After 2 solid weeks of poring over ebay, autotrader, NAM, and other sites, it appears there are no R56 minis with the features I like.

I think I'm just going to order a car. What are the must haves and must NOT haves in the new Mini?

I really want Nav, but everyone says it's very iDrive-like, which is almost impossible to use.

Also, should I order JCW or just do aftermarket Alta mods?

 

I think the JCW or Alta question comes down to what you want to do to the car. If you want to have fun adding parts and custimizing it to your liking than aftermarket is the way to go. If you want a no hassle option right from the start with no warranty worries than JCW is the way to go. Clearly Alta (or other tuners) can get you more HP, but you wouldn't be able to easily requop that value of that at resale.

If you are a track junkie than even the sportiest JCW suspension won't cut it for you so why bother paying for it. Same with the wheels and brakes. However, I would suggest getting the Aero kit from the start (if you like the looks of course). That is a pain to add later.

Another thing to consider if you go the JCW route and want more HP, but don't want to replace the extra JCW upgrades you already purchased is to get a custom tune later on. A guy by the name of Jan at Revolution something or other (on NAM a lot) has gotten fantastic gains on stock R53s eith just a tune (maybe R56s too, but as my sig indicates I only really follow R53s).

Long story short: If you want a no hassle way to get great gains from the start plus all the 'prestige' of JCW ownership than that is an obvious choice. It is after all the ultimate expression of the Mini available from the factory now. If you want to take the car further than JCW or want to make it truly your own than aftermarket tuners can help you get there cheaper.

My personal opinon: If I was going to pay low 30s for a Mini I'd spring for a stripped 135 for 35 and get a really big power upgrade plus RWD. Yes I know, it's ugly, but it is fun.

For your pleaseure:

 

hmm...good info. i don't really care about warranty since I won't be tracking and abusing the car. I will just be having fun with it around town and on the freeway.

Here's another question for you: If I get the JCW (which, according to my MA is just an ECU & mild exhaust upgrade, I assume I can still add an intercooler and other aftermarket enhancements, right?

 

I think the warranty thing is more about just those little things that can go wrong with a new car. My well treated, un-abused (at the time) MCS had a few mishaps that were just flukes. I'm glad I didn't have any mods on it to worry about any potetial warranty claim issues.

As for the JCW, I was more speaking about the whole JCW package. The one that from the factory includes the power (bigger upgrade than the add on package I believe), suspension, brakes, aero and wheels. I think you may be talking about the JCW engine option package on top of an MCS. I did a quick search and it looks like the whole JCW car will be available this summer (someone please correct me if this is not acurate, I couldn't find anything too conclusive). Right now you can just configure optional JCW upgrades ala carte.

If you can wait for the whole JCW car, than the info in my 1st post stands, but if you are considering adding just the JCW engine option, then no, I don't see the value in it. Especially because I think it's a dealer add-on anyway.

I was just reading in European Car where they took some Alta parts and a GIAC tune and added it to the R56. They were happy with the results.

To answer your question, yes you can add an intercooler and anything else you want to the JCW package, but I think it would be cheaper and net better gains to do it yourself. I think the way to go would be to take a stock MCS and do an intercooler, turboback exhaust, intake and tune. I would guess it would be similar in cost to a JCW engine package and get you more power.

Long Story Short: Unless you're considering the whole JCW car that seems like won't be out for a while, I wouldn't bother with the individual JCW dealer add-ons, except for Aero, because it looks so good.

 

what i did was keep rebuilding the car ontheir website until you start building the same car... i upgraded a few things i didnt think i wanted and removed things i didnt think i needed... I like the nav due to the aftermarket options however the waste of money items on my 06 MCS were the automatic climate control, headlamp washers and sport wheels... all else i used and adored about the car.... i custom built it at the dealer and it was delivered in 28 days...

 

The NAV is idrive, plane & simple, but after a week, it's fine & easy. Plus you get all the car info on the center screen.

We got almost every option on the car, the good ones are the nav & tech package, convince package, sport & LSD, HID, & leather interior.

Really if you got the $$ & time, just order it the way you want it. Ours took 6weeks from order to pick up.

 

Nav is one of the items I can't decide one. It's $2K from the factory, which is a total ripoff. However, I can't exactly stick a double-din aftermarket unit in the dash, so I'd be limited to a windshield mount Garmin / TomTom. That's not the end of the world, but I feel like I'd always be wondering, "what if..."

I'm also torn on the PDC. It's arguably a useless feature on such a small car, but I figure what the heck...it's only an extra 7 bucks a month.

Finally, I can't decide if I want a bunch of the JCW carbon fiber add-ons.
It's purely cosmetic in purpose, and it costs about $1400, or about $15 a month.

I'm not trying to be a cheapskate, as I can easily afford a large payment. The question is will I enjoy a $600 a month car more than a $500 a month car. The driving experience will be the same, and the only differences will be in ancillary or cosmetic features.

hmmf. I've never been this torn before.

 

With the Nav you also get the steering wheel controls, voice activation, bluetooth & iPod. It's all nice, clean & integrated. The Nav itself, is just ok, not as great as some of the others.

We got all the CF JCW stuff, it's nice, very easy to install, & looks great. It is kind of expensive for what you get, but it's all real CF, & lighter.

You will like it with more goodies, but the PDC, come on, that is a waste of $$ & makes the bumper look like ***.

 

I hear you, but I feel like I am ordering literally every single other
option...why not add in the last one to complete the masterpiece

 

For the Nav, you also have the portable nav option. You can buy your own Garmin 360 and use their $170 mounting bracket or fab your own. I also think some of the Mini parts websites have some brackets. I had the parts guy show me the bracket and its just a small bar that attaches to the screw holes on the back of the spedo, has a slight bend to it and then attaches to the Garmin. Of course this only really works with the single speedo on the steering column.

Heres a large pic: