I have been looking to buy another MINI for the past few months, and it seems as if the universe was working against me. I had two sales fall through and it seemed as if every other MINI I test drove had transmission or engine problems. I almost gave up until recently.

A lot of craziness has happened in the past week or so, and I decided to take a few days off to go to the mountains of North Carolina for some R&R. My wife and I decided to fly to Atlanta (much cheaper), and rent a car to drive up to NC.

Then I thought "instead of renting a car why not BUY one and drive it back to FL." We would save on return flight and rental car. A couple of hours later, found a nice looking R50 ten minutes from the airport!

Here she is! Astro black with what appears to be the premium and sport packages. 30K miles on the odometer, and manual transmission.

http://www.miniofsouthatlanta.com/Ve...-GA/1695561843

Just signed the PO and deposit, picking her up next Wednesday and off the hills of NC!

I have had two R53's and after testing driving a few R50's, I really like the low end torque and the "fun to drive fast" feeling of the slower sibling.

I also plan to keep this one for a while, so figured a low mileage justa from '06 would be about as bomb proof as it gets from the first gen.

Here are the specs:

VIN long WMWRC33556TK71924
Type code RC33
Type COOPER (USA)
Dev. series R50 (2)
Line M
Body type COUPE
Steering LL
Door count 3
Engine W10
Cubical capacity 1.60
Power 85
Transmision FRONT
Gearbox MECH
Colour ASTRO BLACK METALLIC (A25)
Upholstery KUNSTLEDER/PANTHER SCHWARZ (K7PN)
Prod. date 2006-09-23

Order options
No. Description
1CA SELECTION COP RELEVANT VEHICLES
210 DYNAMIC STABILITY CONTROL (DSC)
249 MULTI-FUNCTION FOR STEERING WHEEL
3AB BODY COLOURED MIRROR CAPS
300 EMERGENCY WHEEL
325 REAR SPOILER
368 LT/ALY WHEELS/5-STAR
381 ROOF IN BODY COLOUR
403 GLAS ROOF, ELECTRIC
450 HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT F FRONT PASSENGER SEAT
481 SPORT SEATS F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER
520 FOGLIGHTS
534 AUTOMATIC AIR CONDITIONING
550 ON-BOARD COMPUTER
645 RADIO CONTROL US
650 CD PLAYER
692 CD CHANGER I-BUS PREPARATION
8SP COP CONTROL
895 ADDITIONAL VENTILATOR
925 SHIPPING PROTECTION PACKAGE

Series options
No. Description
255 SPORTS LEATHER STEERING WHEEL
262 HEAD AIRBAG
429 INTERIOR SURFACE, ANTHRACITE
441 SMOKERS PACKAGE
470 CHILD SEAT ISOFIX ATTACHMENT
493 STORAGE COMPARTMENT PACKAGE
546 REVOLUTION COUNTER
563 LIGHTS PACKAGE
657 RADIO BOOST
736 SECOND RADIO REMOTE CONTROL KEY
823 HOT CLIMATE VERSION
845 ACOUSTIC BELT WARNING
853 LANGUAGE VERSION ENGLISH
876 RADIO FREQUENCY 315 MHZ
992 NUMBER PLATE ATTACHEMENT MANAGEMENT

What surprised me was the late production date: 9/23/2006. Looks like I got one of the last ones! Does anyone know how long the R50/R53's were in production?

Cheers!

 

Great story. Welcome to NAM.
I am sure someone knows the dates ...from what i remember, the model dates stayed longer then most...

 

Don't know the dates but welcome to the site.

 

Thanks! I have been around for a while

I had two R53's before (both sold). My first one was in 2005, which was a lease so I could never modify it. My second one I purchased a couple of years ago, and modded it (as you can see in my sig), and for some stupid reason sold it.

Now I'm back! And I hope to be keeping this one for a while... if I have any inclinations to sell it again, I'll make sure to come back here for some "therapy"

 

Welcome back!

 

After 4 years of regret I am back as well! I have regretted getting rid of my 2006 JCW since the day it left. This week I pick up my Eclipse Gray JCW! Woohoo!

 

Awesome story. Welcome back. Post some pictures up, the link doesn't work anymore.

 

Thanks! Will post some pics when I pick her up day after tomorrow.

 

Congrats on your new(ish) Mini! My newly acquired '06 AB/AB MCS was built in October of 2006, but I don't know the exact date because I didn't get mine from a Mini Dealership. I'm not sure if that's the last month though. Anyway, I hope you fully enjoy this Mini!

