MINI Cooper Review 2025

Branding is a tricky business even for companies which are experts at it. One such annoyance for BMW was that despite its sales success with the MINI Hatch almost everyone called it the Cooper, despite it being a trim level across the whole suite of differently sized models. Now heavily revised inside and out, BMW’s admitted defeat with its line-up of small hatchbacks and given the people what they want — find out how good the updated car is with our full MINI Cooper review.

Starting with the original MINI Hatch in 2001, Cooper was the second rung up the performance and equipment ladder, sandwiched between the humbler One and faster Cooper S, with the rapid John Cooper Works as the high point. 

As the model range became more diverse, incorporating the dinky, estate-bodied MINI Clubman and the chunkier MINI Countryman SUV, yet despite that same trim level structure being replicated, for most people the Cooper name remained synonymous with the smallest models.

That finally changed at the end of 2023 with the introduction of the MINI Cooper Electric and the latest iteration of the MINI Countryman. Cooper became the model name for the little hatchbacks, with E and SE used to denote performance levels of EV versions, C and S used as the equivalents for combustion-engined models.

Matters became slightly confusing when the MINI Cooper we're reviewing here went on sale in 2024. Replacing the outgoing MINI Hatch, it isn't a petrol-powered version of the Cooper Electric. No, really — instead it's a thoroughly refreshed take on its predecessor.

To extract more production life from the combustion-engined versions, BMW’s overhauled them inside and out, mimicking the smoother, minimalist design of its battery-powered sibling. A cost-effective solution given the impending 2030 ban on sales of non-plug-in hybrid cars, ensuring profitability while demand lasts.

Still available in ultra-compact 3-Door and slightly longer, more practical 5-Door formats, the MINI Cooper is solely powered by petrol engines sending drive to the front wheels via dual-clutch automatic transmissions. If you fancy a manual then you're out of luck — it's not even available as an extra-cost option, which may dissuade those of an enthusiastic persuasion.

Given the scale of the overhaul the latest Cooper looks fresh and charming compared with its most direct rivals, of which there are few these days. The Audi A1 is the most obvious alternative yet its starting to show its age, plus in terms of performance and fun, it doesn’t offer anything that can truly go toe-to-toe with the MINI, but it is cheaper.

Less expensive still are a couple of other plush-feeling compact hatches. Closely related to the A1 is the Volkswagen Polo which, like the Renault Clio, is getting on a bit — replacements for both are waiting in the wings. For now they remain worthy, competent, more spacious and better value than the MINI Cooper, but are seriously lacking in the allure department.

Closer to the Cooper in price, outgunning it for flexible space but a comparative dullard to drive is the Honda Jazz. In truth, if you’re looking at one of those, the MINI’s unlikely to be on your radar anyway.

So, if you want a compact car — inside and out — that majors on fun, it’s the Cooper or the evergreen Mazda MX-5. It’s not an obvious alternative, being more of a rival to the updated MINI Cooper Convertible, but the similarities, including prices, are rather close. Providing you never need to carry more than one passenger.

Three levels of performance are available for the new-era MINI Cooper — C with 156PS, S packing 204PS and, for the 3-Door only, the 231PS John Cooper Works. Both the C and the S engines can be paired with any of the three trim levels, which run from Classic, through Exclusive and up to Sport, the latter of which is the only choice for the JCW.

Step inside the MINI Cooper and its immediately clear how thorough the refresh has been, with the same knitted fabric appliques to the dashboard and door panels, as well as the dominant — and fully circular — touchscreen as its Cooper Electric sibling. The lack of rear seat space, particularly in the 3-Door, remains unchanged…

More positively, the petrol-engined MINI Cooper remains an absolute hoot to drive with extraordinary levels of grip to exploit the ‘go-kart handling’ its makers are — rightly — proud of.

With the MINI Cooper those corporate brags about its ‘iconic go-kart handling’ continue — justifiably so. This is a clearly expensive suspension set-up because although the ride may be on the firm side of comfortable, it’s always supple, so you only really experience sharper jolts when driving on the worst surfaces at urban speeds. 

A relatively short wheelbase dictates that the 3-Door MINI Cooper’s penchant for bouncing never entirely dissipates but the ride smooths out incrementally as speeds grow, leaving you free to concentrate on exploiting bucketfuls of agility. The 5-Door's extra length ensures it feels the slightly more composed of the two.

