I have a 2003 's' w/ JCW, madness header. thinking about trading towards 2006 's'.... is the factory JCW w/ the lsd & upgraded brakes worth the money (I paid the same for the JCW only on 2003), or would one be wiser to get a 2006 's' and add pulley, ecu, etc? My car has less than 9,000 miles on it- I just am thinking about getting one of the last current style 's'. any comments?

 

It is worth it and then some! My wife has an 05 Cooper S non JCW and I can dust her, before the JCW we were bonnet and bonnet. It is awesome! From the factory it comes with the Big Brake Kit and i think the JCW suspension. I Love It!

 

Thousands of comments...hit the search button in this forum and you'll have hours and hours of fun reading!

Do you want:
warranty, unity, name recognition = JCW.

cost effectiveness, bang for the buck, latest technology, possible warranty issues, possible decreased resale, blah blah blah = aftermarket.

If this argument were a tsunami, which it sort of is, the above statement was one single water molecule. Happy hunting.

mb

 

personally, if warranty isnt a big concern (for me it wouldnt be)

id go 2006 MCS + LSD + JCW Brakes + m62 charger kit when it comes available..


I figure by time the kits been on the market for a few months, youd be out of hte break in period, and have a couple thousand miles (ie the kinks worked out), and should be safe doing the big upgrade.


if you dont wanna go that big, id still skip the JCW

Same money, you could do the 19%+GIAC+Injectors+Coilovers+Rear Sway and may even have money left over

 

Skip the MCS and get the JCW on the MC instead. What you lose in performance is made-up in awesome sound-effects. At 7k RPM in 3rd gear the scream is like nothing you will ever hear from an MCS, especially when you take your foot off the accelerator pedal at redline. Of course I am somewhat partial to the Mini Cooper I have with no S but with JCW. I have driven an S loaner from the dealer, yes, loads more torque but the car feels like it is driving you and not the other way around as it should be.

 

snag the factory lsd as an option but forget about the JCW

 

It has already been said, but I'll repeat for my sake only, go with the JCW package and keep the warranty.
There are so many various issues that the warranty will address that weeks and weeks of explaining and threatening with "that part doesn't affect this problem" issues when you add aftermarket stuff.
Get the JCW stuff and go have some fun. When the warranty expires then start modding to your delight, as I have. I love the JCW and I loved the warranty when I had it, the warranty definately saved me a ton of cash and a ton of headaches.

Just my opinion,
Paul

 

Depends on what your are going to do with it. I love the smoothness of my JCW, and knowing I can go into a dealer and not have to worry about them griping about mods.

 

I highly agree with Paul

 

yes, factory jcw rocks. And great value for money

 

The warranty was a huge factor for me too. I was also looking at the Dinan upgrades, but opted for the factory JCW.

 

Smoothness, gobs of power, that great whine at 6950 rpm's and the satisfaction that you have the best and the last of a great engine.

 

from a guy with most of the mods...... if I was to order new I would go JCW no doubt....... I would then consider adding a 62 after considerable break in...... FWIW, for some reason after the JCW kits became a factory option I just read that the demand is way down..... go figure as it is cheaper from the factory......there is much to be said for seamless integration and a smooth running well balanced car

 

another thing that people don't seem to consider is that a car's resale value usually only reflects what it came from the factory with. Sure the money spent on the JCW package is a lot, but you will get some of that back when you sell the car. If you try and sell a regular S though that has had parts retrofitted, you won't get near as much for it, particularly if they are some other aftermarket parts. If you want to be able to retain the resale value, go JCW, if you don't mind pulling all your parts off and reverting to stock before you sell it to try and recover some of your costs, then aftermarket is the way to go.

 

Great resale value! I bought mine in April (06 MCS JCW) and just did a KBB search. My car INCREASED in value from 31,850 to just over 34K!!!!!!!

And , yes it's a blast to drive!

 

No matter what anyone will tell you, modding a stock engine will never be as smooth as a factory tuned engine.

The JCW package is outstanding. Power everywhere in every gear.

Do yourself a favor, if you have the scratch, get the JCW.

Minibull

 

I have a 2005 JCW and my wife has a 2006 JCW. She loves the extra power and I am envious of her BBK!

 

quote from SpiderXDitto!

JCW factory installed, including brakes & exhaust is awesome. Very smooth, very oem-feeling--just loads faster and much better torque, everywhere. A very nice daily-driveable package.

 

what can I say but, I'm lovin it!