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‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

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  • ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

    I used to have an '06 Mini Cooper S Checkmate back in '08 and I’ve missed that car since selling it around 10 years ago. I replaced it with a second generation JCW about 7 years ago but it wasn’t the same. We never did many miles with it and eventually, it faded away and was sold to someone in SK. The trouble is, these cars are / were so expensive when new and on paper they just don’t stack up against things like a golf GTI in terms of value. It’s another story when you drive one though - a well sorted one (which of course, all first gen minis were 10 years ago!) is a wonderful thing to experience. Silly amounts of manageable torque steer, a teeny tiny turning circle that makes it playful, and everything you touch and look at both inside and outside the car is fun, and feels expensive. I always said when these things can be had for 5 grand, I’ll buy one again...


    I know - the wheels are awful... I’ve already sorted quite a few of the problems with this car and so over the next couple of weeks I’ll go back through my memory banks, receipts and photo gallery to build a small thread where I try to bring this car back to its former glory.

    What makes this car special is that it’s a final year R53 (the first gen BMW Mini, designed by Rover) and it was a factory optioned John Cooper Works, meaning the entire tuning including aerodynamics package was fitted at the factory in Oxford (as opposed to being dealer ordered and fitted) BMW had purchased John Cooper Works in approx. 04 so only some 05 and 06 cars had a factory installed and complete kit (prior to this customers would order the kit piece by piece so there’s a real mish mosh of options out there when you’re looking for used ones. The other thing that makes it special is that I bought it for within my previously noted budget - and absolute steal considering this was once upon a time a $50k plus car. It’s had 3 former keepers and was originally purchased from Crowfoot Mini, and fortunately for me and the car, it’s never been involved in a bank robbery (ahem....) I mean an accident.

    It’s far from perfect but she runs ok. Much of the car is completely original and long overdue replacement. I’ll update the thread as I go.





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    Last edited by jacktown; 09-12-2020, 08:11 PM.
    Nick

    I love hatchbacks

  • #2
    Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown








    The Interior is the car is much cleaner than the outside. Here it is after a vacuum and wipe down. It’s definitely been kept very clean. There’s no dirt or stains in the seats or carpets leading me to believe it’s been mostly summer driven for its life. The most recent owner had been a young driver who’d been taking it back and forth to BC from Lethbridge and it came with a set of nearly new winter wheels and tires so it’s definitely had some winter duty in the past season.

    The seller let me know that as far as he knew, the original owner installed all of the stereo equipment but he wasn’t sure what the custom switch panel underneath the handbrake was for. I’ve since found a whole bunch of old neon lighting tubes mounted in different areas underneath the car - I guess this was a fast and furious car early in its life! The sound system sounds really great and even though it’s 15 years old, works with my iPhone X. Bonus!

    The car was optioned with a panoramic sunroof and sport cloth seats which I really like - they don’t look as worn out as the leather in most first gen Minis although there is a rip in the outside of the drivers bolster.

    The car wasn’t optioned with any of the JCW interior bits and pieces like the thicker steering wheel, carbon gear knob/handbrake/Dash and pillars. Years ago I bought some of that for our first mini but it’s all NLA.

    The Mats are neat. They are an aftermarket fabric interpretation if the OEM JCW fabric mats - there was a huge aftermarket for these cars in the early 2000s and as you can imagine, it’s all died down now.


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    Last edited by jacktown; 09-13-2020, 09:54 AM.
    Nick

    I love hatchbacks

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    • #3
      Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

      I’ver always liked the Minis and have almost pulled the plug on a few...one day maybe...can’t wait to see what you do with it.
      --
      Rod
      Ex-presidente

      Drive

      2016 VW Golf .:R

      Drove
      2001.5 Audi S4 / Santorin Blue STAGE II+ / JFonz Tuned

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      • #4
        Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

        I also test drove my fair share of first gen Minis, came close as well.

        Looking forward to where this goes, and yes those wheels are just horrible, your car has a sketchy past
        Blair
        Former Cars: '12 Fiat 500, '10 VW GTI, '05 Smart Fortwo, '96 VW Jetta GLX, '02 VW GTI 337.........

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        • #5
          Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

          Indeed fast and furiously sketchy background! I’m wondering if it was actually a demonstration car for an audio business back in 06/07 because the quality of the install is very good.

          Fear not Blair, new wheels are are. I found a set of OEM R112 Challenge wheels on Kijiji. They were very reasonably priced and included nearly new Bridgestone Potenzas. I’ve given them a thorough cleaning and a light sanding in some areas where there was some minor rash and a few larger chips. For the money, I’m happy with how they’ve turned out. The centre caps are the second generation minis JCW logo so at some point I might try and find I’m the original logo that was intended in the first gen car.




