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Though I keep 'tweaking' the spec.... Mine will be similar on strictly street driven 2006 PW/Bk JCW.
Wondering about the WMW tune... any experience with it?
12mm spacers?? How is that on clearing fenders/liners at full compression in the full-arc swing of the steering with normal camber?
All the maintenance you've listed.. an will get the upgrade to the ATI overdrive balancer that with the factory JCW ... And re-seal/gasket all the normal problem areas.
Clutch is still good on mine... but when it needs it... will get a factory dual mass and WaveTrac installed. Of course, fuel filter, injector cleaned and flow checked/matched, and full cooling system flush, trans service and SC service.
I've got the factory spoiler painted a match to a very close CR SW900 Vinyl for the roof.. CF hood Scoop, mirrors and tailgate handle.
Piano Black dash and door card 'circles' and a stunning set of 2008 Redwood-Lounge leather heated seats.
I'm not a fan of the Aero package... but may use the black honeycomb upper grille on the standard bumper with the std mid 'grille" painted black with the bar done in JCW-CR. I'd like to paint the side skirts to match the PW but keep the black wheel well and bumper trims.
Black with red pin hood stripes (R56 JCW style).
R98's... new, as the refurb costs nearly as much as new... when I factor in selling the existing ones. Shod them with some Nitto NeoGens... love them for balance of performance, 3 season use and great traction (beyond MY limit)... 'Winter' will get set of 16" factory twin-spokes with some Vredestein Quatrac tires.
Zero lowering for me as I feel it detracts from performance on a street driven car in the real world of D2D driving... and saves on damage to the car. So... Koni FSD's with the same WMW rear sway bar. I saw a super HD front skid plate somewhere a while back for the R53's in FB group or something... would like to go with that.
Factory JCW brakes completely gone through with new master and full caliper rebuilds as this is the most important thing on a car IMO. I have new shifter cables and the craven shifter busing that I'll install.
I've not tried the Akebono pads... how do you like them? What rotors do you use?
New 5K Osram HID bulbs.... 80w 5000K Osram High beams... Super high output GTR LED's in the fog position, LASFIT 28W LEDs on the turns, GTR reverse bulbs in the taillights, 3rd brake light gets a pulse-module and add another bright LED in the fog lamp position with clear early model reverse housing. R56 LED driving lights using the switch in the toggle panel for the rear fog as trigger
3M Crystalline tint: 40% on rear 3 70% on the doors/Windshield... Some PDR on the body and repaint on the hood/bumper (insurance).... 9H Ceramic and PPF full on hood/bumper etc.
Looking for a nicely done steering wheel...and like some of the offerings from Guardian Designs ... perf and smooth leather, round, with triple red stitching and no noon marker... CF trims.
Stereo... I like the looks of the factory... the HK works well, will do 2Ω DVC Kicker Comp R subs in the rear sides, and some nice matched, HK compatible 2Ω fronts also... I heard this setup last year... felt it was best bang for bux... and use AUX input for BT or hardwire for music/phone source. Sure there are audiophile systems with big subs in the back.. but that basic upgrade got to 90% of 'audiophile' IMO... with a stealth stock look and used the factory HK amp which is well matched to the factory head-unit.
She's got 100k 'soft' miles... and will last till I'm dead giving me lots of smiles.
Have the rest of the 'stable' sold... will keep R56 and R53... and will be very similar to each other. I have a nice set of Advan RS2's and BBS cross spokes.. both pretty darn light... but the style of the factory wheels is just pretty darn hard to beat IMO... Although the Sparco Terra 16" for the 'winter' tires does look pretty 'tough"
*Maybe, if I can find a nice set... R95's with some P-Zero 220 stickies on em for fun twisties.
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WMW TUNE: Had it on my previous 2004 JCW - much smoother power delivery than the OEM JCW tune
SPACERS: No problems at all - on S-Lites 12mm are perfect. With R98's (on a previous R53) I had 15mms
AKEBONO: Had it on the last 3 Mini's - superb. Zero dust!
