Looking at buying an 05 or 06 Cooper S in the near future and after doing some research, I have a few questions (yes, I did try searching couldn't seem to find answers though).

1. I finally learned the difference between the chrono pack, nav, center speedo, etc. However, I've seen some models with a digital fuel gauge and some just have the needle - was this some dealer option or does the digital gauge come standard on certain packages?

2. Currently undecided if I want a color matched dash/door or just the standard grey. Could this easily be swapped if I decide to go that route down the road? (ie: grey to blue)

3. Would like the anthracite headliner package, but it seems hard to find. Is this swap difficult? What about finding the parts? I recently did an interior swap in my Beetle going from grey to black, and it took over a year to find all the parts


Thanks for any help Ideally I'm looking for a Hyper Blue with either black or blue roof, black interior, 6 speed, sunroof, heated seats, AH, maybe the chrono pack, undecided on blue or grey dash... Don't care what wheels or suspension is on there, as I'll change it out anyway

 

Hi and welcome to NAM.

#1 I don't recall seeing a digital fuel guage as any type of option when building my '06 cabrio. I think what you saw must have been aftermarket.

#2 & 3 My cabrio is Hyper Blue, and I love having the interior trim panels that match the outside of the car. Unless you have the matching interior panels, (or you're quite tall) you can't see much, if any, of the outside paint. So I'd recommend getting the matching interior if you enjoy the color. As for swapping, there is the Bentley manual available which would help with the 'how-to', but getting hold of the parts could be tricky. I've only seen a very few of the older 5 piece dash sets sold here on NAM. Parts are available new from Pelicanparts.com, but first, get the part numbers from realoem.com.

Good luck with your search.

 

The car I test drove a couple weeks ago had the digital fuel gauge, but it also had the NAV, so maybe this is a NAV only thing..?

Here's the car I may check out over the weekend: http://www.jimmckaychevrolet.com/use...06-SP6349.html



I'm partial to the stripes and fogs, but it's easily removable if I decide to go that route. I swear, if it had the AH I would probably buy it immediately. I still have my old car though and hesitate on buying an MCS before the VW is sold. Hm....

 

"AH" ??

 

1. I finally learned the difference between the chrono pack, nav, center speedo, etc. However, I've seen some models with a digital fuel gauge and some just have the needle - was this some dealer option or does the digital gauge come standard on certain packages?******Maybe you are speaking about the range indicator in the tach display?

2. Currently undecided if I want a color matched dash/door or just the standard grey. Could this easily be swapped if I decide to go that route down the road? (ie: grey to blue)********You could always just paint what you got now!

3. Would like the anthracite headliner package, but it seems hard to find. Is this swap difficult? What about finding the parts? I recently did an interior swap in my Beetle going from grey to black, and it took over a year to find all the parts ******All the parts are available at your local dealer. It just takes a while to do the complete swap. And there are a BUNCH of parts! All the pillars, sun visors, grab handles, light fixture in the headliner...etc.. Its not that cheap of a swap :(

 

Anthracite headliner

 

Thanks. I would so much rather NOT go to the dealer to grab those parts. With the Beetle, I slowly just collected parts from other Beetles being parted out. Very tedious.

Whatever, I never look up while I'm driving anyway, heh

 

As a possible answer to question 1. Are you sure you arent looking at a 2nd Gen speedo, those have digital gauges.

 

Positive. It was a car that I test drove a couple weeks ago, and it was definitely a 2006. Like I said, it had the NAV unit, so maybe it only comes with those? Looked similar to this, which is a pic from an 06:

 

Well I'll be darned, I have never seen that before. It must have been a nav only thing.