3rd Gen JCW The Differences: F56 JCW vs. Cooper S

I kinda like my immature exhaust. :cornut:

 

The only thing that worries me about BMW's future business decisions, and I shared this thought with others, is that BMW is trying to push MINI into a volume brand... and that will be the downfall of the brand.

Even the brand reps present at MOTD agreed - chasing numbers for the sake of numbers alone will take the MINI out of MINI.

There's also no reason to bloat the cars with excess weight and insulation. Keep them small, light, and sure, offer luxury options/packages, but allow us to still purchase performance-focused models.

I do love this thread, though - it's great to see the differences between the regular F56S and the JCW.

 

I also found those numbers a little surprising. For a year that most, if not all of the bugs had been worked out and most MINI enthusiasts (me included) consider the benchmark, there are not to many of them on the road. I guess just another reason to hold on to mine and add a second to the stable.

Thanks for all the knowledge gents.

 

You have to remember, the first generation was a one-off. It wasn't done for profit, hence the relatively small numbers.Things like the water molded bonnet were expensive (and won't be seen again); the first generation was a labor of love. When it was greeted with more enthusiasm than what was initially anticipated, BMW realized they had an opportunity to make a decent profit, and the 2nd generation on, the car has to be profitable to survive. The first generation wasn't under that microscope; there weren't plans for a second generation, it was only after the 1st generation exploded that BMW figured they had something here...

BMW makes money off of options; that's why MINI has become a "luxury" small car; that's where the money is. Stripped, bare bones performance models don't generate profit margins. The GP works because they keep the numbers way down, at least they still try to throw us a bone.

 

My guess would be supplementary oil cooler.

 

We keep saying that a bigger MINI is not better but they keep getting bigger and they keep selling more of them then the smaller 1st Gen cars.. Of course they are in it to make money what business owner isn't, and I would guess there always were plans for some sort of 2nd Gen car unless the 1st Gen completely flopped, and even then really. Why start the New MINI Brand if the plan wasn't to keep it going, for a profit.. I wish they'd have left the Cooper alone and they could have still done all the other models for all the other buyers, then we might have had a chance of the new MINI ( Cooper ) someday being looked upon like we do the Classic with all it's different models.. It's just out of the norm for a car company to not tweak or do whole sale changes to the car every few years. Days of the Mini Classic and VW Bug are long gone unfortunately... The modern version would probably be the Miata of just gradual changes for the most part of the years.. This next Gen Miata is probably it's biggest change from one year to the next..

 

But that's the thing, the new MINI wasn't started for profit. It was a one off labor of love brand recognition thing, there were never plans for a gen2, that was up in the air until the end of the gen1 lifecycle.

I agree with you, keeping the size down should have been a priority, but BMW went where they thought the market was, and it sort of left many of us gen1 lovers behind. It is what it is.

I'm really hoping the Rocketman makes it out, and I'll be very interested to see how it's received, and how it sells.

As for the newest Miata, they bucked the trend and made it smaller and lighter....Sigh.....

 

The core model shouldn't increase in size. That's what cars like the Countryman and new Clubman are for.

That being said, the F56 is not a big car by any means... it's still much smaller than the competition. It's just a bit bigger than the R50/53.

 

Well...It does have to increase in size, or it wouldn't exist. BMW is using the chassis cross platform; it wouldn't offer the MINI if it couldn't do this, it would be too expensive otherwise, or perhaps more accurately, not profitable enough to make it worthwhile to BMW. It compromises the MINI, but it keeps everything sound financially.

What I wonder is where the Rocketman will fit in with all of this, since it will have to be a seperate platform. Will there be a BMW brand off that platform too? Or will it be so cheap to produce that it won't matter?

 

I would not be surprised to see BMW partner with someone like Toyota to use the Yaris/Aygo platform for the Rocketman.

In which case, the Rocketman will not be anything worth buying because it will be underpowered and soulless.

 

Maybe BMW will work with a different manufacturer to share chassis expense like they are doing with Toyota for their possible new Supra, and BMW's Z4, 5, or whatever it's going to be.... What was BMW's plan with the MINI if not to keep building them assuming it was profitable? Were they just going to shut it down after a year or 4 maybe 6? The MINI Brand does and always will play 2nd fiddle to the BMW Brand, so it's not like they were trying to enhance the BMW Brand with the MINI..

 

The short answer is yes, that is exactly what they were going to do. It was literally at the very end of the R53 life cycle that they decided to go with the R56. No one was more surprised than BMW by the success of the MINI.

 

This might sound a little crazy but... how about the Rocketman and the Superleggra use the same platform? Proportions might be a tad off, just eyeballing concepts, but hey it could work. If you cant tell I really want to see them both hit the street.

 

Possible, the only thing is I don't think the Superleggra is going to be a high volume vehicle, more a limited production niche thing, meaning what Zillion said about sharing a platform with somebody like Toyota still could be a possibility. I just don't think there's enough there to justify a single platform for both the Rocketman and Superleggra, but that's just a guess.

 

Unfortunately, with BMW's CEO Norman Reithofer on the out... a bunch of projects previously green-lit are on the chopping block, including the BMW Z2 and the MINI Superleggera.

MotoringFile » Archive » BMW Cancels Numerous Projects Potentially Including the Superleggera Roadster

 

Well hey....
They spent a ton of money on it...
Face time in Lake Como with the flashbulbs going off...
Drank lots of wine... Consumed spectacular amounts of fine food...
Not all was lost...

 

Well we all knew it would not make it to production. Why, because it was small and what people wanted.

BMW is now working on the new 6 door MINI Countryman Excursion. :lol:

 

I simply cannot believe they bailed on the Z2. I have pretty much lost all faith in BMW.

 

Was that the chassis that was to be shared with Toyota for their new Supra? If so wonder if they will bale out on it as well.. It had the potential to have been a cool looking car..