i've spent more hours than i will care to admit reading about swapping in a single din deck. I don't really care about keeping the chimes, mine already sound different from every other Mini i've been in. My car is a 12/06 build date if it matters (I'm pretty sure it means I can't just stick in the MINI ipod interface even though the car says its setup for a changer).

i've already got a nice Excelon deck, Focal components and 4 channel (OG) Soundstream amp that came out of my last vehicle. I've been hoping I could keep the deck since I really liked how it integrated everything, and cause once you are setup for a single din, its pretty easy to swap from there on as tech advances...

I know if you remove the factory stereo you will not be able to update the engine ECU at the dealer. When I decide to spring for aftermarket tuning down the road is this also going to be true?

My "foolproof" plan was to just get the dealer to update the software to the most current version, swap stereo, and keep the OE stuff for a rainy day. I figure as old as it is, and with 2 newer generations of engines to worry about, there isn't exactly going to be any new updates is there? If there was a glitch, I probably would have found it by now anyway...