Well, I finally took the plunge today and confirmed delivery of a 2004 Pepper White
MCS w/ Black roof. It is currently in production I'm told, with a scheduled delivery date of late May. Needless to say, I'm highly anticipating the end of May. :smile:

My question is this:

I've been thinking about the JCW package for quite some time, but a voice in my head continues to say that I can obtain the same HP with my own mods, and save myself at least half of the amount of the JCW package. On the other hand, I will have a full warranty to fall back on, if needed, assuming I get the JCW package.

Also, are the driving lights really $700.00 installed, or is the dealer attempting to gouge me? Ouch.. ops:

Any opinions from the peanut gallery?

Many thanks,
-Justyn

 

I went for the Works kit and have no regrets. Also added K&N CAI.

For the rally lights one dealer quoted $895 and another quoted $795.

 

Well since you asked the peanut gallery.....

Our local club has lots of modded MCSs and we are blessed with an excellent shop here in the area that specializes in MINI mods. That said, one of our guys recently got his JCW MCS. He swears by it....says they must do some kind of trick with the ECU. Its very smooth. Based on that...and the warrantee business...I'd probably vote for "worth it." Full steam ahead, Justyn...and don't look back!!!!!

 

I have the Works, love it and find it to be worth the expense. :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: The value is definitely there and there will soon be add ons to the Works increasing hp to 225, plus JCW suspension and brakes will also be available soon.
Have yet to do the driving lights but am exploring the possibilities. There are lots of options and a wide range of prices. The issue may well become "The Warranty."

 

I was afraid of this -- you guys are awfully convincing. :smile:


Thanks for the replies!

-J

 

>>The value is definitely there and there will soon be add ons to the Works increasing hp to 225

Where is the info on the 25hp increase?

 

My dealer said they got a JCW kit asked to be removed, as it only dynoed 173 hp. I say get Randy Webb's 200 hp package for a third of the price.

 

One more quick question -- I was told the installed price was $5,500, is this correct?

Thanks so much!

 

>>One more quick question -- I was told the installed price was $5,500, is this correct?
>>
>>Thanks so much!

Yes, $4.5K plus 9-10 hours installation @$95-$100 per hour so that comes out in the $5.5K-$6K ballpark for everything (not including sales tax).

 

Also, the JCW is well worth the money if you want to keep your factory intact. All JCW components have been tested for thousands of miles so you'll know that the absolutely best is going into your car.


Congrats on your MCS order!

 

my dealer said 6200 for the kit and labor

 

Justyn,
Classic MINI installed my JCW last November $4,500 for the Kit and $1,275 labor to install. Same price today

I have the driving lights, too. Paid $700, installed. You can buy them for $320 fromClassic MINI Parts, but it was more tha I wanted to do to install the lights and run the wiring loom, etc. When they're lit, you can see real well at night!

Classic is shipping 13 MINIs to CA next week in two transporters. 3 or 4 have JCW's installed
Charlie

 

$6200 If I have to do it over, I might not get the JCW. Why? You can get comparable power with 15% pulley, CAI, and exhaust at well under $2000 installed. True that the warranty could be a potential issue, but I'm in an area where the dealership is very understanding when it comes to aftermarket mods. The warranty will only void the installed part and not the engine entirely. The dealership here even installs pulleys and other performance parts for customers. With that said, I will consider JCW if I'm in an area where MINI dealers are strict about aftermarket mods. On the other hand, if I'm where I am now, I'll think twice. After all, $6000 is no pocket change for most people!

JCW is a well balace package with hours of testing and research, resulting in a very smooth driving car. However, with a custom ECU tuning like Unichip, all the performance upgrades are taken into consideration during custom mapping to maximize the car's performance.

In conclusion, I'll probably do the 15% pulley, CAI, Denso IK22, exhaust, and custom ECU to optimize and smooth out the performance. If $ is not an issue, JCW is a great package though.

_________________

 

My JCW was $4500.00 plus $1104.00 for the install, $5,604.00 total. A bit pricey but I have never regretted it, it is a real blast. The job wa done by Mini of Hartford.

