General concensus seems to be that the stock shocks on the MINI are not the best. For the first Gen MINIs, I've seen discussions about moving to either Koni (FSD or 'Yellows'), possibly Bilstein (B6 HD or B8 HD), and of course, a variety of coilover set ups. When searching a variety of parts websites, they either come up with nothing for an R56 or, like Tire Rack, only suggest coilovers. Are there no 'standard' options for the R56 or are some of the other first gen options like the Koni's or Bilsteins a possibility? If so, any idea why many websites do not acknowledge them as an option?
If your using stock springs the Koni FSD's are great. Otherwise we do carry other shocks, it's just the R56's so new they don't need shocks yet so not everyone has them in stock.