I have a 2004 (10/2003 manufacture date) M/C/S with a 6-speed gearbox. I should also state that I am not the original owner.

I've read on these and other forums that somewhere around the change to the 2005 model year (late '04), MINI changed gearboxes from a 5-speed Midlands to a 6-speed Getrag. In what I've been able to find online, the Midlands were 5-speed gearboxes only. Not that my research is definitive, but I've not seen anything that states Midlands to have manufactured a 6-speed gearbox for MINI.

My question is: Since I have a 6-speed in my 2004, manufactured a year before the supposed switch of manufacturers, is it a Getrag?

 

All manual transmission R53 (Cooper S) models have a 6-speed Getrag. The ones built July 2004 onward have gear ratios which provide better acceleration.

The 5-speed Midlands unit was only used in R50 (Cooper) models built prior to July 2004. From then on it was a 5-speed Getrag.

 

Well that clears that up... Thanks!