I’ve never liked the Checkmate or the convertible first gens, so the Astro Black was an easy call for me.

 

over here maybe due to climate the convertables are not as collectable and the black cars are very common however the white cars are seen as the coolest and your checkmate would sit high on many folks wish lists in the UK, only thing not liked even on uk checkmates is the blue seats as fitted with 2 tone recaros & aero bodykit that would be truly stunning car

 

I would keep the Astro Black and never look back.

 

Hate to say this but the Astro black and the R52 JCW's are the most incredible first gen examples of the marquee so I plan to keep the driver quality example and daily drive it. My plans have changed and I will be listing them on autotrader this weekend. If you know of anyone looking pass it along. They will not be cheap KBB value cars.

 

 

 

 

astro black for those seats

unfortunately it has a sunroof :(

 

These are awesome!

 

Without knowing prices, without hesitation I would choose the R52, and if not the Pepper white

 

I would keep the checkmate!
Especially if it a Factory JCW as they are really rare.

 

Checkmate is a factory JCW indeed and Pepper White is calling my name. Will submit the AstroBlack and Sparkling Silver to BaT. Hopeful that it would find nice homes.

 

Last year I contacted MINI in Germany, I was curious about the amount of Checkmate JCW's there were made since I own one myself.
They only keep record of the Factory fitted ones (so no dealer fitted ones). But there are only 301 world wide. So the Factory JCW Checkmates are rare.

 

Sell'em all and find a non-picture window top, 2005 or 06, R53 JCW.
Unfortunately, they are hard to find here in the SoCal area.

Mike

 

With BAT rejecting a lot of very qualified "non dealer" cars lately... I hope that they accept your two beauties above !!

If you have more ' Year correct ' R53 wheels to run... you may do better on BAT with them vs the 112's... and save those for your keeper !!



.

 

I have a 2006 Astro Black R52 JCW....kinda the best of both worlds to me....good luck with your sales

Bryan

 

BaT accepted my Astro Black

 

So the Sidewalk is now listed for $21,000 on autotrader.com and has 54,000 miles. While that seems somewhat high to me, I hope that you get every penny.

 

Didn't attempt BaT for the R52 as they are backed up with listings for 8 weeks. Thank you for the honest feedback on the asking price. Now lowered to $19,500. The vehicle has service records from day one and maintenance is up to date on it including a recent $2000+ maintenance and repairs. Condition of the car speaks for itself and if the wheels are refinished it could win a concours event in a heartbeat.

 

It seems to be gone from autotrader - sold already?

 

It seems .. but it hasn’t. Check again with the right filters.

 

Hmmm, I used the same filters as yesterday and today the listing appeared.

 

Weird ! When u told me that listing disappeared I checked immediately and it showed up on my search.

 

The site can be flakey at times. It hasn't helped itself by now requiring a buyer to become a member before permitting a message to be sent to a seller.