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Just bought a 2015 JCW roadster with 4200 miles. This will be my build thread.
Story time. So first off. I owned a 2017 f56 jcw. Auto trans. It was fun. But had to sell it last June. Fast forward to this month. I was chasing this car for a month. It popped up late one evening as I was browsing minis on carmax. I thought the mileage was a typo. I said omg its the rarest of the rare. I must have it. Reserved it immediately. Visit the dealer in the morning. Go over some financing. I said sounds good. Hold it for me right now. I just want to talk to my credit union. Well I went home that day. Looked at the car listing again. And when a car is on hold at carmax the price says "N/A" well this was showing the price 😐 immediately I call the store manager. "Hey can you make sure that car is held for me? It looks available online" a few taps of his keyboard he says "yup all good. Sometimes it takes a while for the site to update" fair enough. I go in about 3 days later to seal the deal. Since holidays and the weekend ate up some time. Now suddenly the roadster shows its in transit to Pennsylvania from Georgia. I said wtf. The manager looks into it. "Oh it's just an automatic inventory adjustment. No worries. When it gets to PA. We will setup shipping to our store" a week later it arrives in Pennsylvania. Manager calls that store. Turns out it was a lie. Somehow it never got held for me. And someone scooped it up and had it shipped to their local store. I am beyond angry. Theres nothing they can do. So days go by. And apparently the customer never even arrived to look at it. I am watching online like a hawk. Refreshing the listing like I was waiting for a ps5 restock. Lol. And then BAM it's available online. Instantly I click ship it. And done.
after a few more hiccups. I won't get into. It was finally mine.
Original window sticker and sales invoices. As well as all service receipts. Were in a folder in the glovebox. So I laminated the window sticker.
Here are some pics the day I got it on January 4th. And some pics from today. I added some Rotiform las-r wheels. JCW strut bar. JB+ module and red mirror caps.
Next week it's going in for paint correction and ceramic coat. As well as full front end Xpel paint protection film.
forgot to mention future plans. Honestly, I am going to drive the hell out of it. I know some would swear keep the mileage low. But I want to drive it, Thats what I bought it for. I needed to downsize to one car. I have no kids. So this will be fine for me.
Future mod plans:
Tint windows
LED OEM Mini Rally lights
JCW alcantara steering wheel
red GP2 brake ducts
GP2 rear diffuser
GP2 under tray
Coolerworx shifter
Carbon ECS intake.
larger intercooler
intercooler piping to delete the noisemaker and resonator
colder plugs
catless downpipe
tune
black out all the chrome including the beltline
Maybe blackout the roll bar halos. havent decided
carbon duckbill style wing that retains the active function.
Coilovers
maybe larger sway bars
Some bushing upgrades as they go bad.
It won't happen all at once. But I will slowly chip away at the list. Can't wait for top down weather.
Ill take some more pics in a week or 2. when I have the ceramic coat all done and the PPF installed.
Amazing/time capsule find! I can only imagine the stress the dealer put you through but so good to read it ended well. I get the sense this car has gone to the right home. Enjoy!!
Congratulations! That's awesome it all worked out in the end.
On your mod list, I would prioritize the factory stuff like the steering wheel, diffuser, ducts, lights, etc. before it goes NLA. The 1st gen JCW stuff is pretty much gone and the 2nd gen stuff for your car is probably not too far behind.
Congratulations! That's awesome it all worked out in the end.
On your mod list, I would prioritize the factory stuff like the steering wheel, diffuser, ducts, lights, etc. before it goes NLA. The 1st gen JCW stuff is pretty much gone and the 2nd gen stuff for your car is probably not too far behind.
Agreed. That's the plan. Already ordered the blackline taillights. Gp2 stuff is next then the steering wheel.
Nice find. I think 2015 was the last year for the Coupe/Roadster. I traded my 2014 JCW Coupe last April for $11k on my current JCW Clubman. I still have the sticker though. It was $41k , had the AT not the stick, and the factory Recaro seats. It was a great car.
