njaremka's 2019 Countryman JCW
 

On to the next chapter...

Here is where I will try to document all that is my F60 Countryman JCW, affectionately referred to as "Wilbur".

This is a running list of modifications:
- Full Screen CarPlay
- Window Tint
- Auto-Meter Spek Pro Boost Gauge
- CravenSpeed Gauge Mount and Boost Tap
- Smoke side markers
- PowerFlex lower engine mount bushing
- OEM Front & Rear Splash Guards
- Wheel Stud Conversion
- 15mm Spacers (all four corners)
- Erkul roof rack cross bars
- JCW Logo door lights


Here he is on collection day:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...c43f064b8.jpeg

Seems that finding ANY F60 JCW in the US is a rare feat, but I found the one I wanted down in Savannah, Georgia. He is an early 2019 JCW with quite the spec list. Seems the only options NOT included on this thing are the head-up display and adaptive cruise control.

First order of business... Drive it home.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...e83843c0e.jpeg


1,100 miles later, he is resting in his new dwelling.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...54bed1d7b.jpeg

First order of business, take the boy to the DMV for his learner permit and let him drive home:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...dd474f2a3.jpeg

Wish I had a cool dad to let me learn on such a great driving car....

Next order of business, take it to The Glen for opening weekend!

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...a08a7fe49.jpeg

OK, now time to get the maintenance up to date...

With just a tick over 60k miles on the clock, new spark plugs are in order. Picked up some NGK 96206 plugs and swapped 'em in. If anyone has changed plugs on an F60 before, not fun. The strut brace goes right over the coils. If I hadn't picked up a swivel socket, I would have had to dismantle the struts brace tog et them out.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...376a27313.jpeg
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Didn't realize there was a brace in those models. Daughter's F54S doesn't have that, plugs are relatively easy.

With the engine tight against the fire wall, and the strut brace right over the coils, it doesn’t lend itself to accommodating what should be some easy maintenance tasks.

Of course, I had to have the car immortalized into pixel art by PxlCrs
https://pxlcrs.com

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...447625dc0.jpeg

Getting window tint installed to keep the sun out of the interior:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...2b1bd3483.jpeg

Boost gauge install:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...7055dd349.jpeg


Not sure how I feel about the CravenSpeed mount... Because of where it is, it vibrates quite a bit. I had to shove some foam pipe insulation in between the gauge cup and the steering column trim. I prefer this placement to anywhere else, however.

I might have missed it but where I are you getting signal from for the boost gauge. I'm sniffing around a gauge myself.

There is a sensor on the intake manifold that gets piggybacked with the CravenSpeed boost tap. Torque Solutions and NM Engineering also sell similar boost taps. I don’t have any pictures, but if you search them out you’ll see where they go. The boost tap gives you a spot to run the boost gauge sensor.

One thing I learned from installing a boost gauge on this car: these engines do not run any vacuum. Like at all. (or VERY little) The gauge only goes slightly under 0 during highway cruise. The N18 engine in my R55 would pull vacuum on cold start, then make the switch to VANOS operation and run 0 vacuum. These new energies run VANOS at all times, even cold start.

Got a couple things done on the car the past week or so...

Since I bought the car with ~60k miles on the clock, one of my goals for the summer, before too many miles got racked up, was to change out all the drivetrain fluids. I successfully did a drain and fill on the transmission about a month ago. Used Ravenol ATF. Then, last week, I picked up a vacuum extractor off Amazon so I could run down the rest of the drivetrain. Again, used all Ravenol fluids, I swapped out the transfer case, hang on clutch, and rear differential. All in all, not that bad of a process. The transfer case has a drain plug, so it was actually the easiest. The hang on clutch was probably the worst of the three, only because of where the fill plug is located. But with the vacuum extractor, there is a little bit of waiting around while its sucking the fluids out. All buttoned back up, and now I feel better about running the car for the next 40-50k miles.

One of my goals for this season was to try and find a set of wheels that I can use for winter duty. Facebook marketplace is the worst, by the way...

Well, I came across a local set of Countryman S 18" rims, and after communicating with the seller, we came to an accord and the rims were mine.
My OEM JCW wheels are the 19x8 +47 offset. The S wheels are 18x7.5 +51 offset.
I did have to use a spacer in the front to clear the JCW calipers. I had a pair of 15mm that I inherited from a friend, so on they went. Picture below shows no spacer in the rear, and the 15mm in the front. I might get another set of 15mm for the rear, just to keep it even. However, the front could get away with much less spacer. I haven't measured yet, so not sure what could be used. The rims "Almost" fit with nothing.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...033ee039d.jpeg

Good looking car

Nice, how do you like those JCW seats/recaros.

I like them a lot. One of my requirements for the Clubman replacement was to get the sport seats, and I'm glad I found one. They are comfortable and have nice bolsters.

So, learned about a weird design implementation / choice that Mini made today regarding the rear tail lights on the F60...

I am a BIG fan of LED bulbs in my cars. Not only are they super cool looking, most times they are brighter than their halogen style brothers. Since I purchased the car, I've been wanting to upgrade all the bulbs to LED style. Brake lights were next on my challenge...

