulars.
It appears to have the JCW Intercooler cover in silver and a serial numbered plaque on the valve cover, but there are some black market plates on the net.
Besides the valve cover plate, there should be ( if the original DME box ) a decal affixed to DME with serial number and date of install. Hard to see it though while DME is inside the enclosed box and still hooked up.
Also if not mistaken in this vitage JCW, an additional "fuel octane type required " foil decal came in the dealer installed kit too. It would be affixed under the gas cap flap area to indicate the higher octane requirement, and in addition to/near other factory decal there.
Not all JCW's of this vintage will have the JCW air box you mentioned which also included larger injectors. It was an additional "kit" that came out in 2005 a year later and purchased and installed at added customer expense. MINI called it the "sound kit". It added more HP and JCW Tuning for the larger 380 cc injectors.
Regardless, nice looking and apparently well cared for. One small item caught my attention, the plastic expansion tank. It is an eventual failure item and should be replaced. There are metal ones available on line and easy to install.
Not all JCW's of this vintage will have the JCW air box you mentioned which also included larger injectors. It was an additional "kit" that came out in 2005 a year later and purchased and installed at added customer expense. MINI called it the "sound kit". It added more HP and JCW Tuning for the larger 380 cc injectors.
The JCW Sound Kit was for the R50.
The MINI Wiki link I provided in my previous post provides comprehensive info regarding the R53 JCW Tuning Kits.
Most of referred to it as the "sound kit" upgrade because of the active airbox flap which opened up at 4,300 RPM's increasing the available internal sound of the supercharger at higher RPM's. This is the factory instruction pdf file for the aftersales JCW airbox, JCW Upgrade injectors and 210hp tune for the earlier builds. Not all early JCW's had the option so I am enclined to think the OP, Ricky probably has the real thing. That and the fact the rear badge is affixed in eact measured location where MINI instructions state to affix. 210mm up and 50mm space on either side.
I can almost always instantly pick out the ones installed by owner / purchased off internet....lol.
Ricky's also has the 05 tail light / fog light upgrade kit too......Nice kit NLA from MINI. Came with red rear lower fog, harness and two newer tail lights.
Thanks for all the replies. It does have a serial number on the valve. I'll check the gas cap area. Any good shops in socal that can get some some work done? Like the water pump and radiator.
also I was enjoying it the day after I bought when it suddenly lost power and wouldn't rev past 2k with the battery light on. Then coolant spilled out of the reservoir tank. Looked under the hood and the belt was totally shredded. A mechanic told me harmonic balancer and ac compressor need to be replaced. Does that sound about right to you guys
Measure the intercooler like the pic from the link miniac posted. Its the smaller intercooler. Does that mean a regular s not a jcw?
The JCW used a regular intercooler with a silver JCW diverter. Only the 2006 GP had a bigger intercooler with a black diverter and JCW decal.
The factory JCW was only available on 2006 MY R53’s, or up to 2008 for the cabriolets, and came with the JCW 210 “kit”, brakes and an LSD. Dealer installed kits didn’t have the brakes or LSD, but the brakes were available as an accessory. Missing the brakes doesn’t mean you don’t have a JCW. The JCW suspension kit was also a dealer accessory only, except on maybe the GP.
Looks like your car has had some nice upgrades done by the previous owner(s). Besides the taillight retrofit, it also has the rare and now NLA aero kit and FL xenon projector headlights. The aero kit was not a JCW branded part, and is often mistaken as part of the JCW package. The was also a separate aero spoiler available which was different from the JCW spoiler.
The hardest item to confirm is probably the JCW head, unless you remove the header to see the exhaust ports. There might be a red or green dot on the head, but that can disappear or be painted on at any time. I’ve also seen pics showing an additional number punched into the JCW head next to the part number, but I’m not sure if all JCW heads had them. The numbers were shallow and had a dot matrix look to them as opposed to the solid look of the regular part number.
also I was enjoying it the day after I bought when it suddenly lost power and wouldn't rev past 2k with the battery light on. Then coolant spilled out of the reservoir tank. Looked under the hood and the belt was totally shredded. A mechanic told me harmonic balancer and ac compressor need to be replaced. Does that sound about right to you guys
sounds about right. Could be the belt tensioner, idler pulley, harmonic damper (crank pulley). Was the a/c working before this?
If it is a bad clutch/coil on the compressor, that can be replaced separately from the compressor.
Yea the ac was working prior to this. I'm replacing the idler pulley and harmonic balancer. I bought a jcw belt but idk if I have the smaller pulley since I don't know if I have the authentic jcw mini or just the regular s
Yours seems authentic. I’d definitely go with the JCW belt. If you want a little more boost, you can get the ATI damper that’s 2% larger. That’s what I’m about to do. Costs about the same or maybe less than OEM. Also replace the seal that’s behind the pulley while you’re in there. It’s also a good time to replace your belt tensioner. Should let be much additional labor, if any, and it’s about $120-$160 for one from an OEM part supplier.
If you are taking the belt off to do the harmonic damper, then you have to use the tensioner tool to get the belt off then taking the tensioner off and replacing it is just kind of some extra steps.
search on YouTube for modmini videos on how tos
The damper you got is probably similar is the stock rubber damper. I considered going with something like that, but for $260 you could get a fluid filled PRW damper that should be an improvement over stock. Less vibrations, lighter, lasts longer. Or $360 and get the ATI fluid damper that’s 2% bigger than stock and get a little more boost. I would return the Oreily’s damper, but that’s me. Up to you. $80 more gets you a far superior product and you should notice less vibration that stock from what I have heard. I’ll find out this week. Just ordered my ATi.
I think once you remove the old tensioner, it will probably flap back and forth and not really provide much tension. The new one would be hard to push on the spring. Once it goes it can actually take out the belt and cause damage to other pulleys as well. So it’s kinda preventative for a car with that many miles. I’m about to replace mine at the same time as the harmonic damper and I’m at 85k. Also doing the timing chain and guides and chain tensioner as well.