Got paint correction. Ceramic coat. And xpel paint protection film on the front. Also added blackline tails. Black tail trim. Blackline side markers. Doing the door handles and front end chrome bits this week.
Got paint correction. Ceramic coat. And xpel paint protection film on the front. Also added blackline tails. Black tail trim. Blackline side markers. Doing the door handles and front end chrome bits this week.
That looks great and was one of the best investment you could’ve done. I use Xpel tint as well on all my cars and absolutely love it. Did you do the headlights with it too? Which company did you used for ceramic?
That looks great and was one of the best investment you could’ve done. I use Xpel tint as well on all my cars and absolutely love it. Did you do the headlights with it too? Which company did you used for ceramic?
Ceramicpro 9H and topcoat. Plus ceramic pro textile on the roof.
When I first started looking for a new car, after having the same BMW station wagon for the last 16 years, I decided fairly quickly on the Clubman S with manual transmission, as having a manual was first priority. I have started doing some modifications on it. However when I saw the Roadster and Coupe I feel in love. I had a 2002 Audi TT Roadster for a couple of years which I had to sell because of a brain tumor and other health issues (all well now, vision back and all, hallelujah!)
Since I spent less than I had anticipated for the Clubman, I decided if I should ever find a Roadster used, I would go ahead and get it as I have always missed that Audi. (And I wanted a manual which meant the pickings for used Audi TTs were pretty slim as well as being much older, more miles and more money).
Months and months went behind. Thought I had found it in Texas in Feb but salesmen were working from home during that horrid winter storm and another salesman sold it before my salesman got in to formalize the deal. If it was meant to be, I said to myself it will happen.
I was just about to change the settings on AutoTrader as finding what I had come to call my "unicorn" seemed impossible and was tired of all the emails. That very day my unicorn was listed! Today it passed its prepurchase inspection. The paperwork is being FedExed to me and I will immediately pay as I want to make sure it doesn't somehow slip away. Because if I lost this one I would be so so disappointed. It cost a bit more than I had hoped, but hey it has only 13,000 miles,
So if all goes well I will join you as a Roadster owner in the next week. It has 17" wheels now and may change that out, but plan to drive it for a few months before making any but some slight cosmetic changes, because like you I want to kill the chrome (I think). What do you think about changing from 17" to 18"? Benefits? Detriments? Recommend or not?
I would love to know more about your experience with the Roadster.....actually anyone who reads this and has an opinion/experience with one and wants to share would be greatly appreciated. I realize how blessed I am to have the Clubman for everyday and the Roadster for warm weather play. My life experiences have resulted in me being well aware of my good fortune as well as grateful. The unicorn. Fingers crossed that this Roadster will soon be in my garage. 2015 JCW Roadster
What a great find! Drive it and love it for a while before making any changes. The car is plenty quick for me so I would start with cosmetic things first. Keep us posted on your progress.
Good idea, my wallet is starting to whine! I will have to wait and see it, but my first thought was to cover all chrome with either black or carbon fiber look (and if black then have to decide between matt and shiny piano black). The cosmetic mods I can do myself and are usually not too pricey. KC
So glad this worked out and you were able to buy that 2015 JCW Roadster. The Roadster and Coupe are really special to drive and there really is nothing quite like an open-top small car.
As far as mods go, I would just enjoy the drive and leave the appearance alone for a while. The JCW variants like yours already look fantastic and the chrome makes it look much more "special" given these are rare to begin with so it's nice to see such a clean example (2 of them, in this thread). And it's highly personal of course but there is no need to be afraid of chrome especially on a black car. Ties in nicely with the silver hood stripes and the wraparound belt line gives the open cockpit more definition when the roof is down.
I know what it is to enjoy personalizing and modding our cars though... so one thing that would really finish it off would be the factory driving lights. And you can justify those because it's function+form!
