I just tripped over this thread again and saw this info – phew! I already have permission to upgrade to one of these, and I needed to make sure it sat at least 3 in the rear – I may be the first in line to place an order for one in Ottawa. :)

Thank you! I heard all colours will be getting into production in early december. Hope to get my car before christmas ;)

Absolutely! We really don’t make many Green 56s at the moment so I’ll keep my little eyes peeled.

So let´s give the R56 a chance.

@Billy: could you watch out for an R56 Cooper S painted in racing green with a german specification the next few weeks? it could be mine :D

Sorry I forgot to mention that bit – still 2 seats I’m afraid but the luggage capacity is considerably greater, although I’m not certain of exact dimensions, but you can garuntee you’ll get more gear in for your New Mini Adventure

I’M SUCH A COMPANY MAN! Lol

Yes there are two wipers, one on each rear door. 2 large chrome handles that meet neatly in the middle, not a Mini Logo as depicted in some Artists impressions and just some useless info, the Right Rear door opens first Lol!

Very exciting to hear your descriptions of the R55. I haven’t seen the new “Sparkling Silver” paintwork, but my wife liked the sound of it. probably we will order our new R55 in that color, if hopefully still available by then.

Can you tell me how is the rear seat? Can 3 people seat in the back or it is still pretty much a 2 passenger rear bench? What do you think about the rear boot cargo space vs the 2 door hatchback model?

Finally, are there 2 rear wipers in the final production model?

Thanks!!!!

Excited about the R55 in Miami

Funny you should mention it! There was an initial hand built R55 which BMW had disassembled and us re-build! But in the last 6-8 weeks I think there’ve been 8 fresh brand new ones including two today (28/11/06) in that rather interesting shade of black. They do look ver nice when finished, especially in Sparkling Silver or Royal Grey – Just imagine you chop an R56 behind the front doors…..whack on about two feet of sheet metal….a suicide door on the RIGHT hand side (reguardless of drive hand)and two barn stylie doors on the back….chrome handles of course! Oh and FYI – the rear lights are built into the body of the car, and the doors close over the top, much like the Clubman concepts. ;-)

By the way, kudos for a fantastic product. Here loving my ‘02 MC & ‘05 MCS.

Unfortunately not! We ’sweated it out’ all day long and only realised that full scale R56 production had started when we realised we were working a little harder than usual! Jobs still need to be re-allocated and re-timed all across the plant and as quality is a must, it MUST be done very soon! We were told in a team brief that as of Sunday the 3rd of December, R50 and 53 production would cease, but upon questioning our team co-ordinaters, they said that our volume of production had been so profound that we were about 1500 cars ahead of schedule! Yes we are that good ;-)