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Hi all! This is the build thread for my 2019 White Silver JCW who has been affectionally dubbed Pearl. Don’t know if that name will stick or not, but time will tell.
The old MINI Moonwalk is getting her cosmetics fixed at Mall of Georgia MINI and will hopefully be picked up by another MINI lover in the next few weeks.
I had a lot of fun modding this car and hooning it around. Just from first impressions, the JCW is going to be a massive upgrade in terms of performance and comfort.
Back to the JCW…first order of business is getting the exhaust done like the Cooper S had. The stock exhaust on the JCW is surprisingly good. I have heard lots of pops and bangs albeit quiet compared to Moonwalk in sport mode driving around town and yeeting it around on some backroads around Shelby County.
The exhaust setup on Moonwalk was a straight pipe from the downpipe out to a 12 inch glass pack and new tips. I’m planning on mirroring the same setup. I have what my husband refers to as “ooo shiny” syndrome and love loud exhausts especially with the pops and bangs. Not sure if the drone in mid mode will be as bad as the Cooper S was but we’ll see whenever the exhaust gets done.
Moving onto wheels and suspension…I was able to save the Sparco wheels from the Cooper S and those will be going onto the JCW as soon as I can figure out what brand of spacers I want and how big they need to be. I did a test fit yesterday and the wheels didn’t clear at all. Should have taken a picture but it was just sitting there rubbing on the caliper all day long. Oh well.
I’m going back and forth between the 5mm spacers from WayMotorWorks and some 10mm spacers from ECS. All include the longer lug bolts. I’m leaning towards the 5mm from WMW as it is more cost effective and should clear with no issues. I might look into some 7.5 mm spacers I’ve seen from HR. That might give it that nice little aggressive look I’ve been wanting without having to worry about clearance issues.
The JCW came with Pirelli Cintauro’s on it and they have been an okay tire. Absolutely no traction to speak of in the rain compared to the Hankook Ventus V2 that are mounted on the Sparcos. They are also RFT (🤢, absolutely despise those.) Still better than no tires at all.
Cosmetic wise, the JCW came with most of the trim and everything blacked out already which I am very excited about. Saves me the trouble of ordering $500 worth of black plastic from England to cover the chrome…slightly salty about that from Moonwalk. All I need for Pearl is the black LCI badges and belt line tape.
There is also the matter of the vinyl stripes on Pearl, there is quite a lot of sun fading and peeling vinyl on the front and rear stripes. I am debating on having them redone or just taking them off all together. They add a lot of character to the car but I want to see what the JCW would look like with no stripes. The husband is completely abject to this but we’ll see who wins on that one. Pictures are below. I haven’t had a chance to take Pearl out to my usual spot and get some good pictures with the DLSR. I’m going to try and make time today.
Booty shot of the JCW on this highway in Leeds that hubby and I frequent. I saw two MINI’s on the way up there…no returned waves sadly. Just another booty shot. I love the Union Jack tail lights. First picture that the dealership sent me. I fell in love pretty much instantly.
Another small thing that will need to be done soon is brake pads. They are getting a little thin up front. I’m probably going to put EBC red stuff pads or some low dust street pads on as I don’t intend to take the JCW to the track until I’ve learned the car a bit more. I’ve never changed brake pads on a car with the big calipers before so that will be fun.
If anyone has any tips or feedback that would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Last edited by moonwalkgreymini; 06-25-2022 at 07:45 PM.
Reason: updating captions
Also sorry for the weird formatting on this one, I wrote this on my phone. The art of attaching images on desktop still eludes me even though I fix computers and software for a living haha.
2019 must be a great year as a friend of mine just bought a JCW of that year.
A few things...
The exhaust sound you hear in the cabin is “piped in” through the speakers. This can be turned off with a phone app like Bimmercode.
The front brake pads are not too hard to change, but it does require the removal of the whole caliper as MINI/BMW uses these:
Brake pad retainers
to keep the pad from rattling in the caliper. They are stuck to the back of the pad. These stick into recesses in the caliper pistons and the pad can’t be removed unless the caliper is taken off... Ugh... For my track pads, I just leave those off. You will also need an 1/8” punch pin to drive the pad retaining pin out of the caliper. As for the rears... They are the same as any other MINI...
Lastly - I think now MINI has a blacked out blacked out belt line time for the facelift model. That might (should?) fit the pre-facelift model you have, if you want to go that route instead of tape.
It’s been about a month of ownership and I am absolutely in love with the JCW. Such an improvement over the Cooper S. I’ve made some small mods since the last post.
1. Black OEM badges to replace the original chrome ones. All chrome must go ✂️
2. I fitted the Sparco Asseto Gara wheels from Moonwalk onto Pearl this week after an unfortunate highspeed encounter with a pothole on the June Bug run with Magic City MINI’s. I was originally going to order 5mm spacers for the brake clearance but ended up going with 10mm hubcentric spacers. I’m really glad I did because there ended up being about 3 mm of clearance from the center of the wheel and the caliper. I guess it is just the design of these wheels. There is still a little bit of residual vibration going on in the steering wheel. I suspect that it is the wheel rings. I’ll be ordering a set of aluminum ones to hopefully sort that out. Overall, having a lot of fun so far. Just enough clearance lol
Pearl is having her first track session next weekend with Project EG at AMP. It is just a 20 minute intro session so I think the stock pads should be fine?? for the time being. Afterwards I'm pretty sure that replacement pads will be in order. Thinking about just getting some low dust street pads for the moment because I probably won't take the car to the track again this year and then getting some g-loc r8 to keep for track days. What do y'all think?
