MINI USA JCW Launch & Pricing Details

If you are interested in a factory JCW MINI in the US market, today is your day. We’ve got pricing and option availability options galore not to mention news of a few price reductions.

We’ve known for a few months that MINI USA will be pricing the JCW Coupe and the Clubman at $29,200 and $31,450 respetively. However until today we didn’t have information on how MINI would break down (let alone price) each of the packages.

For starters MINI USA will officially launch the both new John Cooper Works models on July 14th. These cars will be the first ’09 MINIs and thus will be debuting the new MINI USA packages for the ’09 model year. Remember that sentence if you’re thinking about ordering a ’09 MCS.

While most of the options on JCW cars are identical to the regular MINIs, there are a few exceptions. Notably there is no Sport package. Another change is the lack of interior trim options. JCW cars will only get the Piano black dash or Fluid silver option. That’s probably the biggest surprise in regards to what you can’t get.

Elsewhere in the interior, those wanting the a wood steering wheel in their JCW will be out of luck as that will simply not be an option on either car from the factory. And that Yellow Colorline and Gotham Gray interior available on the MC and MCS? You can cross off that potential combination the JCW.

Now let’s take a look at the packages available on the JCW MINIs. And remember any changes you see here will be closely mirror the final packages for the standard Cooper S for ’09 (and to a lesser degree the MC).

Sport Package: Unavailable.

Premium Package: $1,250 (was 1,500). The Hi-Fi stereo has been dropped and the 249 Multi-function leather steering wheel has been added back to the package. The sun-roof, auto climate control and multi-function steering wheel remain.

Convenience Package: $1,250 (was $1,500). MINI has removed the 6NE Comfort Bluetooth (which included the 249 Multi-Function wheel and 473 Center Armrest and added the more popular 6ND Bluetooth and USB/iPod option. This allows customers to order the package without getting the often criticized center armrest. What stays is the garage door opener, comfort access, auto-dimming rear view mirror, rain sensor and auto headlights.

Cold Weather Package: $500. There are no changes here but we’ll go on record and say this is an absolute no brainer for anyone in a colder climate. It’s probably the best buy of the bunch considering what’s included: Power folding mirrors, heated front seats, heated washer jets and heated mirrors.

Finally the Sirius option has dropped $50 to $500.

Interior

The Pacific Blue interior will end production on August and will be replaced by Ray Cream in September. However it will be important to note that Ray Cream can’t be ordered with Tuscan Beige or Hot Chocolate interiors. Pricing will not change.

Colors

The JCW Coupe colors stay pretty much the same as the standard MCS. Here’s the full list:

• Pepper White
• Chili Red
• Mellow Yellow
• Dark Silver
• Pure Silver
• Astro Black
• Laser Blue
• Sparkling Silver
• Lightning Blue
• British Racing Green

In the information we received there was no talk of specific Clubman colors. So that means either the list above works for the Clubman as well, or we simply haven’t seen the R55 color listing yet. We hope for some clarification on this soon.

Suspension

One option that will remain just an option (to the chagrin of MINI enthusiasts) is the Sport Suspension. It remains $500. The JCW Suspension (in our humble opinion the best option money can buy for a JCW) will continue to be a dealer installed accessory however it will not be available for the Clubman.

Aerokit

As noted on MotoringFile several times the US bound JCW MINIs will not come with the JCW aero-kit in the US market. The good news is that they also won’t come with the factory aero-kit that MINI enthusiast love to hate (sorry Canadians). The factory “MINI” aero-kit will remain a $1,250 factory option and the seemingly much sought after JCW aero-kit will continue to be a dealer (or port) installed accessory.

We’ll have one more juicy update on US bound JCW later in the week.