Yes, you read the above question correctly..lol I got A 3RD MINI COOPER S and lol it's an automatic BUT I plan to just flip it. But how do I determine if it has the asain??? Or the cvt transmission ????
it is a 2006 S

 

CVT was only in the base model from 2002-2004 to my knowledge.

 

The CVT was available all years of the R50 and the base R52. Never in the S. I believe the Aisin was available from 2005 on in the R53.

 

I guess when it comes to hoping to fix it I'm glad its not the cvt. I'm hoping I can just swap in another valvebody and have it fixed.. I actually REALLY like how cvt's hold the powerband, I don't get all the hate for them..I drove a cvt Trans and then a manual of the same vehicle and I actually preferred the cvt..granted this was a newer cvt but still , it's nice.. anyways.
so since it's an 06 S it has the aisin transmission for sure then huh ?

 

Most of the time its the Aisin, if S or JCW 100% Aisin for auto.

Its a good transmission, the Aisin is shared by VW and Toyota with some changes here and there.

MINI still uses the Aisin in a modify or updated version in the F56.

 

thx for the info...this must be why while searching for valvebodies they keep coming back as VW. That info helped ALOT.

 

Yep, they share but not sure if exactly the same on valve bodies.

 

Thanks for the correction. For some reason I thought they switched for the LCI.

 

It's the one transmission that never changed, AFAIK. Did they even consider the facelift for the first gens an LCI? I don't think I've seen anyone use that term for an R53 before.

 

Yeah probably not. It was purely cosmetic from what I remember.

 

I know I've derailed the thread a bit, but I have always been slightly curious about that term. I guess you're right that it was mostly cosmetic. Front and rear fascias, grilles, the entire dash, sun visors, rear view mirror, tail lights, headlights, some other bits (door cards, I think?). But the DME changed, the R50 got the Getrag 5 speed, and the ratios in the R53 trans were changed. I suppose that's fairly minor. Dunno.

 

That's more than I realized. I've never been in a 2005-2006 model, so I was only aware of the external changes.