At motorway speeds the MINI Cooper feels remarkably composed. Velocity seems to iron out many of the road surface lumps and bumps that set the occupants jostling in their seats at a slower pace, settlling into a pleasingly mature cruise. 

Its grip levels in the dry are extraordinary. Pick your line through a corner no matter how sharp and the Cooper will stick. It drives like Minis of old — it feels light on its toes, nimble and agile. Through fast corners its body stays as flat as a Lancashire vowel no matter how enthusiastically you bung it at the bend. Fantastic.

When you do need to bring proceedings to a halt, you will feel reassured by the stopping power of the MINI Cooper's brakes. Not only do they curtail its pace swiftly, the pedal's a doddle to modulate, with linear retardation the greater the pressure you apply.

At higher speeds you will be more acutely aware of the wind noice generated by the MINI's upright windscreen and tyre noise is apparent, especially with big wheels fitted.

Petrol-engined MINI Cooper models are available with three levels of power, all propelling the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Known simply as C, the Cooper's gateway engine is a turbocharged, three-cylinder, 1.5-litre unit that's good for 156PS and 230Nm of torque. It steps smartly off the line and is sprightly enough overall to justify the Cooper name. The 3-Door’s quoted 0-62mph time of 7.7 seconds shades the 5-Door’s 8.0-second marker.

Boasting as-near-as-dammit 500cc per cylinder, the C’s engine doesn’t thrum in the manner of small three-pots often do, being smooth and quiet at idle. That's quite a contrast to the slow and B-movie shuddery manner it comes back to life when the automatic stop/start reignites it.

The sportier Cooper S boasts a turbocharged, four-cylinder, 2.0-litre motor producing 204PS and 300Nm, sufficient for the 3-Door to squirt from 0-62mph in only 6.6 seconds, with the 5-Door requiring an additional 0.2 seconds for the same exercise.

Only available with the 3-Door body is the MINI John Cooper Works, featuring a lustier version of the engine fitted to the Cooper S. Outputs are elevated to 231PS and 380Nm, teasing the standstill-to-62mph yardstick down to 6.1 seconds, running on to a maximum of 155mph.

Our misgivings about the absence of a manual gearbox landed like an anvil on Wile E Coyote’s foot within the first few miles of driving the Cooper. Its automatic won’t be hurried and offers remarkably little engine braking when you lift off the throttle.

You find yourself relying entirely on the brakes and tyre grip to slow for a corner, until the throttle and gearbox combination finally responds to your demand for more power in a lower gear.

Take away manual control of the MINI's gear ratios and there’s no question that you also take away a deal of  its fun. That's a shame because we reckon with a proper manual gearbox the Cooper would be an absolute hoot to drive.

Presumably most MINI buyers want the style and don’t care so much about the entertainment potential, plus there’s no doubt we’re being prepared for the age of electric MINIs dominating through the introduction of automatic-only policy. 

Steering wheel-mounted flappy paddles are available to change the automatic's gears manually, but only by specifying your MINI in Sport trim.

It may be small but the MINI Cooper is one of the safest little cars available, scoring the maximum five-star rating from Euro NCAP when the organisation assessed it in 2025. That's an improvement over its structurally similar predecessor, reflecting the higher level of additional safety gear fitted here.

Within the individual categories, the Cooper scored 83% for adult occupant protection, 82% for children, 81% for vulnerable road users and its on-board safety assist kit was rated at 77%.

Among the MINI Cooper's standard safety kit is autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition, a reversing camera and LED external lights.

There’s stacks of space up front in the MINI Cooper, regardless of whether you choose the 3- or 5-Door body. That snug, comfortable, low-slung driving position’s available to even the tallest folk thanks to the seat's wide range of adjustment.

While the thick-rimmed sports steering wheel might take some time to acclimatise to, there's a decent range of adjustment to it, with fine all-round visibility. The MINI's windscreen is at a more upright angle than on most modern cars, so the view out initially feels more letterbox-like than might feel normal, but it's another aspect you soon stop noticing, unlike the thick pillars either side of it.

