I thought there ought to be a thread covering the differences between the pre and post facelift R50/R53, but in my search efforts, I didn't find it. If there is one, it ought to be a sticky.

 

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

 

That's a good read, but doesn't go into the details of everything that changed. It mentions the dash and steering wheel changes and the front & rear bumper cover changes along with the tail light/back up light/fog light. I'm interested in more details and if it interchanges (easily or with some effort).

For instance, the 2-spoke wheel from pre 7/2004 and the 3-spoke wheel from 7/2004-2006 is an easy swap.
The 5-piece dash can replace it's two left pieces and center piece with the left and center pieces from a 3-piece dash (speaking LH Drive models).
The door cards will interchange easily - if you don't care about the puddle lights and interior door handle's back light of the facelift cars.
The center stack plastic, HVAC control panel and E-brake surround pieces are different, but I don't now about interchangeability there.
The rear window wiper/motor is different between the pre & post FL cars.
Headliners are different due to the clock and alarm pod in the early cars and the map light/passenger air bag light panel and no alarm pod on the later cars. Also, the FL cars have a grab handle for the front passenger and a side sunvisor on the driver's side not present in the earlier cars.
And that's just what I've noticed having my '06 & '04 sitting next to each other so far, I'm sure there's more. Knowing this can help folks looking for replacement parts.

 

What level of detail are you looking for? The changes are relatively minor. Fundamentally, it is not a different car.

 

As much as possible. Obviously, since I have an 06 and an 04, I know they're similar.

 

Isn't 05-06 gearing also slightly shorter than 02-04? I believe 05-06 models could also option LSD's.
The non-xenon headlights also changed. The reverse light in the middle on 02-04 was also unfortunately changed to be a parking light, and the reverse lights were incorporated into the tail lights!

 

The center reverse light was changed to a black plug that matched the "vents" in the rear bumper. An optional rear foglight was available in it's place and would include the toggle on the dash to fill out the switch bank if you had the rest of the switches.

Here's a link to the official press release for the 2005 model year changes on the BMW Group website:

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa/a...language=en_US

The face-lift S models also had teflon coated superchargers like the JCW's and revised ECU mapping to give the pops and burbles. This is where the extra 5HP comes from. The change to the grille is the chrome surround is smooth without the detailed contour of the pre FL grilles.

 

Since you have both cars, what kind of information are you looking for, and what is your goal?

The "official" differences are published as marketing press releases and specs. Anything more specific is haphazardly scattered across the forum. For specific parts, you can check if they changed by looking on realoem.com.

 

I have found some of the scattered info, I just thought it would be nice to collect it in one spot.

I didn't know the supercharger changed until I read the first reply. (Doesn't do much for me since my 06 is Just a Cooper, and with 184K on it, sounds like the blower would've went south by now if it had one, but now I know to look for the newer one when the 04's dies.)

I am missing some of the little features the 06 has that the 04 doesn't have. Most of which aren't practical to swap due to manufacturing differences. Like the third sunvisor and the map lights. Some things can be acquired from the wrecked 06.

From reading here, I was under the impression the 5 and 3 piece dash parts don't interchange. My 04 has alloy patina trim and when I got the car, I honestly thought someone had butchered it. Then I found out the factory did this on purpose. My 06's anthracite dash looks way better, IMHO. And 2/3 of it will interchange.

The other day, the 04's rear window washer quit working. Looking into it, I noticed the arrangement is different than the 06.

Sure, one can go look up part numbers to see what is the same, but isn't a forum like this here for enthusiasts to share info? If one is going to picking for parts, it would be nice to know, yes you can use this or no you can't use that, or if you do, you need get the fromulator with it.

 

That's correct, and even the airbag and dash frame changed, so not even close to interchangeable.

 

http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f29/r53-cooper-s-prefacelift-vs-facelift-guide-29996/

 

As I previously mentioned, this is not entirely correct. Yes, the dash frame changed due to the airbag change (the pre-FL cars deplying the airbag by popping the dash panel and the FL cars deploy it by busting through the dash pad). Therefore the airbag cover and adjacent vent panel(s) do not interchange, but the center piece is the same and the steering column and its adjacent vent from a FL will interchange into a pre-FL car.

The upper steering column cover is also different. The pre-FL has a small piece around the tach, making the upper half of the steering column cover a two-piece affair compared to the single piece of the FL. I didn't have a need or want to swap them, but it appears you could. (The two-piece setup makes it a little easier to remove and reinstall the tach - which I did during the dash panel swap and installing a Cravenspeed cell phone holder.)

I do like that we are starting to collect more tidbits here now.

 

Center dash piece is the same. The end pieces are different. Steering wheel design, headlights, front and rear bumpers on the Cooper. Airbag passenger sensor on the driver side 1/2005+. Door cards w/ different design armrests. HVAC auto display design. The Puddles lights in the doors 7/2004+. Indented front grille outer design to smooth design. Those are the big ones. MINI also had different interior options and colors available.

I have the facelift and I like the small updates.

 

The exhaust is not interchangeable the hangers on the facelift point a different direction on the center mounts.

I wish I had known this when I purchased my catback, none of the sites I've checked mentioned this.