Okay as a follow up to my earlier post (I hope I am not breaking any forum protocal here, lol)... Here's my earlier Newbie post:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3175327

So after a few days of R&D (research and debate) I decided to go with the one (female) owner 35k mile 2005 MCS that unbeknownst to the dealer is in fact a JCW car... BRG(full)/6psd/Spt/Cold/Prem/LSD/Leather/Chrono/JCW.... Since I got such a great deal due I now have come in under my budget and have kept the fiance happy.... Soooooo now I get to have even more fun and I am diving into a few tasteful mods Spring... Wheels/Tires (I'm thinking 18" Breyton GTS-R possibly black), and perhaps some small exterior touched grilles, etc).. to complete the clean look I am going for.... I can't wait to get started and join the MINI family... I plan on keeping this one for the long term as a daily driver, even if I get the M5/M6 itch I am anticipating in a year or so...



I had a 3 hour drive to acclimate myself with the little green monster and it RIPS... Thouroughly impressed especially 50mph+... I did however come up with a long/short list of things that need to be addressed... Usually I am much more picky when buying a car, but given the circumstances and how cheap I bought it I didn't want to push my luck too much.... I am a decent DIY'er, have a little garage space and some idle time in the winter to tinker, so I figured it would be a nice project car... I completely understand the "search the forum yourself before asking for help" philosophy, however I am going to list the issues here in case anyone has any quick and or personal experience info the could provide..



1. Drivers door swings open as the little guide arm is not working.. I am assuming that the pin the held it either broke or came out...


2. Driver door lock is does not work VIA the key... All interior central locking function work fine, actuator works, little button (and locking) just does not work.. So I have to use the key to manually unlock it, the keyless function does lock it however... I have found a few threads already discussing this and it seems like a few hours of fiddling inside the door will fix it..


3. Somehow the previous owner got something on the INSIDE of the large center gauge cluster, So I will need to remove the lens and clean it.. I'll dig through the forum for instructions later and hopefully it isn't too involved..


4. Noisy Flywheel... Not 100% sure if this is typical of the JCW package cars or of the R53's in general, The is some chatter on here about it and I guess I'll dig deeper as it annoys me more (or doesn't quiet when the weather warms) Either way the clutch is nice and tight and just fine, and the car only has 35k miles on it, so I am not overly concerned as of yet..


5. Oil change and Alignment being done as I type this.... Wiper blades and Lucas gas treatment (which I found is the best) when I get home...


6. Any idea where to get an orig window sticker replacement and/or JCW packet?...


*****Can anyone recommend a good (trustworthy/experienced) shop in Delaware/Philly/Eastern PA/South Jersey/Northern MD?...



Thanks again everyone for being helpful in my earlier post... I look forward to my enjoying my MINI (Can't wait till Spring) and participating here as much as I did/do in my AUDI/BMW forums...



PICS TO FOLLOW!

 

Excellent work on that stealth JCW. I have fantasies of that. When I sadly traded my first MINI in a few years ago at a (shudder) Honda dealership, they didn't know what was done to the car, so they put it in their lot and someone came and claimed it before they had even brought it out witht he sale sticker and what not. Someone drove by, saw the aero kit and aftermarket wheels and either jumped on it, or took a look inside and knew what was different... but it was gone in a day.

 

Welcome aboard.

RThe flywheel chatter is normal, at least I have it.

You might try Helix Minisport for service and performance assistance.

 

Welcome to the forum, congrats on your JCW purchase.