The only problem with the JCW upgrade is that it makes the standard brake set up inadequate. Now if I intend on keeping the car for any length of time a big brake package is required.

But before I do the brakes I want to add that BFP Cold Air Intake, its a beauty!

 

>>$6200 If I have to do it over, I might not get the JCW. Why? You can get comparable power with 15% pulley, CAI, and exhaust at well under $2000 installed. True that the warranty could be a potential issue, but I'm in an area where the dealership is very understanding when it comes to aftermarket mods. The warranty will only void the installed part and not the engine entirely. The dealership here even installs pulleys and other performance parts for customers. With that said, I will consider JCW if I'm in an area where MINI dealers are strict about aftermarket mods. On the other hand, if I'm where I am now, I'll think twice. After all, $6000 is no pocket change for most people!
>>
>>JCW is a well balace package with hours of testing and research, resulting in a very smooth driving car. However, with a custom ECU tuning like Unichip, all the performance upgrades were taken into consideration during custom mapping to maximize the car's performance.
>>
>>In conclusion, I'll probably do the 15% pulley, CAI, Denso IK22, exhaust, and custom ECU to optimize and smooth out the performance. If $ is not an issue, JCW is a great package though.
>>


This is a good point. The nearest dealer to me is over 4 hours away, and I'm not sure how "friendly" they will be to mods of any kind. I ran into the same situation with my 2002 New Beetle Diesel. It is modded quite a bit, including being chipped, sway bars, springs, brakes, etc. The dealership was fine with this, and even installed most of the parts for me. After moving to our current location though, I found the dealer here to be quite the opposite.

Anyway, $5,500 is definitely not a meager sum, so this will require some additional thought....

Cheers,
-J

 

I'ld be a bit ubhappy too if my JCW dyno showed 173hp. I'm doing the dyno May 29 and will be at the dealer June 1 asking for a remap if I think the stock results are less than acceptable.
So far, I think it feels exceptionally strong. Definitely needs big brakes, a LSD, perhaps a lightweight clutch to balance it all out, and the JCW header and CAI for more power. :smile:

 

Depending on the dyno type, it's typical to see a JCW with "whp" in the 170's. Considering 11 - 15 % transfering lost between the crank and the wheels, 173 whp is actually very close to the 200 hp claim. :smile:

_________________

 

Without the Works kit, the 'Cooper' in 'Mini Cooper S' is just empty branding.

Not that there's anything so terrible about empty branding - it drives a huge percentage of our gdp. :smile:

 

If spending the extra money does not keep you up at night I say go for it. If I had the $5500, I'd drop it on a JCW kit. Think about resale value, if you saw a JCW MCS and a highly modded MCS, you would probably shoot for the JCW because you know it was dealer sanctioned and anything that messed up could be remedied for free (assuming its 3yrs old or less). Other mods put on by mechanics that may be more qualified than those at the dealerships, seem to scare people in the resale market because they feel like there is no remedy for anything that goes wrong other than taking it to a mechanic and spending lots of money(especially those that are not mechanically gifted). Sure this makes no sense, which is why people selling their Minis take the aftermarket products off and sell them separately. So if you have the extra money laying around I say no questions go for it. Anything that can set your mini apart from others is a good thing. If you have lots of extra money laying around I can also give you my address, haa. Either way congrats on the new car, PW is my second fav color and if I win the lottery I'd get one too.

 

The JCW wasn't available when I ordered my '02 MCS. If money is no object.....fine......but remember to add the cost of upgrading your brakes. I have added a cold air intake and a 15% pulley which has provided more than enough additional power for any situation I have encountered in daily driving........for under $600. It's quite likely that you'll come across other UPGRADES that you'll want too, like........tires, wheels, short shifter, grill, wipers and lots of other little things that you don't anticipate when you drive your Mini out of the showroom. If you plan to keep the car for the long haul, the warranty won't be an issue if you sell it. Try to determine what your needs are given your situation and try not to be lured soley by the glamour of the JCW.

 

In short Socrates......if you want it, get it. If you don't want it, don't get it......pretty simple really.......