F56 JCW buying advice

[TameRacingDriver]

I was actually led to believe by the F56 Facebook group that the manuals [JCWs] were actually quite rare believe it or not!

I don't think you can go far wrong with the manual though. If you had a lot of urban driving in heavy traffic then you may prefer the auto but the manual is an easy drive otherwise; the gearbox is pleasant to use with a reasonably nice action, there is a lot of low down torque which means it can be driven in a lazy fashion if you like, and it also has automatic rev matching which I actually quite like and makes it a breeze to hoon around in.

[PT1984]

Yeah with the rev matching the manual is a nice thing to use. If not a little notchy. It was the brake pedal that I couldn’t get on with. Wooden with no feel on our F55 MCS. It was horrible.

[Happybiker80]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403027...

Thoughts on this one, manual, sunroof, adaptive suspension, media xl, heated screen and seats, HK etc.
Private sale and ad says 1 owner but pictures from a dealer... It was only on 12k miles on its 6th birthday looking at old MOT's.

[stevemcs]

Looks tidy and a good spec, our cabby is 8 and in 27k so mileage wouldn't be an issue, service history is what you want to see, our oil is changed every year regardless of miles.

The pictures look like Cazoo's so assume thats where they purchased it from.

[twokcc]

Happybiker80 said:

I'
This car is private and March 17 build, good spec and private, worth a look? Would this be 6 speed?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404158...

Edited by Happybiker80 on Thursday 18th April 08:36

Yes that's a 6 speed (has a almost golf ball knob rather the the elongated one ) looks a good spec car with only 32k miles and 2 owners certainly worth a look..
Only had test drives with this box but as someone already mentioned its a decent box- not heard of any problems with it.

[twokcc]

Can check cost of warranty on mini site but it is expensive for JCW at about £620-£700 with £250 excess for any car with FSH and less than 60k miles. If buying privately would be looking for this sort of reduction to get Mini warranty, can decide not to renew after first year.
No experience of quotes for the JCW but 2 series with same engine as cooper s can be had for about £400(only basic breakdown and £250 excess)

[nickfrog]

twokcc said:

Can check cost of warranty on mini site but it is expensive for JCW at about £620-£700 with £250 excess for any car with FSH and less than 60k miles. If buying privately would be looking for this sort of reduction to get Mini warranty, can decide not to renew after first year.
No experience of quotes for the JCW but 2 series with same engine as cooper s can be had for about £400(only basic breakdown and £250 excess)

I bought AUC and the renewal is much cheaper as the cover wasn't interrupted, as ever with BMW. £450 fully comp with £100 excess.
I would avoid a sunroof but that's because I am risk adverse.

[cerb4.5lee]

spitfire-ian said:

stevemcs said:

Ours has HK, it wouldn't be a deal breaker as, well its not that good.

We've had 3 minis so far, one with the HK option and two without (the HK one was our second). There's not a lot of difference to be honest and I wouldn't be worried if I missed it off the option list.

I had HK in my Cooper S, but I wouldn't rush to spec it again though.

[cerb4.5lee]

Zetec-S said:

17" non-runflats were what we had, I would recommend as they did a good job of soaking up the bumps.

I had the same on the Cooper S, and it was a lovely thing to throw down a nice back road. It just soaked everything up really well I thought.

[cerb4.5lee]

twokcc said:

Happybiker80 said:

I'
This car is private and March 17 build, good spec and private, worth a look? Would this be 6 speed?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404158...

Edited by Happybiker80 on Thursday 18th April 08:36

Yes that's a 6 speed (has a almost golf ball knob rather the the elongated one ) looks a good spec car with only 32k miles and 2 owners certainly worth a look..
Only had test drives with this box but as someone already mentioned its a decent box- not heard of any problems with it.

That does have a really nice spec on it I agree.

[Happybiker80]

Someone put a deposit on that this morning unfortunately.
I'm talking myself into buying a manual privately now, the red one has a good spec and I've spoken to the owner, just waiting on him to send the service history.

[TameRacingDriver]

cerb4.5lee said:

I had the same on the Cooper S, and it was a lovely thing to throw down a nice back road. It just soaked everything up really well I thought.

I'm certainly half considering going down to 17s on my JCW if/when the time comes I need to either refurb or swap the alloys. It's still not bad compared with many of my past cars, but it sure doesn't like anything that even vaguely resembles a pothole. Saying that, does any car really? My Porsche with 17s rode really well. Although my MX5 was also on 17s and that was a fair bit more brittle, but it was lowered.

[Olivera]

My old F56 JCW, which I quite liked, really didn't ride particularly well or like potholes. My new Mk8 GTI Clubsport (also on 18s) seems to ride significantly better.

To the OP - might be worth looking at an LCI car, in my experience they are better built and rattle less.

[stevemcs]

Olivera said:

My old F56 JCW, which I quite liked, really didn't ride particularly well or like potholes. My new Mk8 GTI Clubsport (also on 18s) seems to ride significantly better.

To the OP - might be worth looking at an LCI car, in my experience they are better built and rattle less.

Longer wheelbase helps, my R55 was much better than the R56 for ride quality

[Happybiker80]

Olivera said:

To the OP - might be worth looking at an LCI car, in my experience they are better built and rattle less.

I have heard some say that and some say there's no difference, hard to judge unless you've driven both and I guess it probably changed year on year.

It also narrows down the field even more and puts me into the PPF era which I don't want, very small window of LCI car's without PPF exhausts.

The red manual is still my top pick.

[nickfrog]

My 2017 is quite rattle free. I don't think LCI would include re tooling the typical stuff that rattles but perhaps it does.

[PT1984]

This is not a plug as it’s no longer ours. But this is a good one. Totally reliable in our ownership. They redid the wheels and it’s probably a solid 9.5/10 condition now.

https://www.cambridge-miniworks.co.uk/details/spec...

[Zetec-S]

Not a JCW though.

[Happybiker80]

PT1984 said:

This is not a plug as it’s no longer ours. But this is a good one. Totally reliable in our ownership. They redid the wheels and it’s probably a solid 9.5/10 condition now.

https://www.cambridge-miniworks.co.uk/details/spec...

That's not far from me and I'd consider an S but no heated seats unfortunately.

Do they sound similar to the JCW at all?

[PT1984]

You tart! it was really hard to find the spec we wanted with the JCW body kit. It has the heated screen. TBH with the leather seats heated is a must. But with fabric seats it’s absolutely fine.

It’s great car and the driving modes make a good difference. In normal it’s nice and quiet. In sport the DV gets quite loud and whooshy and it gets done nice overrun burbles.

I personally think the full switchable JCW exhaust is too much.