2025 Mini Cooper

If you are looking for a small car, there are just a few left to choose among – and only one that’s instantly recognizable and like none of the rest.

It’s the Mini.

What It Is

The Mini is the iconically British three-door hatchback made by BMW. The modern – BMW-built – iteration is actually a larger car than the original Mini Cooper of the ’60s, but the new one’s still very small relative to other new cars. To give you some idea, the 2025 Mini three-door hatchback is about three feet shorter, end to end, than a current compact-sized sedan like the 2025 Honda Civic.

Even so, the Mini is comparatively practical because it is hatchback and because – unlike many sporty coupes – it has a comparatively tall roofline, which provides decent backseat headroom, such that adults can sit upright back there rather than hunched forward.

It is also, of course, a unique-looking car – and that is no small thing in today’s market.

Prices start at $28,950 for the base Signature trim, which comes standard with a 2.0 liter turbocharged four cylinder engine, paired with a seven speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. A top-of-the-line S Iconic comes with a more powerful version of the same engine, paired with the same transmission, contrast color exterior paint, a Harman Kardon premium audio system and an interior camera system that can be used to take photos/videos of you while you’re driving.

It lists for $36,300.

There is also a four-door version of the Mini that’s not-as-mini and also offers a high-performance John Cooper Works trim centered on a high-performance iteration of the 2.0 liter engine.

What’s New For 2025

The Mini gets a major makeover – but you’ll need to look inside (and under the hood) to notice the changes. There’s an all-new interior that’s more minimalist than before, with most of the secondary systems that used to be controlled by toggles and switches now controlled via a single, centrally mounted 9.4 inch touchscreen display.

There’s also a new – and larger – standard four cylinder engine that replaces last year’s standard three cylinder engine.

And there’s no more manual transmission. All 2025 Minis are – at least for now – automatic only.

What’s Good

No more three cylinder engine.

More personality than most.

More practical than you might expect.

What’s Not So Good

No more manual transmission.

Interior layout is more Spartan-looking.

No JCW option for the three-door.

Under The Hood

Last year’s  Mini had a very mini engine – in that there wasn’t much of one.  Just three cylinder, 1.5 liters and 134 horses – which isn’t much to move a car that’s as surprisingly heavy (about 2,700 lbs.) as the Mini is. For perspective, a ’70s-era Beetle – which was about the same overall size – weighed about 1,800 lbs. and had a 1.6 liter four cylinder engine!

For 2025, the Mini gets a more appropriately sized – and powerful – engine. It’s a 2.0 liter four – turbocharged – that makes 161 horsepower. The new engine is paired with a seven speed dual-clutch automatic that shifts faster than a conventional automatic.

On the downside, the new engine – as well as the optional engine – comes only with the seven speed automatic. Last year’s Mini was available with a six speed manual. The reason why the manual’s been cancelled probably has to do with the Mini being a BMW. The German automaker publicly avowed it would be making automatics standard in all of its models – and has pretty much done exactly that. The reason for this being – in BMW’s view – that automatics offer quicker, more accurate (and more consistent) shifting, which is absolutely true. A manual is shifted by a human and humans sometimes miss shifts, shift too early – or too late. That’s why in a race, an automatic-equipped car will generally be quicker more consistently than the same car with a manual shifted by a human.

But something subjective that’s nonetheless important is arguable lost along the way  – about which more follows below.

The 2025 Mini’s optional engine is a 201 horsepower version of the same 2.0 liter four, also paired with the seven speed dual clutch automatic.

Interestingly, there is no gas mileage difference between these engines – despite the significant horsepower (and performance) difference. The standard Mini – with the 161 horsepower version of the 2.0 liter four – touts an EPA rating of 28 city, 39 highway; Minis with the 201 horsepower iteration of the same basic engine rate exactly the same mileage.

Also of interest is that last year’s much smaller – and much less powerful – 1.5 liter three cylinder engine only delivered 27 city, 38 highway.

It’s one of those rare instances of their being such a thing as a free lunch.

Except for one thing.

The price.

Last year’s Mini stickered for $25,800 to start – vs. $28,950 this year. That’s a difference of $3,150. Granted, you do get more engine – and more power – without less gas mileage.

But not for free.

On The Road

The smallness of the Mini is a big part of what makes this little car such fun to drive. And so easy to park. It fits in spots that are too small for a truck or an SUV – probably because there’s another truck or SUV parked in the adjacent spot. You might be able to fit you truck or SUV beside it – but good luck getting out (or back into) your truck or SUV.

No such problems with the Mini.

Out on the road, it’s even more fun because the Mini is small enough to make use of openings in traffic that aren’t big enough for a truck or SUV or even a compact-sized sedan to exploit. But the Mini zips in – and around – those lumbering slow-movers.

Speaking of slow-moving . . .

