I have an 03 Cooper S, and recently upgraded the H/K head unit with a new Bluetooth/USB JVC I've totally loved. Loved it so much we upgraded it in my wife's Honda Element. Well, we just traded in her Element for a 2012 Countryman S, and found out it has no package so it has only the auxiliary input for connecting to input, meaning you'd have to control it from the iPod. Adding insult to injury, because the stereo is built into the speedometer, you can't replace the head unit, so you're stuck with it for the life of the car. What a crappy thing to do. I mean, I was pissed when I bought my Cooper S and realized it didn't even have an auxiliary input (which even my wife's 03 Element had one standard), and now this. Why, oh, why is MINI so slow to give their customers the technology everyone else is giving them for free?
I saw a 2013 Countryman S JCW in the showroom with a price tag of $39k and yet it still had manual climate controls like the base Countryman? You'd have to pay extra even on top of the $39k?? Come on, MINI, get with the program.

 

It can be done, but at a cost. How badly do you want an aftermarket double din in your new car?

 

Welcome to the world of BMW where everything is a la carte.

 

It doesn't have a USB port next to the aux port? I thought that was standard, but I could be wrong.

edit: apparently it wasn't standard until the 2013s. I know at least one person has upgrade the head unit, but I'm having trouble finding it. It had a big screen that came up in front of the speedo.

 

In the R56+ cars the double DIN fits in the dash and does not flip out like single DIN units in the R50-R53 cars. I would imagine the radio in a R56 would fit the same as a R60-60 since the ac and controls below the speedo are the same up til 2013 with the switches and toggles changing.

 

Yeah, even if I were able to mount one, I'd still have the one in the speedometer. Crazy. Just quirky, not in the good way.

 

2nd generation mini coopers like the R56, R55, etc it can be done. I've done it myself with my R55 and replaced the head unit. There's a long thread on it. The R60/R61 I have no idea. But in my R55 you had to disassemble the dash and extend the cable from the speedo to the CD box that housed all the audio goodies and tuck that up in the dash before using the center console kit from Metra. A pile of work but do-able.