The upcoming Mini Cooper has - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER with our friends across the pond, but amidst all the coverage of the new vehicle's engine, chassis and cosmetic upgrades (or lack thereof), one question remained. What's up with the interior? As this seemed to be a particularly common criticism of the outgoing model, it's no wonder BMW sought to impress and improve.

- ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER quote their source as saying that the color of the new interior panels will not be dependent on the exterior colors as they are now. In total, there will be seven different variations of wood grain and aluminum, including separate textured panels in a variety of hues.

Other changes include some of the switchgear moving northward and finding its place on the headliner, with one of the toggle switches allowing the instrument backlighting to change from the standard orange to a variety of different tints.

While Fifth Gear flogged the new Mini around the track they were able to snag a few close-up shots of some key interior elements. They came away generally impressed, noting that the new layout is cleaner and has a greater feel of quality, while the new seating position greatly contributes to an overall improvement in driver control.

When the new Mini finds its way to the U.S. next year, we look forward to drawing our own conclusions when it hits the Autoblog Garage (wink, wink, nod, nod).

Follow the jump for more detailed photos.

[Sources: - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTERand - ONLY REGISTERED AND ACTIVATED USERS CAN SEE ALL LINKS - CLICK HERE TO REGISTER]

Awesome, many thanks.

An old post but the pics say it all:

http://www.germancarzone.com/showpos...6&postcount=10 (New MINI Cooper - first unmasked pic)