Mini R56 JCW - yes the unreliable one?
Discussion
I’ve been thinking about getting a toy for a while and always fancied the Mini Cooper S / JCWs. Like the R53s but finding one that isn’t littered with MOTs referring to corrosion is quite hard so I started looking at the R56s but of course reading the forums they are littered with horror stories of timing chain issues, valve stem seal issues, coking up issues and high pressure fuel pump issues…. So I did the only logical thing and started looking at them.
Found a lovely low mileage Mini Cooper S Camden edition local to me, just 34000 miles and the owner bought it broken and replaced the timing chain and guides plus a few other bits and it was generally in great condition. We went for a test drive and sadly it left me a bit disappointed, it was a decent drive but the car just felt a bit flat - granted those are only 180 odd BHP so maybe I was expecting too much. That and the dashboard creaked awfully so I walked away a little deflated.
A week later and more searching resulted in finding a 2012 JCW in chilli red with the slightly better N18 engine, much hither mileage at 97,000 but a sensible price and this had the timing chain and guides replaced just over 10,000 miles ago. Went to see the JCW and it was in reasonable condition, although suffering from a bit of lacquer peel in a few places, nothing too bad. Has the nice leather seats and leather dash, generally pretty tidy with good service history and some money spent on it over the past few years including an AEM induction kit with the cold air feed from the bonnet scoop and new Hankook Ventura tyres all round. The test drive was totally different to the Cooper S, a nice lively car that felt sold and had almost no unwanted noises from the cabin. So the deal was done, car taxed, insured (a bargain I thought at £168 fully comp with mods declared) and off I went.
I’ve had it a couple of weeks and generally love it, superb to chuck around the B roads, handles the lumps and bumps well and has enough go to be entertaining.
Of course, it’s not without its foibles so I have a number of things to work through:
Firstly the headlights were really low, now these are xenon’s so I thought they just self level and that’s it, but there are adjustment screws to change the aim so pointing them up a bit seems to have fixed that. They do self level (noticeable upon start up) but not sure if they are entirely working as they should - I guess time will tell.
Next, sometimes the car doesn’t want to let me in - the car unlocks, but both door handles can be a little temperamental - I understand it could just be the door handles cables have stretched and need replacing? Sometimes they work first time, sometimes it can take a few attempts - something to look at shortly.
The boot release worked off the remote but not the handle. A new replacement handle (the whole bar that includes number plate lights etc) from eBay quickly and cheaply resolved that.
Plans for now, enjoy the car and tidy it up, particularly with regards to rustproofing underneath. Then replace a broken undertray, replace rear discs and pads plus a number of other things I am bound to find along the way. Still the A/C blows nice and cold, you get lovely burbles and gentle pops in sport mode and its a lovely thing to throw down a county lane, I just hope the engine doesn’t throw any surprises!
Found a lovely low mileage Mini Cooper S Camden edition local to me, just 34000 miles and the owner bought it broken and replaced the timing chain and guides plus a few other bits and it was generally in great condition. We went for a test drive and sadly it left me a bit disappointed, it was a decent drive but the car just felt a bit flat - granted those are only 180 odd BHP so maybe I was expecting too much. That and the dashboard creaked awfully so I walked away a little deflated.
A week later and more searching resulted in finding a 2012 JCW in chilli red with the slightly better N18 engine, much hither mileage at 97,000 but a sensible price and this had the timing chain and guides replaced just over 10,000 miles ago. Went to see the JCW and it was in reasonable condition, although suffering from a bit of lacquer peel in a few places, nothing too bad. Has the nice leather seats and leather dash, generally pretty tidy with good service history and some money spent on it over the past few years including an AEM induction kit with the cold air feed from the bonnet scoop and new Hankook Ventura tyres all round. The test drive was totally different to the Cooper S, a nice lively car that felt sold and had almost no unwanted noises from the cabin. So the deal was done, car taxed, insured (a bargain I thought at £168 fully comp with mods declared) and off I went.
I’ve had it a couple of weeks and generally love it, superb to chuck around the B roads, handles the lumps and bumps well and has enough go to be entertaining.
Of course, it’s not without its foibles so I have a number of things to work through:
Firstly the headlights were really low, now these are xenon’s so I thought they just self level and that’s it, but there are adjustment screws to change the aim so pointing them up a bit seems to have fixed that. They do self level (noticeable upon start up) but not sure if they are entirely working as they should - I guess time will tell.
Next, sometimes the car doesn’t want to let me in - the car unlocks, but both door handles can be a little temperamental - I understand it could just be the door handles cables have stretched and need replacing? Sometimes they work first time, sometimes it can take a few attempts - something to look at shortly.
The boot release worked off the remote but not the handle. A new replacement handle (the whole bar that includes number plate lights etc) from eBay quickly and cheaply resolved that.
Plans for now, enjoy the car and tidy it up, particularly with regards to rustproofing underneath. Then replace a broken undertray, replace rear discs and pads plus a number of other things I am bound to find along the way. Still the A/C blows nice and cold, you get lovely burbles and gentle pops in sport mode and its a lovely thing to throw down a county lane, I just hope the engine doesn’t throw any surprises!
That looks lovely!
The timing chains do seem to be an issue. My ex bought a new R56 Cooper in December 2006 and had it serviced every 2 years, which was generally every 7/8K miles but it needed a new timing chain a couple of years ago on about 70K miles.
But it was great fun to rag around (when we together and she wasn't with me)!
The timing chains do seem to be an issue. My ex bought a new R56 Cooper in December 2006 and had it serviced every 2 years, which was generally every 7/8K miles but it needed a new timing chain a couple of years ago on about 70K miles.
But it was great fun to rag around (when we together and she wasn't with me)!
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