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          Nick

          I love hatchbacks

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

            Originally posted by Ur0Drivr View Post
            I’ver always liked the Minis and have almost pulled the plug on a few...one day maybe...can’t wait to see what you do with it.
            I’m seeing a future Mini squad!


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            Nick

            I love hatchbacks

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

              The Mini was wearing 15 year old stone guard which has done a fantastic job of protecting the front end over the years. However, after all this time it had yellowed and had a few small rips. For now I’ve decided to remove and not replace it as I won’t do too many miles in this car and when I do it’ll always be summer. It just doesn’t seem a worthwhile investment to spend more money protecting it - but we’ll see. This took about 4 hours, a heat gun and some white spirit to clean off the glue. What a nasty job!




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              Nick

              I love hatchbacks

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              • #8
                Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

                The headlights were hazy after all these years so I sanded them down and applied a coat of clear to seal them.




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                Nick

                I love hatchbacks

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                • #9
                  Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

                  that turned out well!
                  Stefan
                  -> '19 Deep Black Pearl Alltrack
                  -> '05 Urban Grey Passat Wagon TDI.
                  -> Past rides: '14 Allroad, 06 Mazda5, '98 Jetta K2, '01 Jetta TDI, '91 Mazda B2200, '81 Toyota Cressida
                  -> FutuRe Ride...??!

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                  • #10
                    ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

                    The Mini has never been in an accident but it does have a little bit of light battle damage here and there, mostly around the black plastic trim than runs along the body kit. I’ve taped it all off and repainted the trim (which doesn’t clip off the Aero kit in the same way it does a standard Cooper S body kit) I went around the entire bottom edge of the car, including the side skirts, to make sure of a perfect colour and texture match.
                    I think I’ve done a pretty good job and I’m happy with it.

                    The front bumper had a few stress fractures in it so while I was at it I’ve filled and sanded those before giving it a bit of a spot paint. Again, good enough for me. If this ever turns in to an expensive project I’ll have the bumper redone professionally but it really doesn’t call for that right now.

                    Among other things I’ve added new corner lights to the order sheet but in the meantime. I’ve fixed the existing ones with glue so we can drive the car a bit this summer.

                    The exhaust is in really good shape but needs a good clean. For now I’ve just removed the tips and given them a good scrub.













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                    Last edited by jacktown; 09-17-2020, 07:16 PM.
                    Nick

                    I love hatchbacks

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

                      Originally posted by stefan View Post
                      that turned out well!
                      Thanks buddy! Amazing the difference a set of clean headlights makes. It’s not perfect but 90% of the way there. My motto for this build is - “good enough” Unfortunately a brand new set would cost almost half what I paid for the car so definitely not worth it!
                      Nick

                      I love hatchbacks

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

                        I like where this is headed!!!
                        Blair
                        Former Cars: '12 Fiat 500, '10 VW GTI, '05 Smart Fortwo, '96 VW Jetta GLX, '02 VW GTI 337.........

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

                          Originally posted by Canadian Turbo View Post
                          I like where this is headed!!!
                          Thanks buddy. It’s been fun to work on it but as I go deeper, I’m getting some bad thoughts about investing more money in it. For now, I’ll see how clean I can make it for beer money.

                          I decided to spend a day degreasing the underneath if the car, and got in to all of the wheel wells while at it. When done, I sanded down the callipers and repainted them red, and Por 15d the rotor hubs - wouldn’t it be lovely to do a full brake job even though all of this stuff is functionally good? Or better yet, a BBK? No let’s just keep this on budget and work with what I’ve got for now.

                          It bugs me that the trailing arms are all rusty - this car has got character but nothing that’ll stop it from being on the road as a fun third vehicle for the foreseeable future.

                          When done I fitted the factory R112 Challenge wheels - I think they look great.








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                          Nick

                          I love hatchbacks

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

                            Mmmm BBK...


                            Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                            --
                            Rod
                            Ex-presidente

                            Drive

                            2016 VW Golf .:R

                            Drove
                            2001.5 Audi S4 / Santorin Blue STAGE II+ / JFonz Tuned

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: ‘06 Mini JCW - Jacktown

                              Gave the car a thorough clean and touched up some front end stone chips. Here she is...she’s missing a couple of items - OEM rear diffuser graphics, jcw interior door dolls and because she was specced with front fogs, she lacks some black in the lower outers of the front bumper. Will drive through a couple tanks of gas and figure out what needs to be done mechanically.




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                              Nick

                              I love hatchbacks

                              Comment

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