That would stick out of the side of the engine bay about 2 ft.  

 

Lee

That's what I figured Maybe a mod for the future  :no:  

I wonder why BMW chose to put the 8 speed box on the 2.0 in the BMW and the 6 speed box in the Mini?

Aisin say the box's are a similar size.

6-speeder might be cheaper? I loved it in the JCW though. Felt very nearly as good as the ZF8 in the M135i tbh. Think it has been reprogrammed on the JCW compared to the cooper/cooper-s however to give better/sportier shifts.

Having had a play with the M3 DCT 7 speed, I came to the conclusion that 7 is enough gears and 6 is probably just about as good too. I lose count with 8 If you are pootling along and perhaps waiting for that overtake opportunity or suddenly you find that epic series of bends, it's not always easy to flick down through the gears as you have to do a mental calculation first if you see what I mean. I sometimes hit the kickdown and then flick over to manual once the car has figured out how low it can go

At the end of the day the top gear no matter how many they cram in, is generally still of a similar ratio to any other 5th or 6th.

What gets me is in 6th on my 2.0ltr almost 300bhp car at 70mph my revs are similar to my wife's Citigo in 5th with a measly 60bhp??

I would have thought the bigger engine with more power would rev a lot lower to achieve the same speed.

6-speeder might be cheaper? I loved it in the JCW though. Felt very nearly as good as the ZF8 in the M135i tbh. Think it has been reprogrammed on the JCW compared to the cooper/cooper-s however to give better/sportier shifts.

 

They still manage to beat both the economy and performance of the manual and that's some technical achievement with a six speed conventional auto.

Having had a play with the M3 DCT 7 speed, I came to the conclusion that 7 is enough gears and 6 is probably just about as good too. I lose count with 8 If you are pootling along and perhaps waiting for that overtake opportunity or suddenly you find that epic series of bends, it's not always easy to flick down through the gears as you have to do a mental calculation first if you see what I mean. I sometimes hit the kickdown and then flick over to manual once the car has figured out how low it can go

 

I get lost as well with the 8 speed box.

 

The M135i comparison is easy though as the manual and auto have the same final drive. 

 

1st in the manual is nearly the same as 2nd in the Auto and 6th in the manual is exactly the same as 7th in the Auto.

 

So if you drive between 2nd and 7th in the Auto you are using very similar ratio's as the manual driver would be using 1st to 6th. 

 

Most manual owners say it could do with an extra gear on the motorway.

 

Lee

At the end of the day the top gear no matter how many they cram in, is generally still of a similar ratio to any other 5th or 6th.

What gets me is in 6th on my 2.0ltr almost 300bhp car at 70mph my revs are similar to my wife's Citigo in 5th with a measly 60bhp??

I would have thought the bigger engine with more power would rev a lot lower to achieve the same speed.

 

That's the advantage of more gears. You get the close ratios but can have lower revs on the motorway.

 

We have a 6 speed DSG diesel and it revs higher on the motorway than our 8 speed petrol.

yes, 8th is about 35mph/1000rpm. The very short first gear isn't really that necessary when you have nearly 330bhp and peak torqueueueues at 1,300rpm. Still it makes for fun getaways

Oh and sorry for Hijacking the thread, I always end up with mini's when I take the BMW. I'm always impressed with the build quality of Mini's and the way they drive but they are a bit too firm for me to have as a daily drive.

 

Lee

Tom,

Just down the road from me, I like the British Racing Green but not the contrasting Roof and mirror caps for me.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201506124274710?price-from=25000&radius=1501&page=1&make=mini&quicksearch=true&search-target=usedcars&postcode=sn119rn&price-to=35000&model=hatch_john_cooper_works&sort=default&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&logcode=p

Edited 22 November, 201510 yr by vrskeith

Keith please see post #815 here 

Ahhhh.......Guinness.

Tom,

Just down the road from me, I like the British Racing Green but not the contrasting Roof and mirror caps for me.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201506124274710?price-from=25000&radius=1501&page=1&make=mini&quicksearch=true&search-target=usedcars&postcode=sn119rn&price-to=35000&model=hatch_john_cooper_works&sort=default&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&logcode=p

Better looking combo me thinks;

https://static.approvedusedminis.co.uk/carimages/WMWXM920402D04179_01_DL_051115_1.jpg

https://www.approvedusedminis.co.uk/car-details?ch=WMWXM920402D04179.14107&mstk=51059140521!33

Edited 22 November, 201510 yr by vrskeith

Tom,

Just down the road from me, I like the British Racing Green but not the contrasting Roof and mirror caps for me.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201506124274710?price-from=25000&radius=1501&page=1&make=mini&quicksearch=true&search-target=usedcars&postcode=sn119rn&price-to=35000&model=hatch_john_cooper_works&sort=default&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&logcode=p

That looks like "rebel green" which isn't very nice. BRG is better. Odd spec that demo. Looks like no nav and they've specced some naff ordinary leather seats in place of the stunning original JCW seats.....