Contorting yourself into the back of the Cooper 3-Door is a challenge before you put the front seat back into a usable position. Pulling a lever on the shoulder area of the front seats allows them to fold and slide forwards but even then access is quite a squeeze for all but circus contortionists. Mercifully, the front seats remember where you left them when slid back into place, but have a care for the knees of adults freshly crammed in behind.

Unless those sat up front are particularly petite, it's nigh-on impossible for a tall teen or adult of average height or more to get comfy, while chunky child seats might also prove tricky to fit, despite the Isofix mountings. Note also that there are only two rear-seatbelts in the 3-Door, so four people on board is your legal limit.

By dint of the Cooper 5-Door being 160mm longer overall, with its back wheels located an extra 72mm further rearwards than the 3-Door's, extra interior space has been generated, but it is still on the tight side if you're not sat up front.

Two six-foot tall passengers can sit reasonably comfortably on the rear bench behind those of a similar stature, once they’ve negotiated the narrow rear door apertures, albeit with scalps and kneecaps in close proximity to the MINI's interior fixtures and fittings. 

Don't get excited about the fact that there's a central rear seatbelt in the 5-Door, though. While it may legally accommodate a quintet, the middle position is so narrow between the seatbelt buckles, with a cushion so raised relative to the berths either side, it's tricky to imagine anyone willingly agreeing to sit there.

Storage space for odds and ends isn’t so great up front in the Cooper. There are a couple of cupholders, which would benefit from some cushioned grips to hold smaller drinks, plus most models have a cutesy lidded bin where the manual gear lever might ordinarily be. Its door pockets are not only diminutive, they’re also largely inaccessible because of the armrests directly above.

There’s only a small glove box despite the dashboard top being so deep it runs the risk of a local authority granting planning permission to build on it. Full marks for the upright wireless phone charging pad’s elasticated band, securely holding it vertically in position. No danger of it sliding out and nestling under the pedals while cornering with vim. 

As with rear seat space, the MINI Cooper's luggage carrying potential varies depending on whether you choose the 3- or 5-Door body. With the former, boot space with the rear seats in place is just 210 litres which is fine for a couple's weekly shop but hopeless for almost any dog.

Despite only having two seats, the backrest splits in a 60/40 configuration, readily toppling almost horizontally with a tug of toggle on their tops. Unfortunately there’s quite a step up from the boot floor in the expanded loadspace when they’re folded and the volume only swells to 725 litres.

Matters are better in the Cooper 5-Door but hardly brilliant. Seats up and the boot will carry 275 litres — a 65-litre increase over the 3-Door — while folding them over liberates 925 litres, representing a 200-litre rise.

Compared with its five-door-only rivals, even the larger MINI Cooper is found wanting. Audi's A1 Sportback will hold 335 litres with the back seats up and 1090 litres when they're folded, while the related VW Polo manages 351 to 1380 litres. 

As for the Renault Clio, it depends on whether you're going petrol-only or the self-charging hybrid as the latter's battery gnaws away at the available space. The former swallows 391 litres seats-up and 1069 litres folded, the latter 301 litres and 1006 litres respectively.

While the MINI Cooper’s interior is now a modernistic, stripped-down affair, it looks seriously stylish and perceived quality is off the scale compared with other small hatchbacks. 

In a segment littered with dark, drab interiors, the knitted fabric dashtop, upper door panels and centre console storage box top are an environment-enlivening masterstroke. As are the after-dark variety of coloured ambient light patterns projected across the dashboard's fabric according to your choice MINI Experience, each with its own colour scheme:

• Go-Kart sports a black and white dial with red needles and ambient lighting, introducing itself with a ‘woo-hoo’
• Core is the default setting with a pleasant blue background
• Eco is green, of course
• Vivid is bright red
• Timeless has a magnolia background and with an old-fashioned typeface, uncannily like the dials on the Rover 75 once BMW decided the original design wasn’t sufficiently 1950s British
• Balance is similar to Core with a darker blue tone and more subdued ambient lighting
• Personal wherein you can use one of your own photos as the screen background — selfie heaven

Those smart, vegan-friendly faux leather seat upholstery elements adds a further lift to proceedings and the look and feel of the handful of physical dashboard switches and air vent toggles is first class.

