I Should Hate The MINI Paceman JCW, But Here's Why I Don't 

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My wife owns a Paceman. She absolutely loves it and wouldn’t change it for a standard hatch

Not the biggest fan of the looks but appreciate it that it's a Gen 2 mini 3 door with AWD which is unique. As an R56 owner myself, I don't think it's fair to say throwaway comments like all 2nd gens are 'falling apart but this one has faired ok'. The 2nd gen is a well built car, much better than the 1st gen which was effectively a rover product that BMW stole late into the project while the 2nd gen was all BMW designed. The only issue for them is the engine, the prince PSA/BMW engine has it's issues but it's not a fully unreliable lump that's going to strand you every week as you make it sound. I won't lie, they are many people buying cheap neglected R56s that have been poorly maintained then moaning it doesn't run right etc and that will due to the timing chain being stretched over time and needing replacement, or the oil controlled vanos issues either due to low oil level or timing issues, also oil consumption on the valve stem seals and piston rings if they are not looked after (too long oil change periods of 15-20k from factory do not help, personally no more than 7.5k) But if you get a well looked after and maintained one, continue to maintain it well, it will look after you back. I've had an early 07 R56 Cooper 1.6 NA (N12) for the last year, I changed the vanos solenoids, spark plugs, coil packs and an oil change myself when i first got it, probably about £100-150 in parts just to give it a good service, over the last year and 11k miles (and another oil change after 7.5k), the only issue i had was a check engine light for the pre cat O2 sensor, changed it, bosch one, £36 and 1.5hr of my time, issue fixed. Still runs well today. It has never let me down or not started, only time was it would go into slight reduced power when that O2 sensor code was active for about a week. (It's on 104k miles now, bought on 93k). I've now bought a later 2012 R56 Cooper S with the revised updated N18 1.6T engine (as seen in this car), 101k miles, former head office MINI UK owned car for it's first year of it's life, and it's been great, runs brilliantly and smooth. The previous owner only had to get oil changes and some subframe bushings in it's last 3 years, no engine issues. It's a very nice car with all the options, satnav, cornering xenons etc. and it only cost me £3500, full history etc. I have full confidence in the coming year, this will also be another reliable 2nd gen mini like my first one. I say two last things quickly, anything JCW, it will be 2x the price (either the model itself, or the specific parts) hence why the clutch in this (also at main dealer pricing) was £2.5k, in addition it wouldn't have failed so early if an automatic driver had ruined it as mentioned, my 101k mile car is likely on it's original clutch and it still bites very sharp and low on the pedal. But yes if you don't want high costs, don't buy a JCW, especially when a similar Cooper S has the same engine just slightly detuned about 20hp and will cost half as much to buy and run (in terms of parts cost), less tax also. 2nd thing, don't go and buy a cheap neglected R56, especially older pre-facelift/pre-LCI N14 engine unless meticulously maintained, you will encounter issues as mentioned above, don't be persuaded by the low prices as it will likely not been maintained good enough and neglected. Decent service history of oil changes and a timing chain change (highly recommend) is a good idea. Listen for any werid running at idle or timing chain ticking sounds. I would personally recommend getting a facelift N18 engine as MINI revised many issues the original N14 faced and there are many posts of N14s having issues but not many N18 posts, so consider that.

We have a Cooper SD paceman , it's exactly as you say , unusually odd and yet fun to drive . Definitely a keeper as long as the servicing is regular and decent tyres are used . Even with RF's the ride is more than acceptable. We love it . Keep up the great work, you are a go-to channel after a long day 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Those n18’s in 62 plate jcws and above are far more reliable than it’s n14 brother 😂

A novel use of the LTT 'for scale' banana... I never realised the Paceman was meant to be an SUV - I just looked at it as a smaller version of the second generation Mini... Which seemed like a hard sell - the standard Mini definitely living up to it's 'mini' name inside... It certainly was the best looking of the Mini variants.

My wife has the Cooper S version of these and have to say it's actually a brilliant car. JM isn't wrong about the space - it's really practical, surprisingly fast and has good handling. And in the potholed back of beyond where we live it's probably the best car she could have.

We have a 2019 countryman cooper S with JCW extras. I was really surprised how well it drove when we first got it. It is somehow firm yet compliant. And it’s a really nice place to be.

I saw my first ones a couple days ago at the first Mini meet I attended and actually loved it. The JCW one that was there looked so good thanks to what the owner had done to it, after market wheels, lowered and such made it look like a race car honestly. If there was say a 22 model version like my 2dr hardtop S I would totally think about getting one.

great video, best of luck!❤️

1k for disc and pads !!! Is the owner mad 😮

2:21 That corner made a right mokkaery out of them :)

I've got a 2022 Countryman JCW...its a superb little car (other than slightly firm suspension, it fits a large dog, decent interior space and pretty comfortable). A real disregarded gem.