Equipped with its new (larger/stronger) 2.0 liter base engine, the ’25 Mini gets to 60 in about 7.4 seconds, which is about a second quicker than the ’24 Mini with the smaller, much less potent three cylinder. Put another way, it is no longer a near-necessity to pay extra for the optional engine to get a Mini that moves. It is now a matter of how much more quickly you’d like to move.

Equipped with its optional engine, the ’25 Mini gets to 60 in about 6 seconds. The turbo’d engine is both punchy and revvy – and in Sport mode, it sounds almost like a V8. You can alter the sound via selecting the Experience, of which there are several. It’s  not just the sound that changes, either. The look of the center-mounted display changes, too. Colors, fonts and readouts to suit.

It’s hard to fault the now-standard seven speed automatic on objective grounds, which is why it’s hard to fault it. How could anyone not be happy about perfectly timed shifts and never missing a shift? You can imagine Mr. Spock asking these questions, baffled by Captain Kirk’s emotions regarding the intangible experience of shifting (and clutching) for yourself. Even if you miss a shift. Even if you don’t get to 60 as quickly.

Yes, it’s illogical. But – assuming you’re not Spock – you understand.

A manual in a car like the Mini is like a cat with fur – as opposed to one that’s just skin. The cat with just skin is hypoallergenic and easier to keep clean. But there is nothing like that soft, plush feel of a warm, furry cat sitting in your lap. So there’s something missing  – something not quite right – about a small car like this with an automatic. It’s contrary to the point of it, arguably – because small cars are supposed to be involving cars and the Mini more than most.

Hopefully, BMW will bring back the manual.

At The Curb

As already mentioned, the Mini is just that. But for such a little car, it is impressively roomy – for people and for cargo. There’s 30.8 inches of backseat legroom as one measure of this and to put that in perspective, a Ford Mustang coupe has 29 inches of backseat legroom and just 34.8 inches of headroom due to the sloping roofline.

The Mini has 36.3 inches of headroom back there. It also has 34.4 cubic feet of cargo capacity (with its backseats folded down) which is more than  twice the space available in the Mustang’s 13.5 cubic foot trunk. The Mini’s available space is also more accessible – and usable – because of the box-shape of the Mini and the wide-opening hatchback. I was able to put a boxed-up push mower I bought at Wal Mart in the Mini’s cargo area and close the hatchback for the trip home. I might have been able to fit the mower – part of it – in a new Mustang’s trunk. But the trunk lid would have had to remain open for the ride home and the mower box tied down to prevent it from falling out on the ride home.

Those are some of the objectively positive things about the Mini.

The new interior is another thing.

More finely, the new dash/instrument cluster and secondary controls are different things.

The Mini used to have a dash/instrument cluster that cleverly blended ’60s retro looks with modern controls. There were for example old-school style (and very Brit-feeling) chromed toggle switches to turn various things on or off and – in front of the driver – a traditional-looking (and British car looking) round analog speedo and meters with a big round LCD display to the right that was also modern but retro-looking, too.

Now there is just a big round disc – the 9.3 inch LCD touchscreen – and nothing much else. Almost all of the secondary controls (and all of the readouts) are in that single glowing LCD disc. There is nothing ahead of the driver except the dashboard – unless you count the virtual/holographic Heads Up display that project speed and a few other things in the driver’s line-of-sight. There are no more chromed, old-timey toggles. Just a small array of switches immediately below the big pie-plate screen, including a faux ignition “key” you turn to start the engine but do not insert or remove into a lock switch. The transmission is controlled by by a push-button system to the left of that and – to the right of the “key” – there’s one more switch for the Experience control.

And that’s all there is.

It looks – and feels – spartan. Much of the former mini-ness is absent now, in a literal sense. It is less “cluttered.” But the original “clutter” was also part of the attraction. Why did Mini – that is, BMW – choose to de-“clutter” the car? Probably because it saved Mini (whoops, BMW) money, in terms of parts as well as manufacturing costs. The one thing that costs less to manufacture these days is cheap electronics. A single LCD touchscreen probably costs Mini (that is, BMW) $100 each and the labor to install it as the car is being assembled is a simple moment of plugging the thing in.

But it can be sold for more.

And probably replaced for more, too. Though there might not be a replacement in ten years from now. And what then? Remember: Pretty much everything is controlled – or at least, viewed – via that touchscreen. If it ever goes dark or glitches, you won’t be seeing anything and might not have control over much, either.

The Rest

The Mini has gotten pricey – even the base trim, which is now priced just shy of $29,000. As recently as five years ago, a new Mini cost just $23,400 to start. Some of the uptick is of course due to inflation but a lot of it is also due to the 2025 Mini coming standard with more near-luxury equipment  – e.g., heated seats and steering wheel, panorama sunroof, LED headlights and that seven speed dual-clutch automatic.

The higher base price makes it harder for the young people who are this car’s natural buyer demographic to buy a new Mini, which is something BMW might want to consider.

The Bottom Line

It’s still very cute – and surprisingly practical. But it’s less Mini in some ways – and that includes what it costs.

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