Cooper S JCW Problems

[JamesJCW]

Hi,

This is my first post but I wanted to get some advice on my car which is an 03 JCW Cooper S.

The oil light has come on recently - the car is booked in to BMW for next week. It dri ves ok but seems very reluctant to rev as it should. I checked the oil and there seems to be 'mayonnaise' on the oil cap, as well as some of it on the dip stick. My guess is that the head gasket has blown!!.

Has anyone had this on their S Works? Prior to this the car did overheat a lot and needed constant top ups with coolant. There was no leakage on the floor so I reckon the coolant leaked into the engine bay and burned off with driving etc.

Finally, seeing as the car will be in the workshop, is it work upgrading from the 200 bhp it is now to 210 bhp - will there be much of a difference in power delivery/driveability?

Many thanks in advance!

[JAMIE1131]

Quote: Originally Posted by JamesJCW (original)

Hi,

This is my first post but I wanted to get some advice on my car which is an 03 JCW Cooper S.

The oil light has come on recently - the car is booked in to BMW for next week. It dri ves ok but seems very reluctant to rev as it should. I checked the oil and there seems to be 'mayonnaise' on the oil cap, as well as some of it on the dip stick. My guess is that the head gasket has blown!!.

Has anyone had this on their S Works? Prior to this the car did overheat a lot and needed constant top ups with coolant. There was no leakage on the floor so I reckon the coolant leaked into the engine bay and burned off with driving etc.

Finally, seeing as the car will be in the workshop, is it work upgrading from the 200 bhp it is now to 210 bhp - will there be much of a difference in power delivery/driveability?

Many thanks in advance!

STOP DRIVING IT NOW AND GET IT RECOVERED TO THE DEALER!!!! If the oil light is on it has low oil pressure, drving it in this condition is a surefire way of killing your engine! I hate to sound pessimistic but it sounds like the damage is already done, If the light is on and the engine won't rev you may well have already done it a serious in-justice, the main bearings are likely to be prone to getting pretty miserable without the supply of oil!
My last MINI (2003 Cooper S) had a head gasket failure following a coolant change, the first time I noticed it was when the coolant level dropped, it was repaired under warranty and appeared to be fine afterwards. That said though I had it recovered as soon as I noticed the loss of coolant I did not drive it anyfurther.
Keep us up to date with what the garage say.

I have an MCS with the 210BHP kit fitted its a riot! When I bought the car I originally though it was the 200BHP and inquired about the upgrade, I was told its £1400 which seems a lot for an extra 10BHP, I was lucky though, it turned out it had already been done.

[Mike Edwards]

£1400???

Go to another dealer...

[David King]

Quote:

I have an MCS with the 210BHP kit fitted its a riot! When I bought the car I originally though it was the 200BHP and inquired about the upgrade, I was told its £1400 which seems a lot for an extra 10BHP, I was lucky though, it turned out it had already been done.

Says its only £399 in my accessory catalogue.

[JamesJCW]

Thanks for the reply - I rang the dealer and they did indeed tell me to get the car there and to investigate the problem.

I will let you know what they say - thankfully I have a warranty with the car so if it means a new engine I should be covered.

£1400 for the upgrade!? Thought it was more like £400 or so.

[JAMIE1131]

Quote: Originally Posted by JamesJCW (original)

Thanks for the reply - I rang the dealer and they did indeed tell me to get the car there and to investigate the problem.

I will let you know what they say - thankfully I have a warranty with the car so if it means a new engine I should be covered.

£1400 for the upgrade!? Thought it was more like £400 or so.

Do not tell them you have been constantly topping up the coolant or that you drove it with the oil light on!!! Good Luck!
I though £1400 was steep but I didn't investigate as it had already been done!

[MiniNana]

I have an '06 MCS JCW. Does my car already have the 210 bhp upgrade? How can I tell?

[MINIAC]

Quote: Originally Posted by MiniNana (original)

I have an '06 MCS JCW. Does my car already have the 210 bhp upgrade? How can I tell?

If your MCS came with the factory JCW Package (available 2005-11) it has 210 PS / 207 HP.

Dealer install kits were 200 PS / 197 HP (available 2003-06) and 210 PS / 207 HP (available 2004-10). The latter kits upgraded the first with an air box, larger injectors and an ECU remap for the injectors.