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It all started with helping out a friend. He was looking into MINI John Cooper Works models and I was helping out with research and pricing. My wife was a MINI Genius at the local dealership for a few years and we've had a couple MINIs ourselves. And while I was looking, I ran across a '13 JCW Roadster for a really good price. But it was listed as a shiftable automatic. Pictures showed, however, a manual trans. Hmmm. This was a car I've wanted since we had our first MINI. I've missed the ZHP convertible (never should have sold it) for weekend romps and tours with the top down. And with the Bolt, the Volt has become redundant (I've put 300 miles on it since March). I tried to make it more personal and desirable, but the Bolt is just more fun to drive.
So I called the dealership it was at (4.5 hours away in Virginia Beach). We crunched the numbers and talked about trading the Volt in. The numbers looked good and the salesguy confirmed it was indeed a manual trans. I checked the carfax on it. 52k miles, one owner car, service records on carfax (including a water pump replacement at 36k miles). Drove down there yesterday in the Volt and drove the MINI. Everything seemed to work like it was supposed to and man, put it in Sport and the exhaust valves open up with the most wonderful little growl and burbles and pops on the overrun (not obnoxious like some burble tunes, but a sweet factory rortyness). Took a moment to get in the groove of how to drive manual (to much time in EVs lately lol), but it was easy. Made sure it drove good, no clunks or rattles. Brembo brakes stop nicely. Steering was perfect.
Paperwork took very little time, and I left Virginia beach at 2 pm. And just before the tunnel on I64 (the only way out of Virginia beach heading north, really) traffic started backing up. Learned how stiff the clutch was on the JCW. But traffic cleared after the tunnel until we got to I95 north. From that point on, I averaged 20 mph back to Baltimore. Ugh. Got Home at 8:30pm, wondering if going back to a manual was the right thing to do. lol.
Too bad it's raining today as my wife wants to drive around with the top down. She loves it. Meet Rowdy the Roadster:
Well, pulled up the VIN on bimmer.com and found it's Monroney sticker. Looks like the only options it didn't get were chrome mirror covers and the extra cost automatic transmission. This is the reason I didn't get one new, as this was exactly what I was looking for at the time and it was, when all was said and done, a nearly $50k MINI when new.
So I removed the slightly deteriorating original black vinyl stripes and spent a few hours custom painting some ghosted gold pearl Union Jack stripes under a new coat of clear. They are brilliant in the direct sun, but almost vanish when looked at from many angles. Nice and subtle, but custom.
Nice.
How many miles on it now?
Any mechanical issues?
I am tinkering with replacing my Veloster Turbo at 70+ K miles and there aren't much options in the manual transmission department.
Nice.
How many miles on it now?
Any mechanical issues?
58k now, and no issues to report. The later 2nd gen models with the turbo 1.6 were the N18 engine and they have much fewer problems than the earlier 2nd gen with the N14. so if you get an S or JCW newer than about 2011, they should have the better engine. And sticking with the manual reduces the issues that the 6 speed auto can have with solenoids.
The third gen cars (F56) newer than about 2015 have proven to be quite reliable (even if they are basically small BMWs) and are fun, too. I just don't care for their size after having one, and they don't look quite as good as the earlier cars. But they are still fun to drive.
Here's a graphic of the various bodystyles and model codes:
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