Unless you are purely a city driver (and even that), don't bother yourself in spending money on 18" wheels. You won't gain any more traction (you might actually loose some in corners), you'll add weight which isn't great for these cars, And you'll get a hit on comfort. Imho 17" is a good ratio for these cars. 18" is just for show and you'll loose on driving fun... which would be a dam shame with a roadster.
If you're dying to spend money put it towards a good set of tires
I just came back from a drive on country roads with lots of twists, no shoulders and trees about every 100 feet right next to the road. In other words screw up and go off the road and without a shoulder and the average drop you may hit one of those big beautiful trees! First time with sun and the top down, perfect conditions best sums it up. So much fun to drive, but just like my Clubman I hate the bloody tires! Honest to pete I wondered if I would even realize that the car had run flats and the answer is an unequivocal yes I do. They just jitter and scitter for lack of a better word. I never feel planted to the road and they do this funny catch in some of the curves that I have never experienced in any car ever. It is like you are turning, it is hugging the road and then jolt, straight ahead before you retain contact again. Really bizarre and at first thought it was either the road or my driving, but happened on just about every decent sized curve, regardless of road condition and regardless of speed driven. For just a second it felt like someone grabbed the wheel out of your hand. I feel like I am on a just broke horse prancing around who plans to give me a boot any second. The '21 Clubman wasn't nearly as bad so perhaps there has been improvement in tire technology from 2015 to 2021. Immediate difference after switching to Michelin Pilot 4 S tires on the Clubman S and love the way it handles now.
Since the tires are 6 years old and a couple are most definitely near to when they should be replaced anyway, I will get a complete new set. Only Michelin doesn't make the Pilot 4 S in a 17" tire so will have to go back to analysis paralysis and over research tires! They do have the Pilot Super Sport in a 17" but I am not getting the same kind of review and others may be a better choice. How I wish you could test drive the tires!
I could go up to an 18" wheel and then could get the 4S, but the recommendations from the forum owners were fairly universal that doing so would further compromise comfort with little performance enhancement. I do have an extra set of OZ 18" wheels but they are 215/45R 18 and the car specs say to go with 205/45R 18. That is only 8mm difference and would throw the speed off a tiny bit in accurately registering so think it is doable. But they are in graphite and I really love the black wheels that came with the car. (By the way the OZ Alleggerita HLT in Matt Graphite 18" set are currently for sale on Ebay, but if you are a forum member and contact me I will drop the price even further down.)
I am leaning towards sticking with 17" and as my top two contenders neither come in that size I would again appreciate your opinion on what to select. The roadster won't be driven in the cold weather months so summer performance tires are only being considered. Started research and so far the following have good expert and consumer reviews on performance and ride comfort even though none of them are rated as highly as the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. What would you add to the list? What would you definitely avoid? What would be your first choice? And given I can't get my tire of choice on the 17" wheel would that alter your opinion of whether I should go up to an 18" one?
Only Michelin doesn't make the Pilot 4 S in a 17" tire so will have to go back to analysis paralysis and over research tires! They do have the Pilot Super Sport in a 17" but I am not getting the same kind of review and others may be a better choice.
I am leaning towards sticking with 17" and as my top two contenders neither come in that size I would again appreciate your opinion on what to select.
I would go up to 215/45/17 and get the Pilot Sport 4S.
Don't get the Pilot Super Sport. They are the best tires I've driven with. Really awesome summer tires.
Big problem though, they don't wear evenly on smaller cars. I have had them on the mini and on our other car and they really wear out on the soft side and don't last because you can't even get the middle to wear out before the inside corner is shot.
I'm sure very wide tire (let say on a Ferrari for example) don't have that issue. But on smaller format there isn't enough hard rubber to support the tires across. Not mentioning the majority of small cars have accentuated rear camber for stability. These tires really don't do well with that.
Other than that. Boy I loved those tires while it lasted (3 times was not a charme here)
I have the Michelin Pilot Sport AS2 and those have been awesome as well. Not the same but they perform very well and are all season-ish.
That's awesome it all worked out in the end.
