If all goes well, I'll be flying down to LA to pick up an 04 cooper S with full JCW package. I love modding cars and would like to get the cooper in the same speed range as my 540i-6 around town (basically knock off a second from 0-60 would be nice).

From what I understand though the JCW head has slightly better flow and the exhaust is good for another 5-10 hp, but the primary bump in power is really from the smaller pulley.

That being the case, am I really starting off from a better base starting with a JCW car? I can get a standard S for a bit less than what used JCW cars are running, so I'd have money for mods. Been reading a bit on mini2.com and it sounds like people are getting great results with the stock standard S head and smaller pulley, larger injectors, cool plugs, exhaust and ecu reflash - in some cases getting around ~220 whp..

Also is it true that the upgraded supercharger in the earlier 02-04 JCW models is used in the 2005 for the stock S?

220whp with those mods is *awful* optimistic. At the crank, maybe. What most people do is take each manufacturers' claims for individual parts and stack them. 8-9hp pulley+ 7-8 CAI + 9-10 ehaust + 30hp from ECU + stock hp == 220hp. The reality is much different, they're complimentary, not cumulative.

220whp Coopers typically have head, cam, pistons, and you're really approaching the top of that motor's streetable capabilities at that point. Realistically, CAI, custom ECU, pulley, cat-back, those mods should get you to 175-180whp, which will be plenty.

Let me advise against canned tunes as well. There's a lot of variance in the R53 engines, and what works well for one car will not work great on another. I had a MTH tune, and it was okay, but very rich. I talked to a very well-known tuner out here in Maryland, who's done plenty of MINI ECU custom tunes, and he said that the canned tunes are largely crap. FWIW, he also said that the various CAIs and exhausts are largely worthless with dyno results completely overblown by the manufacturers. The car sounds much better, but ultimately doesn't benefit from bolt-ons apart from the 15% pulley.

As to JCW, from what I've heard, the JCW feels better 'put-together' than a modded S, but only you can decide if that's worth it the premium. It sure as hell wasn't to me. I had a significantly modded '02 MCS, and I much preferred the sound to the JCW, and I kinda liked getting the work done to it.

Are you buying the blue / white one? I've been shopping for a MCS and have it boomarked. Oh well, one more to scratch off the potential list. Looks like a nice car and is a really good deal. Best of luck.

Are you buying the blue / white one? I've been shopping for a MCS and have it boomarked. Oh well, one more to scratch off the potential list. Looks like a nice car and is a really good deal. Best of luck.

Actually - decided to get an 05 that's closer to me with less miles. The 04 JCW was extremely well maintained though so I'd definitely recommend you take a look at it. Only thing that really kind of swayed my decision was 1) the 05 I'm looking at is that sterling grey color that I'm looking for and 2) the 04 JCW has an accident on the carfax so I'm concerned it would affect resale.. otherwise the 04 had had a ton of work done on it recently.

Thanks for the info on the 04. Not too interested in a wrecked car either. I think I'll be holding out for an 05 too and hopefully get a little remaining warranty. Congrats on your find. Gray is the best color for these cars.

ha yeah I'm already picking out mods and I haven't even bought the thing yet..

Don't want to burst your bubble, but I'd say your better off starting with a base S non JCW and modding it. If you got a JCW you'd end up removing parts of the JCW package in favor of aftermarket parts that would fetch you more power. I've removed several JCW cylinder heads to put a better ported head on. And the JCW car's usually make about 13 lbs of boost, when a MINI with a 15%pulley makes around 15 lbs of boost.

^ that's about what I was figuring, the north american motoring forum says about the same about the JCW kit. However - having driven an 05 jcw kit car and a modded stock 05 S recently, I can attest to the observations that the JCW package just simply "works" - yeah it's not the most powerful thing out of the box, but it's noticeably smoother in power delivery

Did you get the 05?

the 05 stock S was in pretty poor condition it turns out - dents in the body and bumper damage that he didn't mention. Power steering pump was pretty noisy and he'd done a fair amount of performance mods - nothing that I necessarily wouldn't have done myself, but little things like the condition of the alta foam air filter hinted at his lack of maintenance.