Ive had a paceman cooper non turbo all4 for a few months now did want a jcw but that was way out of my budget that black and red one there looks great . Ive always had minis from r53mcs to clubmans to countrymans and ive got to say the paceman is my favorite big mini looks great drives great not going to win any races but still can be fun on the b roads, can fit 4 people more than comfortablely and fits two mountain bikes ( in bits ) with ease . As a do it all car im very happy with it . Its just quirky and a nice to drive ,lifes to short to drive plain cars haha . Lastly 35mpg around town and 45 mpg on a long trip isnt bad at all .

Love these, wouldn’t mind one for family duties. Brother has an R56 JCW and it's just hilarious to drive

James is the special kind of weird bloke to buy a Paceman JCW and two banana plushs from Linus bloody Tech Tips

Yeah, same here. I should hate it, but I can't. Same with a Cybertruck or with a BMW X6M: I can only look at those cars ironically, which makes me consider them a laugh.

I had a JCW Coupé, I really regret selling it, it's the one car I miss the most. I have an F56 Cooper S now which is amazing but just not the same. Loved the crazy minis

I love that MINI made a crazy number of Cooper variants during that 2nd BMW generation! One of them, the two-seater Coupe (R58), is my first "forever" car. I know it will be expensive to hang on to, but so far it hasn't had any nightmare issues or left me stranded (other than two flat tires in seven years, due to highway road hazards . . . admittedly, I had ditched the run-flats for Michelin Pilot Sports, improving the ride quality). The N18 engine, I hear, is more reliable than the earlier N14, and I wonder which engine this Paceman has -- I've got the N18 and again, it's been fine. The car is like a puppy eager to play, and is a blast to drive in the mountains but also injects a lot of fun into every drive no matter how mundane. It's a shame zany, sporty little cars like this have all but vanished from new-car showrooms.

Thank you for that clip at 8:00

now, THIS came exactly, when I needed it! Thanks, man! And yes: when Jeremy Clarkson says so, it's so. 🤞

I was looking at these a few years ago, didn't make the shortlist in the end, but it's a neat thing.

I like the fact that they kept with the floating roof design. The countryman has a funny kink that breaks the flow of the window line bit line.

I howled laughing at the Maxi comment, having been in the back of my uncle's Austin Maxi as a kid. That amused me no end. Meanwhile, this is an intriguing proposition. I'm just pondering whether to stick with my current car or whether something like this might be the right switch for me. Hmmm, maybe I'll have a closer look at one after this - thanks!

I had a Paceman Cooper S and loved it! I now though have a three door Mini Cooper S and it is a lot faster then the Paceman.

Modern maxi ! Had to chuckle at that !

Great! Now please review a convertible Evoque. Just saw one the other day here in snowy Finland and couldn’t believe my eyes. It looks so wrong, yet so right.

I get the Paceman 1.6 to be 215 bhp ,the later JCW 2.0 Hatch/ Countryman and Clubman to increase to 230 and the even later Countryman and Clubman ( Mini GP only in the regular hatchback) to have the 306 bhp unit from the M135i. I could of course be totally bloody wrong, which in most cases… I am!!

As someone who drives that road on the regular…how FAST must they have been going/ not paying attention to come off there 😬

Hi James, long time fan here I work for a car company that works with Magna, the build quality will be due to the engineering and test standards of the OEM, magna literally just bolt the thing together. They have input on hiw to make them easier to manufacture, but nothing the end customer would know about. I’m not sure calling them a coach builder is fair, again this suggests that they have design input whereas they don’t, just manufacturing Sorry to be pedantic, love the vid as always 😊

I like these "mini suv's": they are weird, decent interior, lots of buttons instead of a screen (prefer physical controls), not too expensive. "Annoyingly good" as you said.

As car nerds, we should appreciate the distinction between Mini (BMC) and MINI (BMW). It's all in the script.

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Hi Jay, do you mind asking Voice Over Jay if he could include the KW along with the HP figures on your reviews? It would really be appreciated by a South African subscriber 😁

£2.6k for a clutch anf flywheel is criminal.

A green Cooper S Paceman was my first car, loved it to pieces, but the build quality wasn’t great

You would have thought he’d learnt his lesson after 2 previous mini’s!!😅

So what later happened about the auto test result?

