MINI2 - MINI Forum - View Single Post - JCW Brake Upgrade Kit

CooperID · Feb 13th, 2005, 02:20 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Cooper S Works

All you need to do it to paint your existing calipers red and stick on a JCW motif.
The exiting brakes seem great.

If you update to big brakes, you should also change the brake lines, brake fluid, something the JCW brakes don't offer.

Oh, and after the read paint is set, go fit some green brake pads.

All in £100 tops.

I'm not sure I would agree that the brakes are great as standard... I've certainly found a few times where I needed a bit more bite from them... I think it's accepted that the JCW brake kit will not compare to the likes of the Brembo or AP Big brake kits which a few people have fitted, but I would argue that they are more appropriate for track use or on MINIs that are used mainly as a weekend fun cars... These also have limitations when used on an everyday car... I'm told that the JCW will sit somewhere in between these and the standard... They have been engineered by BMW/ JCW so they will have tested them for the car and ensure that it doesn't upset the brake balance... Pads should last a decent length of time and will form part of the regular service... only with a different pad type and everything will be covered by the warranty.

It may appear to be VFM by changing the existing pads to the likes of Green stuff, but I've also heard a lot of stories of them seriously reducing the life of the standard disks. It really depends on what you want... The fact that the JCW calipers are red is a nice touch, but tbh I'd be just as happy if they weren't I just want something that performs better than standard without going over the top. Time will tell how good thay actually are and no doubt this will transcend into the usual JCW is over priced and under performing discussion that's been seen many times before, but lets not go there

Feb 13th, 2005, 02:20 PM	#8
CooperID ///M Power Join Date: May 2004 Location: on the move.... Local Time: 11:17 PM Posts: 5,097 Offline	Quote: Originally Posted by Cooper S Works All you need to do it to paint your existing calipers red and stick on a JCW motif. The exiting brakes seem great. If you update to big brakes, you should also change the brake lines, brake fluid, something the JCW brakes don't offer. Oh, and after the read paint is set, go fit some green brake pads. All in £100 tops. I'm not sure I would agree that the brakes are great as standard... I've certainly found a few times where I needed a bit more bite from them... I think it's accepted that the JCW brake kit will not compare to the likes of the Brembo or AP Big brake kits which a few people have fitted, but I would argue that they are more appropriate for track use or on MINIs that are used mainly as a weekend fun cars... These also have limitations when used on an everyday car... I'm told that the JCW will sit somewhere in between these and the standard... They have been engineered by BMW/ JCW so they will have tested them for the car and ensure that it doesn't upset the brake balance... Pads should last a decent length of time and will form part of the regular service... only with a different pad type and everything will be covered by the warranty. It may appear to be VFM by changing the existing pads to the likes of Green stuff, but I've also heard a lot of stories of them seriously reducing the life of the standard disks. It really depends on what you want... The fact that the JCW calipers are red is a nice touch, but tbh I'd be just as happy if they weren't I just want something that performs better than standard without going over the top. Time will tell how good thay actually are and no doubt this will transcend into the usual JCW is over priced and under performing discussion that's been seen many times before, but lets not go there Last edited by CooperID : Feb 13th, 2005 at 07:09 PM.