Enter RealOEM.com and a quick search reveals that the rear brake light bulbs in the LED tail light housings are item #6 and are an H21W size:
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=63_1817

OK, now a quick internet search yields about 2 manufacturers making red LED H21W bulbs... Great. Much deliberation, and I settled on these:
https://maxgtrs.com/products/2-super...44676962844906
Based on the website, I liked the design, and they had the appearance of quality. When I received them, I was impressed, and made plans to swap them out.

Enter today, and I popped open the trunk, removed the bulb carrier, and found a very amusing part... Sorry, but no pictures as I was too flabbergasted at what I found. Turns out, the H21W bulb fits into an adapter, which then mounts into the bulb carrier. And, guess what? The bulb adapter adapts the H21W bulb to fit into an 1156 socket. That correct, the brake bulb COULD have been a standard 1156 bulb, but rather Mini, in its infinite wisdom, decided to use a fancy alternate bulb and an adapter instead of a regular 1156 bulb that is used literally everywhere else on the car. In fact, the turn signal bulb and reversing bulb are both 1156. AND, the regular non-LED tail lights are also 1156 for all bulbs. In fact, if you look at the parts diagram again, you can see the little adapter, conveniently without a part number associated with it:
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...6808a7d410.jpg


That being said, I was not happy with the output of the H21W LED bulbs, so I put the OEM bulbs back in, and will run those until I can find some 1156 LEDs to swap in. At least now I know that regular 1156 bulbs will fit in there...

My new LED bulbs came in, so time for a follow up. I got some pictures this time, too.

Just a recap, I have the pre-LCI "LED" tail lights. While Mini refers to them as "LED" version, only the running lights are LED. The rest of the bulbs are regular halogen filament bulbs. Turns out, however, that the bulb carrier for the LED version is the same as the non-LED tail light version. As such, the brake bulbs do not have to be the fancy H21W style bulb. If you remove the bulb adapter, a regular 1156 bulb will drop right in. My only guess for this adapter is to prevent the heat from the 1156 bulb from melting anything. But, this is only a guess.

My car now sports 1156 LED plug-n-play bulbs for all rear tail light duties.

And, these plug in LED bulbs I picked up from Amazon are B R I G H T. I about blinded myself when I unlocked the car in the garage this morning. I happened to be looking at the turn signal when I hit the remote button, and it made me see spots for a few moments.

These are the bulbs I chose:
I snagged two sets of Red for the brake and turns signals, and a set of White for the reversing lights.

Some pics:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...ea3bbe138.jpeg
Here is the H21W bulb in the light carrier

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...1282b1f50.jpeg
The infamous H21W bulb and adapter removed from the carrier

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H21W bulb next to a plug-n-play 1156 LED bulb

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...689d5ab2f.jpeg
The 1156 plug-n-play LED bulb mounted into the tail light bulb carrier. A perfect fit.

Smoke side markers and LED bulbs:
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...1fcac1095.jpeg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...c41ebc547.jpeg

No vehicle updates, just driving around enjoying the crap out of this car.

Here it is looking good at a recent company car show:
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...384b8fde05.jpg

As posted in another thread:
The bushing added just a slight whiff of vibration at idle, but added much needed throttle response. Since my F60 has the 8-speed automatic, throttle response seemed to be lacking. This bushing helped. I am noticing a bit of jerkiness on Sport+ up shifts. Daily driving shifts seem smoother. Where I see the biggest benefit is in the corners when I give it some throttle. Keeping the transmission in Sport+ Manual mode, I can now feather the throttle in the corners and feel the drivetrain responding.

Yesterday, I swapped out my lug bolts for lug studs. Went with a 14mm x 12mm conversion so I could use 12x1.5 lug nuts. Studs are long enough for me to run the 15mm spacers required for my winter setup, too. Now I just need to get the bend fixed on one of my winter wheels and I'll be ready for the snow.

This is the kit I used:
https://motorsporthardware.com/produ...-of-lugs=5-Lug

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...0d94eae0c.jpeg

Added OEM splash guard "mud flaps" to the car over the weekend. Despite Mini claiming they don't work with the JCW kit, there was nothing during the install that gave me pause think I would have to modify anything. They mounted right up with no issue.

Also, while I was in the garage, I took care of another thing that was bugging me... I removed the "COUNTRYMAN" letters from the rear hatch. Looks sooo much cleaner around back now. I'll have to run a polisher over the lettering area once the weather gets better, but for now it looks pretty good. I think once Spring hits, I'll get to removing the "All4" badges from the doors.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...4e3855101.jpeg
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https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...1a62c31bb.jpeg

Bought some roof rack cross bars from Erkul. They do the job.

And, whooo boy, this car is fun :thumbsup:

Added some JCW logo door lights from China. They were cheap, so I won't feel bad if they don't last too long.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.nor...a1fa6b734.jpeg

Like it

What's your opinion on the b48 engine ??? I really really been wanting to get into something similar but I had very little time to drive it and didn't get to tinker with it.
I love that interior on yours. Those seats are beautiful.