Basically, every single mod I'm doing I've had on one of my previous R53's!!
Championship Red seats have red piping only (all black otherwise) - the Damson Red is a darker shade of red for the piping and also has some of the stitching in red.
Thanks for the JCW info guys; I just realized that about the brakes not being red myself after looking at the photos on a monitor instead of a cell phone! But at least that makes more sense now as to why the JCW package isn't listed on the build sheet. Is there a quick way to identify the JCW head being installed? I'll be looking at the car tomorrow morning if it's still available (waiting to hear back). He did send me some recent service records (OEM harmonic balancer replacement being the stand out, which apparently caused CEL when the original failed). Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have any records from his father's ownership. A dealer "PPI" indicates that the car needs suspension overhaul, motor mounts, power steering lines, and coolant system overhaul at the very least. If the body and cosmetics are good though, I'm not at all worried about the mechanicals - I love doing that stuff. NM and AZ car its whole life, so just gotta check for sun damage really. Wish me luck!
Wow, this thread is just exploding lately. Good stuff, good info. Had my R53 JCW out on a nice drive along the coast and through the twisties today....my face is sore from smiling all day at that supercharger whine.
@Chamberlin1 I love this Royal Grey JCW. Very stealth looking with the slick top, no stripes and 16" wheels! Glad to hear you are checking it out. Although I feel the need to sound the alarm to let you know that **this MINI is not green** - in case you missed that part. You just can't stay away from those R53s, lol.
Please keep us posted with what you find out. I hope it proves to be the good buy we think it is. Good luck!
Wow, this thread is just exploding lately. Good stuff, good info. Had my R53 JCW out on a nice drive along the coast and through the twisties today....my face is sore from smiling all day at that supercharger whine.
@Chamberlin1 I love this Royal Grey JCW. Very stealth looking with the slick top, no stripes and 16" wheels! Glad to hear you are checking it out. Although I feel the need to sound the alarm to let you know that **this MINI is not green** - in case you missed that part. You just can't stay away from those R53s, lol.
Please keep us posted with what you find out. I hope it proves to be the good buy we think it is. Good luck!
Was gonna take mine out for a drive along the coast too, then I realized there’s 6” of slush crap on the roads, and my car is locked up in a storage container...doh! I hate the northeast. Jealous.
Wow, this thread is just exploding lately. Good stuff, good info. Had my R53 JCW out on a nice drive along the coast and through the twisties today....my face is sore from smiling all day at that supercharger whine.
@Chamberlin1 I love this Royal Grey JCW. Very stealth looking with the slick top, no stripes and 16" wheels! Glad to hear you are checking it out. Although I feel the need to sound the alarm to let you know that **this MINI is not green** - in case you missed that part. You just can't stay away from those R53s, lol.
Please keep us posted with what you find out. I hope it proves to be the good buy we think it is. Good luck!
No kidding, I should add it to my garage! Chamberlin1 keeps the greens and I will take the dark silvers! 😂
Championship Red seats have red piping only (all black otherwise) - the Damson Red is a darker shade of red for the piping and also has some of the stitching in red.
Curious what you find out, I was talking to the seller but didn't get a lot of confidence about the previous maintenance and (more confusing) this comment: my Dad installed a tuner for the throttle response.
It's a good looking car though it almost certainly will need some bushings and seals.
Hoping to get some feedback... I'm in the process of buying a used 2007 MCS. When I ran the carfax, the first owner took delivery of this car in 2009 with 12,834 miles.
Does anybody have any insight as to why this might be? And how come the the dealer that first took delivery of the car a Ford dealership?
Carfax isn’t always complete and accurate. Looks to be missing info from at least one owner. A MINI dealer service dept can probably help to fill in the blanks with the original in-service date and original MINI dealer.
