Ohh that little red button. Opps. LOL

The washer fliud light ws only on jan 05 cars and after if you have and early 05 you wont get it, along with the little light on top that tells you if the pass airbag is off.

About the grille i googled imaged it and there are some four slat upper grills, but i think they changed it before 05. Somethig about they were too restrictive with air, and 3 allowed bettr flow.

 

Top 10 Idiosyncrasises of the MINI on the Owners Lounge

#5 Dash Button: "What's the little button on the top of the dash? Actually this is a small sensor. Not a button. It's not necessary to push it, although you may if you want to. It's merely a UV sensor for the Automatic A/C option. If you don't have the Automatic A/C then you won't have the button. Don't worry about it."

 

Another important change I forgot to list. The top of the dashboard was re-designed for MY 2005+. In older MINIs, if you look closely at the top of the dash, near the base of the windshield, you'll see where the main dash ends and then there is a plastic cover that runs the entire width of the dash from end to end. The plastic cover contains the air vents for the windshield defogger.

In MY2005+ MINIs, the top of the dashboard is ONE SOLID PIECE with a redesigned air vent outlet at the base of the windshield.

Also, the passenger airbag was relocated from the front of the dashboard (2002-2004 MINIs) to the top of the Dashboard in MY2005+ cars.

 

Oh, I wonder if this is another difference. The previous post reminded me... the booklet that mentioned the red sensor/"button" also mentioned a slot on the dashboard which is handy for sticking things like parking meter stubs.

I never could find such a slot on mine. (My garage parking stub just slides around on the front of my dashboard right now.) Maybe it was in the '04 and not the '05 and they didn't update the booklet?

I got my '05 early Feb 05. Not sure of the production date on the car but apparently it was early enough to not include the later 05 changes. Shame, too, cause a low washer solution light would be handy.


I'll add that to my list of reasons to "think about trading in my 05 MCS for an 06 Convertible MCS". Yeah. Definiately should'a thought more about the convertible option... Hmmm.

 

You can locate the build date of your MINI by finding the placard or factory sticker inside the driver's side door jamb.

 

One piece dash is in there

Added the airbag change

 

On my 06 there is a little piece of exposed plastic on the shifter lever right under the shiftknob. Do the pre-05s have that as well? I ran an Alta SS in my 04 for so long that I can't remember what the early stock lever was like.

I thought I read that the shift **** changed too, but i can't tell a difference.

 

Anybody mention the big cup holder mounted on the downtube beside the radio? It became standard equipment in the 05 model.

 

Actually, here in the US, the MINIFINI cupholder became standard issue on September 1st, 2003 (Beginning of 2004MY)

The MINI sourced OEM cupholder replaced the MINIFINI one on July 2004 (Beginning of 2005MY).

 

The key recharges itself when in the ignition switch on 05+ models. There is no replacable battery.

The toolkit is a little foam wallet type in the battery/spare tire compartment instead of a rollup type in the portside storage compartment in the boot. (The little door you remove to get to the taillight bulbs)

Door panel storage compartments are bigger and bowed towards the seats, as are the door pulls.

Reset button for tire pressure warning system has moved.

Rawhyde

 

-Do you have proof that there is no battery in the key? Maybe a pic of a key that is opened?
-Good one on the toolkit, I hadn't noticed that.
-That was in there as bigger door armrests, but I elaborated on it
-Added the button info.

 

Is it just me, or is the blinker sound really really loud!!!

 

For what it's worth here's a quick list I made last summer on this topic for MotoringFile: http://motoringfile.com/2005/08/12/t...ver_the_years/

 

I don't have any proof except that it's mentioned in the Owner's Manual to use the second key for a long drive at least a few times per year to keep it charged. The key cannot be opened without destroying it. At least I haven't been able to figure out how to open it.

I have had the steering column apart and I've seen the inductive recharging coil, but I didn't snap any pics.

Here's another one...

The 05+ has standard plug-in fuses. My friend's 04 has the ultra-small plug-in fuses. The 04 has the bigger fuses for spares and the tiny ones in the actual fusebox. I noticed this when I retrofitted heated seats in my friend's 04 MCS.

If I think of any more, I'll post them!

Rawhyde

PS One more....the 04 that I added heated seats to already had a Torx bolt securing the bottom seatbelt attachment at the B-pillar. That must have been phased-in before the 05 changes.

 

Thanks for the link, there at least a few things in there that aren't on my list

 

Added Driver's side front exhaust hanger redesigned