 

Thanks! You have a very nice car! I guess our cars are (nearly) identical twins! You can find out your car's exact birthday (production date) by buying a VIN check on http://bmw-vin.com/, which also tells you everything the car had specced from the factory.

I recently read somewhere that someone had a November '06 build!

Talk about a late month...

 

We just returned from our last-minute planned MINI road trip. As I mentioned before, my wife and I were heading up to NC, near Asheville, to look into acquiring some property that will be part of a self-sustaining community. At the last minute, instead of renting a car and flying back, I decided to buy a MINI and drive home

Below are the pics along with a brief story line:

We flew from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta, and was picked up by Chad Hudson of BMW of South Atlanta (great sales guy, great dealer). One couldn't ask for better weather for picking up a British car After breakfast at the dealer (bananas and coffee), two free coffee mugs and MINI t-shirts, we were on our way to North Carolina....


Decided to stop somewhere in South Carolina for a refill of coffee and gas... *

Three hours later, we had arrived at our friends' home in Mill Spring, NC. Does this qualify as a MINI Countryman?


Spent a day on the farm helping till the soil for our future crops:


MINI Countryman part two? - Really enjoyed the roads around western NC, especially around Lake Lure.



Is there such as thing as a MINI Fireman? Helping some friends clear the land to build on:


And back home in sunny Miami!





After 1,500 miles in my "new-to-me" R50, I have to say I love this car. Compared to my two previous R53's, it seems like everything a MINI should be, in my opinion - a well balanced package of style, performance, utility, and economy.

I actually prefer this R50 over my previous R53s - the R50 seems to handle the road better, has a more comfortable ride without sacrificing performance, and seems to be overall more "driveable." I also believe it has a more aesthetically pleasing and elegant styling to it overall. No offense, but I found the R53's to be a bit more pretentious (exhaust noises, supercharger whine, etc.) and a little erratic / tweaked out both in terms of handling and power delivery.

It seems to me like the R50 is the more "natural" car, "at peace" with itself so to speak. While the R53 is more like a MINI on espresso, almost too hyper in terms of aesthetics and driving dynamics.

Considering this is a late 2006 build, I have noticed a few subtle differences:

The rear control arms appear to be more robust than my 2005 R53s;

On the 2005's, the steering column had two little dimples right behind the steering wheel, which this one lacks (anyone know what these are for?);

The inside of the glove box was not lined with a cloth material, but rather plastic, however the bottom surface of the glove box appears to have a rubber liner to prevent things from sliding inside (also missing on the 05's);

The sun-roof glass appears to have a darker tint than the ones on the 05's;

The rear parcel shelf does not have vent slots in it, although this may be due to the fact that the R50 does not have the battery in the trunk;

There is a little "ball-point" sticking out of a plastic tab in the central/frontal portion of the dashboard, which was missing on my 05's (anyone know what this is for?); and

The inside of the trunk hatch has a couple of handles for closing the hatch (can't remember if those were in the 05's).

Anyway, have had a blast with all of my MINIs, and I look forward to many more happy motoring miles ahead!

 

Congrats and welcome to Justaland.

 

Congrats and looks like you had a great adventure to boot.

 

Guessing the "Ball Point" you are referring to is probably the rain sensor for the wipers...

 

Awesome story, and nice looking Mini!

 

I thought the same, however on my last R53 the rain sensor was located directly behind the rear view mirror on the windshield.

 

Thanks!

 

Aha... must be the sensor to auto turn on the headlights then.

 

Hmm, could be, but I doubt it since the car is not equipped with auto headlights, and on my 2005 the light and rain sensors were integrated into one unit, which was located behind the review mirror against the upper windshield...

 

Congrats fellow Floridian. I loved the pic-story too

 

Thanks! Nice to see another NAMer from Florida - not too many of us it seems. What are you driving these days?

 

I'm actually MINI-less right now. I joined up to get some awesome information before I make my purchase sometime within the next six months. It's gonna be a long wait.

 

I love reading these tales of MINIs off-and-on. I also appreciate the sub thread of Turbo vs. Normal. Thanks for sharing.

 

Has this helped in avoiding motoring awards?

 

Welcome back!
I love the all-black look as well. I tried really hard to find a black R50, before deciding Indi Blue was pretty hehe!

As for the "dimples" behind the steering wheel. I have those on my R50, as does my husband's. They are for the volume control of the radio, as well as "seeking" stations (or cd tracks). I've noticed a lot of differences between my '03 and the '06's, like the steering wheel controls. They are different. Sometimes I wish I could have gotten that silver '06 I was bidding for with a private seller to trade my Mazda3 for! lol!

Anyway, glad to hear you're enjoying the MINI more than ever! Don't give it up!