Sorry if this is redundant, but I am looking at a 2010 JCW with 50K miles on it. What kind of issues should I be expecting in the next 20,000 miles. It does have the full maintenance warranty to 100,000 miles. Does that take all the worry out of the earlier motor?

 

Do you have a factory MINI CPO warranty ? If so , no worries. Just change the oil between 5,000-7,500 or sooner dependent on how much you drive and change the air filter, cabin filter, ..etc

 

Thanks!

 

Have someone look over it and check for oil and coolant leaks.

With 50k your due for spark plugs and a belt.

Then from now on run premium gas, change oil every 5k, and drive it hard.

 

Welcome.

 

So the first one I was looking at fell through and now I am chasing several others. As I look around, I am wondering what the driving difference between a JCW and an S are. I am looking at 2010 and 2011 models of both, but most are a distance from me as I live in Northern VT. Any advice on JCW vs S from a seat of the pants experience? Are the seats different in a JCW? Is there a reliability difference? From what I can tell, it's just a little more horsepower and I am guessing that is the more open exhaust and a little massaging of the head.

 

It depends on if its a factory JCW (fJCW) or a dealer installed kit. The kit is about $2000 add on. Air filter, exhaust, a tune and some stickers. The fJCW will include an aerokit, probably suspension, bigger brakes, beefier internal parts and the above. You can check by VIN or the dealer one has JCW on the tail pipes, the fJCW does not.

 

It factory JCW, not the trim kits. Motor, brakes, etc.
Where can I check the VIN number out? I haven't been able to find a link searching the forums.

 

Sorry, i was being dumb, coffee hadn't kicked in yet. Found a decoder online.
So now I am confused a little more.
When I run the numbers from the different cars I am looking at two out of three come back with S model, one comes back with Cooper S, USA and under development code is says R55 (JCW). This is for a 2010. When I run the number on a 2011 it comes back with John Cooper Works under the model.
Are the ones that say "S" dealer built JCW versions? Did the dealer version include the upgraded brakes? Because I can see the calipers on both versions and they are the larger red ones. I also thought the dealer S ones had the "S" badge on the back along with the JCW badge, not the singular JCW badge.
Any guidance you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi

 

The vin is how they left the factory. I would personally go for the factory JCW as it has more JCW bang for the buck. The engine internals are built different, where the s is an dealer installed option. The dealer would put the badges on the S as it is included in the kit. Here is the spec for the 56, but you'll get the idea. Brakes are easily upgraded but over $2000 to do so.

http://motoringfile.com/howto/JCW_De...talled_Kit.pdf