I just visited the Mini booth at the Philadelphia autoshow this evening - it was my first sight of the R56 in person.

I thought it was sweet! It exceeded my expectations, and I think it looks better in person than it does in photos (I feel the same way about the R53). One of the sales people at the booth told me they had the same set of cars that were at the Detroit show, and they did look to be the same group. A blue MCS, the yellow MCS with the aero kit, the silver MC, and the white MC that we saw getting the checkerboard roof applied at the last minute. There were also 3 various convertibles, one a red S. The yellow MCS was locked, and when I asked why they said it had gotten so beat up from so many people sitting in it and "picking" at it that they decided to close it up. No I looked in the windows of the car and I did not see anything. The seats looked perfect, the dash looked perfect, the gear shift **** was gone - I saw that in many cars at the show - its like every punk with the hots for nice shift **** comes to the show and steals them... Anyway, it was locked - no matter, as the silver MC had the fabric seats and they could be seen, felt, sat in. I did not notice any sign of abuse or wear in any of the other cars.

So much has been reported already but I'll offer a few observations anyway:

- Shape of the car: its beautiful, gives nothing over to the R50/53 in my eyes. Its different for sure in many ways, and people are going to have preferences, but the nay-sayers can't change the fact that its drop dead gorgeous.

- Hood scoop - seen it with my own eyes. The back surface of the scoop has a grill that matches the pattern of the front grille. Deep in the recess of the grill is what looks like a solid surface - it looks matt, a different texture than the grille. I thought it could be a filter fabric of some sort? From the back side looking from under the hood there are deep grooves, so its not possible for me to say 100%, but whatever it is, there's not much air going through there.

- 16" vs 17" wheels - After seeing the car with 16" wheels I have to say they look great. I thought that in the back of my head I was going to have a preference for 17s, and I do think the 17s look great, , but I don't feel that they look any better than 16s the car. The 17s look more performance oriented, but the meat on the 16" sidewalls goes well with the more muscular look of the R56. If you are going to track your car, or just want the extra performance you will get out of 17s, by all means go for it. If like me it was an aesthetic choice, then for me seeing them in person evaporated that feeling.

- Aux audio input. Make no mistake, its there, in all the cars. You can't see it, not unless you get out and put your chest on the seat and get your eyes below the stick shift. If you put your hand into the cubby and check the top surface of the cubby its there, towards the opening, towards the passenger side. And if you press the "audio" button on the radio controls, a menu comes up that lets you choose between the radio, cd, and what do you know - the aux port!

- Center stack - quality looked great - much whining about this which I just don't get. However I do think the temp and fan controls are odd. I feel like I have to turn them with my thumb. I'm not sure how long it will take to get used to this as it is different than any car I've driven. There is nothing to grab hold of and twist or slide. You sort of have to spin this dial... Its odd, but people throwing "playschool" around - give me a break

- radio, computer, interface controls - I admit I could not get a handle on this just sitting in the car playing with it. The car was not running, so some things were just not active, but there is a multi line display on the radio, there are two displays on the Tach. There are two little press buttons on the tach for the odometer/trip I assume, but no obvious clue how to cycle through the other functions it will display - I know - RTFM. The radio has a dial/button that you use to roll through the menu choices, and "tune" the radio, and the volume control is all by its lonesome down below the CD slot. Its odd because we are all used to the radio being an "appliance" that you can yank out of the dash and replace, and its very unfamiliar to have its controls spread out like peanut butter on a slice of bread. We'll get over it I'm sure. I think its a radio definitely begging for a MFSW though.

- The checkerboard cloth seats look great. The cloth feels to be a heavy weight and the stitching on the seams looks substantial. Its definitely black, and the checkerboard texture comes out of the change of the weave. The center bolster is there, and is indeed a bit chubbier than the seat on either side. The seats feel comfortable to me, but I have no R50/53 to compare to but for a couple of test drives.