Had the same one, one albeit for not very long. About a year old quite a rare car at the time, felt heavy and very lethargic and tram lined like crazy. That bad even different tyres made no different. Dealer had it 10 months before it finally sold….

My brother in law is a mechanic at an independent garage, If i mention Mini (or maxi if you prefer, i do tbh) he rolls his eyes. He sees a lot of them, 'nuff said!

The INEOS Grenadier is also built by Magna-Steyr, I believe.

Someone get this man a drive in a range rover evoke convertible.

I like unusual but there are limits . Good to hear it's better than it should be but still wouldn't be able to look back as i locked it

Engine variant depends on whether or not the vehicle is “LCI” or not. Model year 2014 onwards has the B18, rather than the B16 and as far as I’m aware it’s has an output of 218 hp (euro figure as I live in Sweden). The B18 is fine for reliability and the clutch issue is much more prevelant on pre LCI thanks to the not-so-good anti-stall software. It doesn’t suffer from lag but does have a high(ish) boost threshold due the small engine volume. I really enjoy my 2014 Countryman JCW (manual btw, auto was never an option) and beyond completely switching off the nanny controls to eliminate understeer there’s one recommendation I’d give here: Change the all the transmission fluids. It’s awkward/difficult (all the underbody panels must be removed, along with the exhaust system) and therefore expensive if done by a workshop but it’s like having a new transmission fitted.

The Prince engine isn’t that bad, it just needed the French to fix it without the Germans getting involved.

What year and which engine N18 to buy instead off N14 engine thank you ❤️❤️

My r53 is still in one piece and keeps on going 👌

I have a Countryman JCW of this generation which is also an auto and the thing to bear in mind with these is the fuel economy is tragic. I get 23mpg in mixed conditions driving sensibly. A lot of this might be down to the auto as well. Surprisingly mine was also genuinely good in the snow. Excellent review as always 👍

Drove its sister the Countryman and the suspension was always unsettled and lumpy. It was as if no road surface was right for it.

We have a Paceman JCW and we even use it as a family car with two young children. Fun fact: MINI called the Paceman a SAV (Sport Activity Vehicle) and not a SUV.

If all R52s are dropping to bits my mum's 19 year ownership of a Cooper CVT is going quite well. Probably has some to do with only having 45k on the clock

That's the way it is on driving tests in the U.S. with commercial driver's licenses now. With the advent and ubiquity of automatic road trucks many drivers never even get to touch a manual transmission gearbox tractor trailer anymore. A truck transmission is a non-synchronous transmission so some skill is actually required to double clutch without banging the gears about and breaking the transmission, which with modern truck engines making on the order of 600 hp and right at or over 2,000 lb ft torque, it's a certainty that an untrained driver would end up breaking the gearbox. So if you take the test in an auto, that's what you're stuck driving. With regular operators licenses it doesn't matter, either/or works. To be fair, a car or pickup truck with a fully synchronized gearbox is quit a simple apparatus compared to an 80,000 lb 600 hp road tractor that requires double clutching or proper float shifting all while pulling a load up or down a mountain grade in the middle of the night somewhere.

Just needed round front lights. Grill is agressive.

My brother had a red Paceman Cooper D with a black roof and, unfortunately, black wheels. Notwithstanding the wheels I thought it was a smart-looking thing. If it hadn't been a PCP car that he needed to PX, I might have bought it from him at 4 years old, to replace my beloved Clubman and provide me with more space, similar to today's owner.

The idea of a big car called ‘mini’ is to ironic for my liking

If the Paceman addresses the crashy ride and limited boot space of the standard Mini without significant compromise elsewhere, that can't be bad. (Look at me being all grown up 😅).

Please review a r55!

The F48 engine is not built by the Germans but the Italians i believe. Magnetti Marelli.

If you want something similar/quirky, test drive a BMW F45 225i

😂 Abnoyingly good.

I’d love a permanent all wheel drive 6speed manual version of the original NEW supercharged Mini Cooper S.

Eh not all R53s are falling apart. Mine is in fine fettle and doesn’t give me any trouble. It’s my go to daily. V8 vantage roadster in the garage for sunny days 👍

All4One One4All

Saw one of these. Even my wife didn’t like it and she loves mini

every iteration looks more akin of 1 series

I like this. No idea why. I wonder how reliable these are

I love small cars and even had a Canada-spec Austin Mini 1000 while living in New Jersey. I’ve avoided the modern MINI because I’ve heard from mechanics that it’s horrible to work on and despite its English heritage name is actually designed by BMW. No German (or German-designed) cars for me.

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I have a Paceman but took those awful runflats off!

