Exhaust pipe trim installation - R53 JCW onto R53 S
Exhaust pipe trim installation - R53 JCW onto R53 S
Author
Discussion

ArsE92

Original Poster:

21,357 posts

217 months

Saturday 5th January 2013
quotequote all
Firstly, I know some of you will want to take the piss so shut it. It's my wife's car, honest. Saying that, it's great fun and I love driving it.

The R53 Cooper S comes with Budweiser-can tail-pipes as standard, which I don't really like. So, being the good husband that I am I bought some JCW tips for my wife for Christmas, which look like this:

.

Now, it would appear that the R53 JCW bare exhaust pipes have a slightly smaller OD than the standard Cooper S, as when I try and slide these JCW tips onto the bare exhaust pipes (I've taken the original trim off) they just won't go on. There are four raised parts of steel (?) inside the tip as you can see below. The thing that looks like a screw is the retaining bolt to secure the trim on to the pipe.



So, any tips on how I can get these to fit? I'm not the best DIY'er, but I do have a Dremel. I have tried grinding the raised parts down but I'm either using the wrong kind of attachment or I'm just crap, as it's not having the desired effect at all.

Maybe a friendly local exhaust place will grind them down and perhaps weld them onto the original pipes for me if I bung them £20? Happy to pay a little bit to have this done, but naturally I'd rather do it myself otherwise it'll end up costing me more than it would have to get a full JCW backbox!

One of the MINI forums suggests sawing three 1" lines into the existing bare pipes and bending them down to reduce the diameter enough for the trims to slip on. Seems a bit of a botch to me though.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

davepoth

29,395 posts

229 months

Saturday 5th January 2013
quotequote all
Surely you can get them to flare the end a bit?

Mastodon2

14,333 posts

195 months

Saturday 5th January 2013
quotequote all
Get a pro to do it, if you can't grind it out yourself, it will be a botch if you go cutting and what not.

Personally, I think if you enjoy driving it too, rather than retrimming the damp squib that us the OEM Cooper S exhaust, I'f have gotten a JCW exhaust, ir a custom catback that would probably be cheaper than a JCW item.

ArsE92

Original Poster:

21,357 posts

217 months

Saturday 5th January 2013
quotequote all
davepoth said:
Surely you can get them to flare the end a bit?
How do you mean?

ArsE92

Original Poster:

21,357 posts

217 months

Saturday 5th January 2013
quotequote all
Mastodon2 said:
Get a pro to do it, if you can't grind it out yourself, it will be a botch if you go cutting and what not.

Personally, I think if you enjoy driving it too, rather than retrimming the damp squib that us the OEM Cooper S exhaust, I'f have gotten a JCW exhaust, ir a custom catback that would probably be cheaper than a JCW item.
I hear you Brother. I'll pop into a local place now and see if they fancy a go.

If it was my car I'd probably invest in a decent exhaust like you say, but she doesn't want me spending a fortune on it. She loves the Dave F airbox I fitted though!

Cheers. I'll update the thread later.

Gorilla Boy

7,820 posts

203 months

Saturday 5th January 2013
quotequote all
Text me/ring me arse thumbup

ArsE92

Original Poster:

21,357 posts

217 months

Saturday 5th January 2013
quotequote all
Gorilla Boy said:
Text me/ring me arse thumbup
Cheers GB! Give me 30 minutes and I'll buzz you if that's OK