I actually put a deposit down on this beauty but cancelled and got the money back when my local dealer pulled out all the stops to get me into a new one instead:

That has to be the snazziest looking fuel cap I've ever seen!

Unfortunately not for Europe /UK? (Yet)

http://www.topgear.com/car-news/concept/bmws-baby-four-door-saloon-china-and-its-rather-lovely

Edited 25 November, 201510 yr by vrskeith

Haha! Ok so the new motor is going to be....

A new F56 MINI JCW :-)

Sorry if that's abit of of an anti-climax lol.

Fancied a change and a mate of mine works at a Mini dealership so persuaded me to have a testdrive. I was simply blown away by how much of a giggle it was.

Very different driving experience to the M-lite. More focused and hardcore although still plenty of refinement when you want it and still has that "BMW-ness".

Obviously it's not as fast in a straight line but still no slouch and plenty enough powerrr to have a right laugh. Exhaust sounds properly naughty too :-)

It's also clearly not as practical as the M135i but I had one out for an entire day and coped easily enough getting Mini-Furbytom in and out. We have the fabia vRS Estate as our family wagon /beater anyhow so no worries there.

I'm sure some people will think I'm mad swapping a RWD 6-cyl Beemer for a FWD 4-pot MINI but it really is a great car and put a huge smile on my face. I'll probably end up back in a 'proper' BMW at some point but for the minute fancy trying out something different. Reminds me of my old Abarth 500 in it's fun and character, only much quicker and far nicer inside lol.

I'm sad in a way to be parting ways with the M135i as its overall the best car I've ever had, but I'm super excited about getting the JCW! :-)

Car has gone into build this week, expected for handover at some point in Dec prior to Christmas.

Spec:

F56 JCW

Pepper white / Red roof+mirrors

Sport Auto Box

Chili Pack

Media XL pack

Harmon Kardon Audio

Rear PDC

Dimming mirror

Adaptive Dampers

Should look something like this:

Will post up some pics etc when it arrives! :-)

Tom

So when is it due at the dealers Tom?

WTF!

http://www.topgear.com/car-news/modified/tuned-bmw-1-series-has-more-torque-ferrari-f12tdf

So when is it due at the dealers Tom?

It's now been built and "consigned" so expected at dealers next week :-) woopwoop!

The JCW is at the dealers and will be collecting her on Monday :-) Very excited lol.

So now entering my last few days of M135i ownership...... #mixedemotions

Nice (different) choice - obviously not in the same league but OH had a Mini Cooper Clubman, and although only 1.6 it was a complete hoot to drive; low, snug, cornered like it was on rails, great fun to drive.

 

Hope you enjoy it.

The JCW is at the dealers and will be collecting her on Monday :-) Very excited lol.

So now entering my last few days of M135i ownership...... #mixedemotions

Don't forget the Kleenex on Monday Tom.

Have a good pick - up day mate.

Hope you enjoy your last run out with the M135i over the weekend.

I am exited for you on the new car.

Does the BMW go into a dealership with the current exhaust fitted?

Please let us know where it is if up for sale once your deal is concluded, it might be a car someone will be interested on getting a deal on.

 

I am exited for you on the new car.

Does the BMW go into a dealership with the current exhaust fitted?

Please let us know where it is if up for sale once your deal is concluded, it might be a car someone will be interested on getting a deal on.

Cheers George. M-performance exhaust is coming off this weekend then will be up for sale separately. It's worth about 400-450 secondhand so didn't want to give it to the dealer.

Will post up some pics of the JCW when I get chance early next week :-)

Don't know if anyone will get much of a deal on my old M135i unfortunately as I rather pulled their pants down on the trade in value (for a change!) as they had to agree to take it in at waaay over book price in order to get me into the mini. Plus they've got to fork out for 4 new tyres on it so there may not be much margin left in it lol. You never know tho! I'll pass on the details once the deal is complete. Will be very interesting to see the sticker price for it.