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Very important to me in any car I own is the design of the interior – after all I look at and interact with the interior even more than the exterior – so I wanted to get a close-up look at the newest concept MINI pictures released recently; particularly interesting to me is the concept ideas for the “central stack”:

 

I like the idea of combining the heated seat switch with the other controls – no LEDs shown to indicate heat level though. I suppose they could integrate the level into a central display, or they could develop some “super smart” heated seat that knows how much heat is wanted!
We see window switches for both sides again (maybe they will allow auto-up in the USA now!) – closer together which would make it easier to close both at the same time. Between them I assume are door lock/unlock switches for the driver side, passenger side and trunk/boot. I wonder where the will put the DSC switch?

The integrated stereo controls look quite nicely designed too – but many folks will be upset if there is no way to change the factory unit.

Of course with MINI saying this is three years from introduction – and being a concept car anyway – much of this design could be pure imagination (especially for example the scent adjustment, combination temperature/altimeter gauge and heart rate monitor. But my guess is the central controls are close to the design in the “next gen” MINI coming out at the end of this year.

 

I received the following details and pictures from Chuck, who recently installed an auto-up windows MINI circuit in his car – he did not want to do a “blind install” but found that the traditional downtube removal instructions can be modified on newer MINIs …

If the 2 torx screws on each side of the down tubes are removed then the tubes can be pulled downward a couple of inches allowing them to be pushed to the outside of the car a bit.
I have read before about newer MINIs having downtubes that could not be pulled up from the bottom trim, but I did not realize they could be pushed down – by doing so, you avoid the need to partially release the dash trim around the speedometer, which is a significant benefit!

Doing so exposes the 2 torx screws that hold the switch panel in place; once those 2 screws are removed from the switch panel it just pops out. Unplug the connector & then pull the lower cover under the switch plate down. Pass the wiring & connector down through that opening. Now I put the circuit in. To protect the board I wrapped it in some closed cell foam. I thought this might also prevent a possible future dash rattle:

Once I set up the auto up & the DSC track control I buttoned everything back up. The total time for my install was 20 minutes. It took me longer to type this.

Owners of newer ’05 and ’06 MINIs who are not confident with the blind install are recommended to follow Chucks instructions – and THANK YOU Chuck for the detailed description and pictures!