Hello All,
I am new to the mini community. I just bought my first mini an 05' racing green mini cooper s. It is tons of fun!! I have been missing out. A little about me I live in Minnesota and am a flight engineer. I have been flying C-130's for about 15 years. I hope to become more involved in this community and looking forward to the world of mini's and seeing if its as fun as it is to drive one. One thing I don't know and was hoping someone could help is what is the R50 something designation mean? I'm assuming its a model signifier. What would mine be. Also I noticed on my dash I don't have the normal speedometer in the center. Its behind the steering wheel and in the center I have oil press and temp, fuel quantity, and water temp gauges. The kid I bought it from said that was rare. Is that true? Thanks for including me in the community!

 

Welcome! For the first gen, you have an R53.
R50 - through 2006 base hardtop (normally aspirated)
R53 - through 2006 S hardtop (supercharged)
R52 - through 2008 base or S convertible

 

Guages option is called Chrono package. Only available on facelift cars (2005,2006)

 

What does face lift cars mean?

 

The R53 was originally produced in 2002. After July, 2004, Mini changed a lot of the specs, both inside and out, though the shell and platform remained the same. The later production run came to be mown as the facelift R53’s. Your car is one of this later group. You can research the specific changes online.

Kat

 

If yours is a 6spd then we have identical cars! The chrono package is definitely a cool option for these cars. I'm a new member as well, so welcome!

 

I do have the 6 speed.