That doesn't continue with those on the steering wheel or doors, strangely. Although they operate perfectly well, their finish and damping feels somehow cheapened and less satisfactory, while the lower-reaching interior plastics are harder and less pleasant to touch than those in its predecessor. 

They're not enough to make you feel as though you're not up on the deal overall, though — providing you're in the front, the Cooper's interior feels special.

BMW has been obsessed with the MINI Cooper's forebears' dashboards being dominated by a large, circular dial that pays homage to the 1959 original Mini's central speedo. Here it's taken to a new level.

Now a 24cm-diameter OLED touchscreen, it's fully circular, rather than a rectangular display wedged into a round moulding. Not only does it control the Cooper's multimedia system, it also displays the car's speed, fuel level and engine revs, plus it's the portal to access all manner of other functions, including those for the climate control.

That's disappointing because while it might look slick while you're perusing MINI's wares in the showroom, sliding your finger up and down an arced virtual slider as you drive along a bumpy backroad, simply to raise the cabin temperature a couple of degrees, can prove frustratingly fiddly.

Icon size aside, the system largely works well, although some of the menus feel repetitive or have functions that are several layers deep. Nevertheless, it's crisply rendered and responds to gently touches immediately. Providing you tap what you intended to.

Below the infotainment screen one of the very few remaining buttons on the dashboard takes you directly to the vehicle settings menu, which means two less prods of the screen. Either way it’s then a doddle to disconnect the lane-keeping assist, the speed limit alarm and the stop/start function.

Connecting smartphones is no problem — the usual confirmatory digit-dance between car and mobile screens working wirelessly with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Less satisfying is the rather small square display generated within the circular touchscreen when you do so — it looks like a rudimentary quick-fix to a last-moment realisation it hadn't been included rather than designed in from the outset.

Standard audio output from the Cooper's speaker system is fine, but there's a notable improvement for opting for the Harman Kardon upgrade, part of the Levels 2 and 3 equipment bundles.

If you were expecting the MINI Cooper to be an inexpensive small car then you've not being paying attention to the brand since its BMW-backed relaunch 25 years ago. 

What may surprise you is that the basic numbers aren't that far away from its rivals, but remember that the MINI's less spacious — and in 3-Door form, much smaller overall — so you are getting less metal for your money.

Prices for the 3-Door MINI Cooper start at £25,265 for the C Classic, with a £2200 increase to £27,465 for the C Exclusive and a further £1300 jump for the C Sport at £28,765.

Opting for the more powerful engine adds £3000 to each of those prices, the S Classic being £28,265 rising to £31,765 for the S Sport.

Only available in 3-Door form is the MINI John Cooper Works Sport at £33,265.

Going for the 5-Door body adds a further £1000 for each model, the range spreading from the £26,265 Cooper C Classic to the £32,765 Cooper S Sport.

One thing that certainly hasn’t changed is the capacity of the new MINI Cooper’s price to skyrocket as you plunder the option packs. Both 3- and 5-Door C- and S-engined Coopers are available with three option packs — Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3, via which you may further pile on the toys. The JCW has tweaked bundles and comes with Level 1 as part of its standard kit.

Of its five-door-only rivals, £24,230 will get you behind the wheel of the least expensive Audi A1 Sportback, which isn't that much more than the related Volkswagen Polo's £22,040 entry point. Renault's Clio is the comparative bargain in this company starting at £18,995 — even the most expensive trim level with the full hybrid drive system costs less than the cheapest 5-Door MINI at £25,095.

Despite the differences in size and engine power, MINI Cooper fuel consumption figures aren't wildly different from one another.

According to official WLTP Combined cycle tests, the 3-Door C averages 42.2-47.9mpg with the 5-Door rated at 42.8-47.1mpg. Choose the punchier S engine and the 3-Door falls slightly to 42.2-46.3mpg and the 5-Door down at 41.5-44.8mpg.

What of the most rapid John Cooper Works 3-Door? 41.5-43.5mpg, so again, not a major penalty. 

If fuel economy is a top priority, then you will need to look elsewhere. For refernce, the worst official average of the hybrid-powered Renault Clio is 65.7mpg.