- Other things in the cockpit - the door armrests fall nicely to support my arms, but the dang center armrest is never in the right place for me - I'm always hitting my elbow on it. The multi color lights are a nice touch. You push the toggle forward and it cycles through the colors. The toggle is in the roof group. All of the cars had the little storage compartment that is above the glove box. Still not clear if this is on all cars, or an option. The nice action of this surprised me - it does not look like it would hinge out because the air vent that it wraps around sticks out so much further. It opens by pushing in on it, it then slides out straight for an inch or so - like a vcr ejecting a tape - and then the lid pivots up to reveal the small storage compartment. Not sure what will go here - but if it was 007s car the radar screen would pop out no doubt.

- hatch: still has the power outlet back there. The two positions for the rear seats are great, easy to use. All the surfaces are covered with a fuzzy grey material - I hesitate to call it carpet. The bottom panel lifts to reveal a small stowage space below.

thanks lava! You lucky dog!~)

Im heading up Sat. to go check them out! Thanks for the early preview.

The suspense is killing me! I want to see one in person already! Thanks for the report lava

You are awesome...thanks for the report. I am expecting my MC pure silver to arrive here in Vegas by the 25th...and as soon as I get her home....I will post them ASAP.

Thanks again...
D

And another thing I forgot to note:

- The roller shade on the sun roof is still a mesh, not a solid shade. Front and back the same.

If I understood correctly, the storage space above the glove box will house the CD changer and/or Ipod adapter.

The Ipod adapter is supposed to be fully functional as well, including titles on the radio display.

That would make great sense. But all the cars at the show had the ipod adapter loose in the glovebox.

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to post it.

Is the storage mini box, above the glove box std? If not, can we get it in the US?
It looked pretty cool but Im not sure if i got it or if it's a std.?!?!

Gabe at MotoringFile said its standard. CD changer goes in that spot if you get one.

i got to see the R56 at the philly show, and wow. from a "just sitting in the car" standpoint, it's a big improvement. the materials are nicer, the driving position is a lot better, the seats are extremely comfortable; it feels like the engineers spent a lot of time to make the interior experience measure up to the dynamic experience.

huge mistake, bank-account-wise, to sit in the car.

The "scoop" is purely non-functional, unless the intended function is to add aerodynamic drag. Very Pontiac-like.

Agree that the car is otherwise aesteically pleasing, except for the ridiculously sized speedo of course.

I test drove an '04 JCW last saturday; since the '07 won't be ready for test drives for a few more weeks can't make up my mind whether to get that JCW or order a new, low optioned 'S' (and then trade the cheesy, fake scooped hood to someone with a non-s

Kurt
Philly

Anyone sit in the "standard" leather seats, the punch black or the gravity tuscan, and can share their opinions of the fit/feel/finish of those compared to the lounge leather models?

I saw and spent quite a bit of time with the R56 @ the Chicago Auto Show this past weekend. I got a nice walk through from one of the Mini staff at the show I was very impress with the interior of the car, my friends thought it felt a little cramp may be because both me and my friends have our winter coat on. And that they are into 4drs sedans .
The car looks fantastic on the outside especially with the 17 crown spoke wheels. Speedo was very very large, I thought that was a nice touch give the car some characters and the center stack looks great IMO, but I don't own a R53. The mood lights were very cool to play with and will look quite nice in night driving.
The seats were very comfortable and well made, I sat in the lounge leather and didn't want to get up. The leather quality was excellent and the Redwood color was stunning everyone was looking at it like . The punch leather although not as nice visually, it was very very comfortable the leather was as good as those used in the 3 series. I do wish I have ordered the lounge seat though But I am happy with my punch leather still.
The problem of having spent time with the R56 is that now the wait is even more unbearable. (Week 10 production ) I cannot wait to be drive the Mini around!

I'll take you up on that if i end up with a cooper and you are also willing to trade spoilers.....