I have an 11/06 build, no JCW brakes either

 

I have come to the conclusion this is a total urban legend. I don't care who has said it and what they have seen I have not found one single MINI owner that can prove it directly. It's always a "I was told this" or "my friend saw them on another MINI" type of answer.

I have spent time in the parts department and on real-OEM trying to find proof and never had. If there was such a change there would have to be a parts listing for the insurance companies and most likely to keep track for replacements when needed in the future. If I remember, you can't use a performance upgrade part as a regular OEM replacement part. Not positive though. Anyway, no parts change has ever been noted other then the already mentioned changes for the lug size.

Frankly, I am too the point that I have to call BS.

 

Strange that MF and Whiteroofradio made these claims.

 

It's not as strange after you've spoken with an owner of a car with the brakes or talked to a plant employee who put them on.

 

Ok fine. but then why can no one else find any info. I had the parts manager of the dealer I work with call MINI Technical Support and they know nothing of this. Also I'll reiterate there is nothing in the ETK or in TSB's to show this happened.

Not calling you a liar Gabe, but maybe the plant employee embelished something and possibly the owner of the car has a JCW package they didn't realize they ordered. Show us cars in the wild with the different brakes please.

 

Can someone tell me what to look for so I can check my brakes? I have a mid-November build and would love to know if I have them or not.

Thanks.

Dean.

 

Just as a quick check of the accuracy/completeness of the ETK/TSB records, can you find anything there that documents the changeover from the Alpine Boost radio to the Siemens Boost radio, or the automatic inclusion of the AUX input on the late '06 convertibles, whether they were ordered with it or not? I figure it'll be a good spot-check, since we know for certain both of those running changes happened.

(The only other "weird" thing about my 2006 is that it was accidentally stamped with a 2007 VIN, but I *know* that was well-documented.. )

 

The problem with those items is they are functionally the same. You could use either radio and it would work the same. The aux input is an existing add-on part that could have come from the factory or not based on your options.

The JCW brakes (with non-marked, plain-jane calipers) is a different part. The calipers are different and the rotors are different.

I fully respect Gabe and believe he has seen and heard what he says. My concern is a plant employee could easily have embellished what he said and the car could have been one of only a couple or a one-off that got into the wild.

I really don't know but I have tried to validate this and keep coming up empty handed. I guess I just want proof.

 

For the Radio there are quite a few part #'s, they don't state Alpine or Seimens.

Just in the Boost CD Radio

Up to 09/02 has been superseded 3 times

Follow me here...

It started with 35-12-6-922-791 that was replaced with 95-12-6-914-662 that was then replaced with 65-12-6-917-522.

It gets real fun after 09/02

Then from 09/02 to 03/03 we have 65-12-6-921-966 which was replaced with 65-10-6-927-905 that can used from 09/02-03/04 but you could have 65-12-6-941-510 that was used from 09/02 - 07/04. From there we move to 65-12-6-943-462 for 07/04-09/04 or 65-12-6-949-729 that went to 01/05 or 65-12-6-961-276 taking us to 09/05 or 65-12-6-977-698 to 09/06. Only to be replaced by 65-12-9-115-662 or 65-12-9-136-412.

All that is just the Boost CD Radio

So yeah. MINI is pretty darn good at noting changes.

The problem with this alleged undocumented change is when one of these cars shows up for brake service. Tech notes build date, goes to parts guy for rotors. Parts Guy gives Tech the 276x22mm standard rotor. Tech hangs it and then wonders why the pads are hanging off the edge by 18mm. If they document radio changes this well then why would they not document a brake change, even if it is for a day or a certain range of VIN's. This is a safety issue as it would be very easy to install the wrong parts. Even the brake pad is a slightly different shape for the JVW, how would anyone know which pad to use if it's undocumented.

The addition of the Aux cable in late 06 R52's is not noted in the ETK, I've not looked at TSB's.

 

Gnatster, You hit the nail on the head. One of the biggest reasons after doing the legwork that I have to lead me to not believe this is not true. I have to simply call this urban legend. I had the parts guy digging all over the place for any info.

Easy to see the JCW but a tech will already know with the red calipers staring them in the face. The plain jane calipers would not be easily identified.

Oh we'll, I am getting JCW brakes for mine anyway so that will not be a problem.