Took my car to my local dealer for a service Wednesday 23 October .
I was talking to the sales man about the new mini and it's front nose and he said he had seen the the new mini and the big plastic section across the front grill which hold's the license plate wasn't on the car and had a normal grill on it.

 

All the teasers, "spy shots", artist's renderings, and the such are just speculation. The only way we'll know for sure what it looks like is when it is officially unveiled next month. I don't know the person you spoke to or how reliable of a source he is, but I wouldn't doubt that the final product will look somewhat different from all of the "leaked" pics we've seen in the last month or so. I'm curious to see what the final interior will look like. Part of me thinks they'll keep the center speedo after all (maybe as an option).