Sorry, no photos to go along with this post, this was an unscheduled repair. The just over 5 year old battery in our R50 kicked over its last kick this past weekend. Fortunately we were at a friend’s house and not stranded somewhere far away from an Autozone. Speaking of which, Autozone just happens to carry a perfect replacement battery for the MINI Cooper R50.
I first checked out this thread from NAM to see what options were available. Then I checked online and luckily the Autozone in town had a battery in stock. Autozone’s Duralast battery for the MINI Cooper R50 (not the supercharged R53) is part # H5-DLG and it cost me $141 with tax.
The battery fit perfectly in the stock under hood location. The only thing I had to do was swap the vent plug around so the correct side was lined up with the vent tube. The factory support strap fit exactly where it should and the battery is the correct shape with both posts lining up just right. A few minutes with a 10mm wrench and a friend willing to let me borrow his 318ti for a quick drive to the Autozone and we were back in business. Easy!
UPDATE: I finally had to replace the replacement battery after 7 years. Not bad at all and I totally recommend this Duralast battery for your R50!