John Cooper Works (JCW) is a British car marque now owned by BMW and used on its Mini vehicles. Founded in 2002 by Michael Cooper, son of John Cooper, the racing car maker and tuner responsible for the original Mini Cooper.
For the R53 generation of the Mini Cooper, John Cooper Garages developed a BMW Supported Performance upgrade kit for the cars.
This guide is to determine on an R52 (cabriolet) or R53 (Hardtop) whether a car is a John Cooper works equipped car.
First it is important to note that a JCW kit was an UPGRADE KIT available at your local BMW dealership, it started out with what they call the 200 Horsepower kit or JCW 200 kit, which was developed for release in 2002 and was mainly installed on Prefacelift cars (2002-2004).
Cooper S (left) vs Cooper S JCW (right)
The JCW 200 Tuning kit was released on 2002:
- Uprated cylinder head, gas-flowed and ported (bigger exhaust ports)
- 1-step colder spark plugs
- Replacement supercharger – Teflon coated core
- 11% Reduction of the supercharger pulley diameter, making more boost / pressure
(from the same supercharger spinning faster for a particular engine speed) - Uprated exhaust system with decorative JCW tips
(maintaining the same header and catalytic converter) - Remapped ECU
- Decorative Badges
- Individually serial Numbered rocker cover plate
Later they developed the John Cooper works 210 Horsepower Kit or JCW 210 kit, which while able to be fitted to Prefacelift cars was mainly fitted to Facelift cars (late 2004-2006+). In later years in some countries a car was also able to be purchased from the factory as a JCW 210, these werent available in some countries such as Australia and the upgrade kit was the only method of getting a JCW equipped R53.
The JCW 210 Tuning Kit released in 2005:
- Upgraded Cylinder head- The difference from a cooper S cylinder head being slightly enlargened on the exhaust ports.
- 11% Reduction supercharger pulley – Spins the supercharger faster for more boost
- 1-step colder spark plugs
- Uprated injectors (380cc/min instead of 330 cc/min)
- A JCW cat-back exhaust system with decorative JCW tips
- Replacement supercharger – Teflon coated core
- Remapped ECU (Different tune to JCW 200 to support the larger injectors)
- Uprated air intake system and Pod style air filter
- Decorative Badges
Individually serial Numbered rocker cover plate
During the same time period BMW also made optional extras for the cars that were individually able to be optioned or bought from the BMW dealership under the John cooper works banner, any JCW tuning kit equipped car could have the following options added, or a cooper S could also have these options added but it is widely accepted that these options dont make a cooper S a JCW, only the addition of the 200 or 210 tuning kit make a JCW.
Some of these options included:
- Carbon Fibre Dash Inserts (3 piece facelift and 5 piece pre-facelift)
- Carbon Fibre Downtubes
- Carbon Fibre Cup-holder shift gator rings
- Carbon Fibre Steering wheel trims
- Carbon Fibre Shift Knob
- Carbon Fibre Park-Brake Handle
- Carbon Fibre Bonnet Scoop
- Carbon Fibre Wing-Mirror Covers
- Carbon Fibre Rear Hatch Handle
- Carbon Fibre Rear Wing
- Upgraded front brakes (Calliper size increase and rotor diameter increased to 294mm from standard 276)
- Upgraded suspension kit (Including thicker sway bars and upgraded shock-absorbers and lowered springs)
- Sports Steering wheel with Alcantara and Leather.
- Sports Steering Wheel with Leather
- Sparco Seat Upgrade Front and rear (Imprint of JCW logo in seat top)
- Carbon Fibre seat inserts (Sparco only)
- Leather Downtubes
- Leather Dash Inserts -Stamped with JCW logo (3 piece Facelift)
- Leather cup holder trims and shift gator trim.
- Alcantara Hand-brake Boot and Shift gator
- JCW Door sill Strips
- JCW Wheel Centers
- Front Strut Brace (JCW engraved)
A couple of options that are quite sought after that weren’t classed as a JCW Part that many accidentally believe are:
Aerodynamic Upgrade kit – Included
Upgraded front bumper
Upgraded Side-skirts
Upgraded Rear Bumper
Slightly larger rear wing
Additional Guage setups
Available for installation in the center console under the switch panel
or
Available as guage pods next to the steering wheel mounted tachometer.
Retrofit Shift indicator
Gear shift indicator lights Mounting above center Tachometer on the dashboard
Recaro Front and rear seats
Available in several colour options including all Black, but most commonly seen as Black and Grey.
NOW HOW DO I TELL WHETHER THE CAR I’M LOOKING AT HAS A JOHN COOPER WORKS TUNING KIT?
The key thing to remember is that any cooper S can have any of the options that were offered from BMWs line of John Cooper works optional extras, even the exhaust and intake could be purchased as a package from BMW under the classification of a Sound Kit.
There are however a few key spots to look to determine if the car you are looking at is a real John Cooper works or whether its “Dressed Up” to look like one.
The first thing to ask the owner is Does it have the John Cooper works certificate- This is an A5 piece of card that was given to the owner with the VIN of the car put on it with the kit serial and generally popped away safely in the cars service book. While the owner looks for this, have a walk-around of the car, look for the JCW badges on the front grill and rear hatch lid (Some may have had them removed) and have a look at the exhaust tips, do they have JCW engraved in them? (Also may have been swapped for an aftermarket system)
If the car has these it is a great start- Many believe this is a way to determine it, but what if the any of these gets lost or damaged over years of ownership with many owners?
The next thing to check is the engine bay first key things you are looking for is a logo on the rocker cover with the individual JCW kit serial number.
