Well, I did it. I am the proud owner of the JCW Suspension package on my 2008 Mini Cooper S.

One of the things that I could never get a conclusive answer to when I was researching this package was what visual difference in wheel gap the package makes. I read a hundred times that it was a half an inch - but I never quite could wrap my head around how much of a difference that makes.

The answer is "a bit but not really noticeable". See the attached photo for a side by side comparison.

The same can not be said for the handling which is like night and day. No cabin roll - just tight smooth corners and lightning response. It really feels like what a Mini *should* drive like now. I was never terribly satisfied with the stock suspension on the corners - but the JCW feels fine - well worth the money.

How's the ride? I heard that it was rougher but I like it better - the car's feet are always on the ground and it feels so much more in control over bumps. For the record, I use 17" non-run flat tires and light (16 lb) wheels. It is a great combination.

 

Give the suspension a little while to settle. True, 1/2 inch isn't much and is not nearly as noticeable. I love my JCW suspension. I feel like I have much greater controllability now. I works great at the track too!

CONGRATS! Enjoy!

 

How many hours of labor was it for install? I was all set to get them installed two weeks ago but when I asked for labor prices for the install, my jaw nearly dropped. The dealer I regularly go to for oil changes and where I had my tuning kit installed was gonna charge for 12 hours of labor at $170/hour. Another one would do it for 7 hours of labor at $164/hour. Geez, think I'm gonna settle for aftermarket suspension parts.

 

7 hours - not sure how long it really took. My experience is that Mini dealers go by the book for installs regardless of how long it really takes.

But I do have to reiterate - it feels fantastic on the corners (and on the straights).

 

Thanks for the info. So it looks like 7 hours is the target time for install. Guess I was just put off from the first dealer I asked which was the closest who was gonna charge for 12 hours. A 5 hour difference at $170/hr is huge. Yeah, I really want to stick to oem JCW stuff just so warranty won't be an issue plus the body roll, like you mentioned, seems to be the only thing right now that would finally put the car in perfect form for the way and roads I drive.

 

darmog: couldn't agree more. I am happy with the rest of the MCS package - but I could never warm to the stock suspension. The JCW suspension is great and its nice not to mess with my warranty - still has a few years to go...

 

I got mine installed at Grassroots Garage for $350. (BTW, it took about 3 hours. I can't imagine it's that much harder to installation the R56)You might want to look some where else to get the JCW suspension installed. You can probably save money ordering from Morristown Mini as well.

 

Darmog, to give you a reference price for install, Morristown Mini quotes that they will install the kit for $470. You might be able to start negotiating with the dealers in your area starting at that price and see where that gets you.

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...catalogid=5277

 

Does that include the alignment?

 

Yes - in my case, the price included the alignment.

A couple of other points:

1. Its definately worth negotiating based on Morristown Min's prices. I got over $300 off the cost of the package based on this strategy - even though I am located in Canada.

2. Be careful of getting 3rd party garages to install JCW parts. I think that voids the warranty on them. I am pretty sure that it specifies that a Mini dealer needs to do the installation in order to have the JCW mods covered by the full warranty of the car.

 

lol apart from the stupid $170/hr labour price, but I'm sorry, it does NOT take 12 hours to install shocks, springs, and swaybars. Rear bar is done in an hour, shocks and springs in 1.5hrs, and the front swaybar i'm not sure, but surely not more than 2 hours. BMW arithmetic states that 1+1.5+2=12. Hilarious

 

Yeah - no question that they gouge on labor...I wanted to keep my remaining 3 years of warranty intact so a few hundred bucks is the price you pay. My suspicion is that it takes them 4 hours max including an alignment. 12 hours is way too much - 7 is not good either but a lot cheaper than 12.

 

The front sway bar is a b!tch, but I'm not sure how long it takes. They have to drop the front subframe to do it.

 

Which dealer did the install? Yaletown or Richmond? Did you buy the kit from Morristown and had it shipped up?

 

+1 on my R53 it took about 3 hours maybe a little bit more.

 

Yaletown. I did plan to order the parts from Morristown Mini - but eventually had Yaletown bring them in. There was about $325 (CDN) difference in the end between that option and getting the parts from Morristown, shipping them to the border and picking them up - when you included shipping, customs, duty and tax.

I was totally OK with the border option but I could not get a definitive answer from Mini on whether US ordered parts were covered by my Mini Canada warranty - while everyone was conclusive that Canada ordered parts were covered. It sounded like a warranty argument in the making down the line - so I "invested" the extra 3 C notes on piece of mind.