That sounds like real fun for you and that looks like a fun-for-MINIs track. 20 min intro... Your stock pads should be fine. I would make sure you have half or more front brake pads. These pads are not real thick to begin with and you will want some remaining to get you home.
Most importantly - have your brake fluid changed. The MINI fluid is pretty good and should do you well for this one time out. For the next time... Motul 600 would be best.
On the track the number one most important safety thing is brake fluid. It has to be fresh, as in only a few months old, so it has no water in it. If it has water in it, it will boil and you will have no, as in zero, brakes. Second it has to be of a high quality with a high dry boiling point. Even if it fresh and it has a low boiling point, it will boil and you will have no brakes. Not all brake fluids are created equal. Here is a good list of brake fluids (link).
Next most important safety thing is brake pads. For what you are doing this one time out, stock MINI pads should be fine... Any other track events, no street pads of any kind, not even so called street/track pads. They are like all season tires, they do little well and are exceptional at nothing. Your choice of the G-Loc brand of pads is an excellent choice. However, go to the R10s; the R8s do not have a high enough temperature range for the MINI brakes. MINI brakes have too little cooling for the R8s to not get over heated.
Oh - get the G-loc street pad so it is compatible with the race pad of theirs that you get.
Tires are the next most important track safety item... But that can wait...
Have a great time!
Last edited by Eddie07S; 07-06-2022 at 08:35 AM.
Reason: Edit
Thank you! I was definitely planning on doing brake fluid anyway. The stock pads are kind of thin so I'll see if WMW can get those G-Loc pads over here before next Saturday.
If he can’t get the G-Loc pads in time, the next option would be the Red Stuff* pads he sells. Those are very popular in the MINI community for a good performance street pad. Leave them in until next year when you go again.
* He sells a Yellow Stuff pad that is a “street/track” pad, but I really didn’t like it for either.
You have a bunch of great tracks in your area. I don’t know if you have seen any good videos of driving around AMP. Randy Pobst is one of my favorite drivers and he is really good in FWD cars. I hope you don’t mind, but here is a Randy Pobst video of how to “drive” around AMP.
If he can’t get the G-Loc pads in time, the next option would be the Red Stuff* pads he sells. Those are very popular in the MINI community for a good performance street pad. Leave them in until next year when you go again.
* He sells a Yellow Stuff pad that is a “street/track” pad, but I really didn’t like it for either.
I actually did end up getting the EBC red pads. The G-Loc pads weren't going to be in time.
You have a bunch of great tracks in your area. I don’t know if you have seen any good videos of driving around AMP. Randy Pobst is one of my favorite drivers and he is really good in FWD cars. I hope you don’t mind, but here is a Randy Pobst video of how to “drive” around AMP. https://youtu.be/OoM_72-qlJ8
Going to be watching this on repeat on the drive over 😅
Be careful to not get into brain overload.
The first time out on the track is going to be a bit like drinking from a fire hose. There is a lot to take in.
Actually did not end up going. Life got in the way :( Going to aim to go sometime in October or November when the weather has cooled down a bit. Might try some autocross at Barber's proving grounds to tide me over until then.
I understand about the “life” thing getting in the way of fun....
The Barber proving ground looks ideal for getting the feel of a car. Autocross is a great way to practice. However, expect the car to understeer a lot in the tighter turns in short course like that. Don’t be discouraged as it will be much less pronounced out on a real track. Also, as your driver skills improve, you will learn ways to take advantage of the car’s attributes.
If you make it to Barber, let us know how it goes...
I was at my MINI dealer yesterday and they had a “Pearl” on the lot in the form of a white silver Cooper S with blacked out trim, but with a black stipe and top. That is a great color for the car. Although I think the red roof, stripe and mirrors of your JCW are better for the white silver over the black.
That color looks great in person, and, again, nicely done on yours...
Small update: I finally got the stock exhaust chopped off and got a custom exhaust done courtesy of the exhaust shop in Pelham, AL. If anyone is in the Birmingham metro area and needs a good exhaust place, I would highly recommend them. The pops and bangs are back and it absolutely woke the car up. It feels a little bit quicker but it's probably just me haha. Obligatory video link below.
Not exactly Mini related but I found a Chili Red r53 and a GT3RS toy car at a store and decided to put them on my work desk as some decoration. Have to rep my favorite brands
Back when MINIs first came out I found a really nice R50 model. As a bit of a joke I gave it to my wife for her birthday as she wanted one (a real one). For her next birthday she picked up her brand new indi blue R50. She still has it to this day. MINIs will do that to you...
05-30-2022 | 07:51 AM