Company car drivers are unlikely to be too interested in any petrol-engined MINI Cooper given the Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) bands favour EVs. While the Cooper Electric is in the 3% band, the petrols range from 31-34%. Ouch!

Also note that the Expensive Car Supplement kicks in for combustion-engined cars costing £40,000 or more, inclusive of extras, when new. Crank your JCW up by ticking all of the possible boxes and you will be looking at spending an extra £425 per year from the second to the sixth anniveraries of its first registration.

While MINI’s warranty doesn’t last as long as many rival companies' cover it does potentially suit drivers doing lots of miles as there’s no mileage cap on it up to three years. Given that the MINI is a premium small car, servicing will likely be slightly more than more mainstream rivals. The company offers a service inclusive pack, which covers the car’s servicing up to its fourth birthday (up to 62,000 miles) for £1,044. 

As the MINI Cooper is still relatively fresh, it's too soon to know of any common reliability maladies. Given its underpinnings and engines are evolutions of those in the previous MINI Hatch, it should prove fairly dependable as that car has performed well in recent reliability surveys.

We’ve also been impressed by the new Cooper’s touchscreen and its software which runs seamlessly and without any issues. That might sound a given, but many manufacturers — most prominently the Volkswagen Group — often have hiccups with their software. 

Both 3- and 5-Door MINI Cooper models are available in a choice of three trim levels — Classic, Exclusive and Sport. While they differ in price and some equipment, many of the differences are cosmetic more than anything else.

Standard equipment for the MINI Cooper Classic includes:

• 16-inch 4 Square Spoke alloy wheels — C only
• 17-inch Parallel-Spoke two-tone alloy wheels — S only
• Melting Silver metallic paint with Jet Black contrast roof
• Automatic LED headlights — C only
• Extended automatic LED headlights — S only
• Automatic LED tail lights
• Automatic main beam — S only
• Black grille surround
• Rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera
• Comfort Access keyless locking/unlocking — S only
• 24cm circular OLED multimedia touchscreen display
• Head-up display — S only
• DAB digital radio
• Integrated MINI Navigation system
• Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone connectivity
• Wireless smartphone charging pad — S only
• Heated front seats — S only
• Black and Blue Vescin faux leather and cloth seat upholstery
• Black and Blue Knit dashboard fabric
• Heated, Vescin faux leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Front armrest
• Automatic climate control
• Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror — S only
• MINI Experiences
• LED interior ambient lighting
• Cruise control

Additional features for the MINI Cooper Exclusive include:

• 17-inch U-Spoke Vibrant Silver alloy wheels
• British Racing Green IV metallic paint with Jet Black contrast roof
• Vibrant Silver grille surround
• Nightshade Blue Vescin faux leather seat upholstery
• Light Beige and Grey Knit dashboard fabric

Choose the MINI Cooper Sport for:

• 17-inch JCW Sprint Spoke Black alloy wheels
• Adaptive suspension
• JCW Sport brakes with Black calipers — C and S only
• JCW Sport brakes with Red calipers — John Cooper Works only
• Chilli Red paint with Jet Black contrast roof
• Front and rear bumper aprons
• Rear spoiler with Airblades
• Central exhaust pipe exit — John Cooper Works only
• Hexagonal pattern grille with High Gloss Black surround
• Harman Kardon Surround Sound system — John Cooper Works only
• JCW Black Vescin faux leather and Cord seat upholstery
• JCW Black and Red Knit dashboard fabric
• Heated, perforated Vescin faux leather-wrapped steering wheel — John Cooper Works only
• Sport Transmission steering column-mounted gear change paddles
• Stainless steel pedals — John Cooper Works only

Optional MINI Cooper equipment bundles

Level 1, standard on all S and John Cooper Works models, comprises:

• Extended LED headlights with automatic main beam
• Comfort Access keyless entry
• Head-up Display
• Wireless smartphone charging pad
• Heated front seats
• Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror

Level 2 includes the Level 1 pack plus:

• Panoramic glass roof
• Sun protection tinted side windows
• Harmon Kardon audio system upgrade

Level 3 includes both the Level 1 and 2 packs plus:

• Parking Assistant Plus self-parking system
• Electrically adjustable front seats
• Augmented Reality (AR) MINI Navigation system
• Interior camera
• Driving Assistant Plus driver aids