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Got a new to me 03 JCW hardtop. Picked it up from a local high end car dealer with an immaculate service history and records, lots of upgrades, and 125k miles, for 9k out the door. Flawless interior, a few small nicks on the back bumper and otherwise perfect lightning blue on black. Runflat wheels replaced with an aftermarket brand that I'm not sure of, 4x hella rally lights tied to the high beams, every single option (xenons, cold weather, etc) apart from the sunroof, which I think the owner may have specifically requested to not have since, I don't see many Cooper S's without them?
It's got the full JCW package, JCW exhaust, JCW cold air intake and tune, MSD ignition, all urethane suspension bushings and motor mounts, front tower brace, stainless brake lines, slotted rotors, and lots of other things I'm sure I'm missing.
I did have a few questions. The car more or less behaves like it has an LSD (bucks and torque steers on bumpy roads at WOT,) but I don't see one added in the car's records, but I also don't see the record for the urethane bushings and motor mounts or a few of the other mods like the strut brace and MSD. Was a factory LSD an option for the JCW?
And second, the belt recently started squealing a tad on startup when it's wet outside. I bought the belt tensioner tool since I hear that tensioning it without the tool is a pain (and ebay has them for $30) but I am unsure what serpentine belt I need. I'm guessing I need a specific length belt for the drive input of the supercharger pulley? How can I tell if I have a 15%, 17%, etc?
We got my fiance an 08 Clubman S, and loved that car so much I started looking to replace my old miata commuter, which ended with the JCW. Fast forward a month and it looks like my 5 year older, 50k mile higher MINI is going to be the more reliable of the two (dealing with the n14 death rattle on the clubman right now)
I'll attach some pictures tomorrow, I just finished a waxing tonight.
*edit* as promised, pics. Does anyone have any idea what those wheels are? I didn't see any markings on the outside of the rim. have yet to take the wheels off and inspect the inside.
Last edited by Honeybadgers; 06-28-2016 at 11:34 AM.
Was the JCW intake a box setup similar to the OEM? I didn't know that. All I know is that the supercharger whine is fantastic through it.
are all r53 JCW's 15% from the factory?
And Mini/Mania, is the idler pulley required for the serpentine belt replacement? If so, is the tool you guys rent a special BMW tool, or is any old belt tool? I.E. is the serpentine belt tool the only one needed? I've only ever replaced serpentine belts on ford 7.3's and old 302's, where no special tool is needed.
Ah, gotcha. What are the non JCW then? 9? For future reference, if I wanted to up the boost to around 15%, the car requires a tune as well (assuming tuning cars is the same as OBD1 and earlier, I haven't "tuned" a non-carb motor since 2006, and even then it was only an OBDI SR20DET at the most modern.) does the car require a standalone/piggyback system or is the OBDII capable of being tuned by a dyno shop? Will the stock injectors/fuel pump handle 15%?
All these numbers are percentage reduction in diameter from the stock pulley, so stock's 0%. They're not PSI. The rule of thumb is that just a 15% pulley requires no tune nor changes to the fuel system.
Interesting, so the on board system will handle everything when it's still a relatively low boost number? it won't be off by a bit that can be corrected with a dyno tune? Far cry from the days of standalone ECM's and piggyback ECM's being mandatory for bumping the boost up on a bone stock SR20
what amount of boost pressure is the blower putting out at 11 and 15%, respectively?
Welcome! I just got back into an R53 a month ago myself Beautiful car, congrats! Your wheels look like Konig or OZ wheels.. not sure but here a listing that might help http://www.performanceplustire.com/b...h-red-undercut
Was the JCW intake a box setup similar to the OEM? I didn't know that. All I know is that the supercharger whine is fantastic through it.
are all r53 JCW's 15% from the factory?
And Mini/Mania, is the idler pulley required for the serpentine belt replacement? If so, is the tool you guys rent a special BMW tool, or is any old belt tool? I.E. is the serpentine belt tool the only one needed? I've only ever replaced serpentine belts on ford 7.3's and old 302's, where no special tool is needed.
this is what I bought. do I also need a special tool for the pulley removal (if that's necessary)?
To replace the serpentine belt, all you need it the belt tensioner tool and a small pin to keep the tensioner from extending. The tensioner tool is a MINI specific tool that pivots on the end of the tensioner allowing you to compress the spring. When the spring is compressed, a small tab with a hole in it will extend out from the spring - this is where you insert the pin to hold the tensioner in the compressed position. Mini Mania does not have a rental program for the tensioner tool.
The idler pulley on the Gen1 Cooper S is a 'fixed' pulley so there is no need to touch it unless the bearing is bad (not common), then you need to replace it.
06-28-2016, 12:13 AM
Beautiful car, congrats! Your wheels look like Konig or OZ wheels.. not sure but here a listing that might help http://www.performanceplustire.com/b...h-red-undercut