Why do the majority of old people keep making the tired joke of mini not being mini anymore 🙄 eye roll every time I hear this. That being said Great insight into the car and I enjoy the videos

The brakes for £1000 seems wrong, very wrong. Genuine Mini brakes with labour is no more then £457 - they dip discount for cars over 10 years old (40% off service parts) 30% if it wasn’t 10 years old when he had it done.

Can you fit in it - I couldn't

There’s a Ferrari SUV, Mini needs to step it up!

I would LOVE a RR Evoque convertible. In that horrid orange color no less

Rain? Not that I could see.

I’d rather have the 3 liter inline 6 in a JCW special. (If only Mini would produce one;)

Big Trucks Volume 6

As an R56 owner, I still don't understand it.

They are nice car's, but definitely not a mini. Mabey it's a Riley, or possibly a Wolseley?

I prefer the Countryman

Oh dear 😅

It will break down often, unless mini have started engineering correctly

I owned a 2014 JCW Countryman (5 door paceman) for 4 years. The most unreliable car ive ever owned including 20 year old sh!t boxes. It was fully serviced from Mini for 3 years in my ownership and did nothing but let me down and cost me £1000's. It however was a fantastic car to drive , loveley to be in and very useable all year round. It was a love hate relationship that i had to leave after abuse to my wallet !

Everyone that I have known to own a Mini - new, used, variety of variants- have all had repeated mechanical issues. They all ditched them after a year or so. Nice design, but poorly screwed together.

My 2013 Paceman JCW (very similar spec to this one) is for sale if anyone is interested :)

You hate Abarth 500, but you don't hate that abomination 😂. Intriguing

I hate that sad grill, why they ruin the og mini look?

Ive got a yellow R53 called Pac-Man ...... completely irrelevant to this video other than when it comes to putting the name badge on the boot, I can use the PACEMAN lettering and just "drop the E" : (sounds a bit late 80's that) !

These engines aren't unreliable if you actually have the decency to change the oil properly 🙄 Get the timing chain replaced at 100k whether it's slapping or not and upgrade it to the racing chain and guides. The service isn't that much I've had my N18 JCW R56 now for years (60k miles) Modified asf and beaten to absolute death for all 60k miles... I've had to replace.... drum role.... the thermostat 😐 the valve cover😐 and the timing chain🙄 oh and the clutch at 105k miles🫥

Every time I drive one of those (2 of my friends have one, each), I feel like I'm driving a couch... so boring! 😴😴😴 Especially the one with the auto transmission, is the definition of soulless. These cars are all about looks and status, and nothing more IMO.

It stopped being a Mini years ago

Looks like a trout

Black wheels again James NO,NO,NO!!

I had one for a while, it should have been so much better than it was unfortunately. Lazy engine choices and bland interiors really let it down. Of all the 9 minis I've had it was the biggest let down

My mum was going to buy one of these new, thank god we test drove it first. It had to be ragged in order for it to move, a Paceman SD was quicker in most circumstances even with 75bhp less, and as a result no-one who’d driven it at Mini had seen more than 30mpg. The very early F56 Cooper S we ended up with did 40+ easily and would’ve left it for dead anywhere.

A friend of mine had a Mini whose engine failed letting her stranded at the side of the road. The water pump as long as most of the pipes around the engine were made out of plastic.... Plastic is the worst material to make an engine water pump and coolant pipes from., All that heat and pressure makes it crack and you risk catastrophic engine failure What on Earth was on their mind when they designed those ? .... Knowing they were made by BMW...The same BMW . Who, after cars such as E39 5-series and E46 3-series that were bulletproof high quality cars and proved BMW was well capable to produce good cars..... The only answer I got they made them unreliable intentionally, to make lots of money from them them through service repairs, once they get out of warranty and are designed to become money pits... It is impossible to have been a mistake... BMW made reliable engines from decades... I just can't see why all of a sudden they would decide to make a critical component such as a water pump out of plastic....unless they wanted them to fail.... I was a big fan of BMW and Mini.... ( The 5-series E39 still on a poster on my wall)... But since this story.... I never want to hear anything about buying a BMW....😔

why can't the owners of the review cars actually give them a good clean before handing them over..

All form over function unlike the real mini. Not surprising the people who buy them mostly tell you the colour if you ask what they drive. All BMW minis I've driven or bern in have had a terrible ride, something which is a deal breaker for me

I'm not a big fan, but "Maxi' is just too cruel! ;-)

The Paceman was an odd one for Mini but I liked it , it’s a shame they didn’t carry it over to the F series design. I think it will become a future classic as a JCW along with the coupe and roadster.