Converting an r53 to JCW for STX
 

I am thinking about getting an r53 to compete in STX and I have a lead on a 2003 Mini Cooper S with a JCW supercharger on it. I am wondering what it will take to make it legal in STX.

I know that if I upgrade one part of the JCW kit, then I have to install all of it but I can't figure out what all of it means. I know there are supercharger and head differences. I can't tell if there are required trim or body changes that would be prohibitively expensive. It looks like most of the rest of the updates are things that are fairly free in STX so I don't need most of it.

Does a 2002-2004 have a different kit than a 2005-2006?

It looks to me like you could convert a mini cooper s to an STX legal JCW by just installing the supercharger, head, and intercooler cover. The rest of the jcw tuning kit consists of parts that are free to change in STX

I am not 100% clear on the legality of dealer installed options and this seems like a bit of a stretch. If this doesn't work, I will continue my quest to find a JCW with no sunroof.

The JCW Tuning Kit wasn't available as a factory option until November 2005 builds.

I was wondering about changing my MCS to the JCW kit as well. It's not really fair having the same car in the same class where one has ~20 more hp out of the box. As far as I know, the JCW has a ported head, larger fuel injectors, and a 17% pulley (along with CAI, exhaust, but those you can already swap out in STX).

Does anyone have any thoughts on the legality of porting the head myself? I would much rather do that than get a brand new head.

The JCW pulley is around 11%, not 17%. Also, make sure you have an actual JCW supercharger and not a face lift "JCW" supercharger. The FL super chargers are the same Teflon coated "JCW" superchargers with a regular(0%) pulley.

I read up on this a bit more in the last few months. Pretty much, you need to convince a judge somewhere that the expensive aero bits on the JCW are optional on dealer installed JCW kits.

The engine stuff is easy but fairly expensive. Probably in the $4-5K range. You can get a reasonable high miles JCW in the $6-7K range It isn't really worth it to swap things over.

You can't port the head and stay in STX.

Are you talking about the bumpers and side skirts? If so, the aero kit was an option for all MINI's, R50's included. There wasn't a JCW body kit for the first generation. There were also two optional wings, the JCW wing, and the rarer aero wing. These are different from the GP wing.