Overview & Reviews

Few cars are as instantly recognizable as the Mini. Loved for its diminutive dimensions and cheerful good looks, the British-born car has inspired passionate devotion both in the U.S. and abroad. The brand was briefly discontinued, but was revived in 2002 with help from BMW. Successfully paying homage to the original Mini Cooper of the 1960s, the reincarnated Cooper combines an athletic, BMW-engineered chassis with a space-efficient interior and a generous standard features list.

The history of the Mini make began in 1959. The original Mini car was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in England and its mission was to be a lightweight, agile four-passenger car that took up minimal space. In a sense, the brand was born out of necessity. The United Kingdom was subject to fuel rationing in the wake of the Suez crisis, and British consumers clamored for vehicles that offered optimum fuel efficiency.

The car was originally sold under BMC's Austin and Morris brands; the Mini name didn't make an appearance until 1961. Although it had just 34 horsepower, the Mini was the ideal urban car and proved popular in crowded European cities. In 1961, John Cooper, a man who built Formula One racecars, put his magic hands on the Mini and the result was the ferocious Mini Cooper. His Cooper S model had (at 76 hp) more than double the output of the standard Mini. That infusion of power, along with suspension tweaks and some really good driving, had Mini winning the Monte Carlo Rally four years in a row (1964-'67). The marque landed on American shores in 1962.

The '60s truly was the decade of the Mini. New variations on the car's theme came with the introduction of vehicles like the Mini Pickup and the Mini Moke, a vehicle that resembled a quirky cross between a Mini and a Jeep. The car's abbreviated proportions are even rumored to have played a part in sparking a fashion trend; the miniskirt raised hemlines and became emblematic of an era. Mini motorcars tore up the asphalt on the silver screen, with the brand's appearance in the 1969 film The Italian Job. By the end of the decade, more than 2 million Mini motorcars had been produced. Sadly, the vehicle was pulled from the United States in 1968, in the wake of strict new emissions regulations.

Though no longer available in the U.S., Mini remained in production in Europe through the '70s and '80s. By the mid-'80s, more than 5 million Minis had been produced worldwide. In 1994, the brand was acquired by the BMW Group. The marque went on hiatus in 2000, but was resurrected (and brought back to American shores) in 2002 with the launch of the entry-level, front-drive Mini Cooper hatchback. Thoroughly modern in every way, right down to its BMW-engineered suspension, steering and brakes, the Mini Cooper is sold alongside its cousins at BMW dealerships.

Today, Mini's offerings include various derivatives of the Cooper, including a coupe, a roadster and a convertible; the slightly longer Clubman; high-performance John Cooper Works variants; and even the crossover SUV-inspired four-door Countryman. With such a diverse, fun-loving lineup, it's no wonder that Mini has become one of America's most desirable small car automakers.

User Reviews:

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  Dont but get the Panoramic roof option - 2007 Mini Cooper
  By timmylee1958 - June 4 - 12:24 am

  I had wanted a mini cooper for some years. After finding what I wanted, in my price range, I purchased a 2007 base hatchback with 49k miles. The car was in super nice shape. Mechanically it ran and drove excellent. It has been an absolute blast to drive. It gets some super fuel economy. I was getting better than the average. 34.5 mpg combined. Then the trouble started. Sun roof stuck open. $1100 to install a used Sunroof just 5 days after I owned the car. Dealer said this is Common? The replacement sunroof had so much wind noise it sounded like a wind tunnel. 2 months later the replacement roof failed I just sealed it to help eliminate the wind noise. Dealer

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  Cute but rough. - 2008 Mini Cooper
  By Ian Venieris - March 29 - 6:00 pm

  Cute looks, good handling and the new for 2007 BMW engine with Peugeot parentage caused me to buy the 2008 Cooper S with the 6-speed transmission. Having driven the automatic I do not recommend it as it does not allow for the fuel economical 6th gear when in sport mode. The car is plagued by multitude of gremlins which in my case caused it to spend 28 out of the first 60 days at the dealerships service department. 1200 miles out of a total of 2000 miles driven were for transport to and from the dealership. If one decides that this is the only car in which they can be happy, I suggest interviewing the dealership to identify their service competency but few areas have more than one dealer.

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  Electrical Mayhem - 2003 Mini Cooper
  By asdf;lkjasd;flkj - March 14 - 10:00 am

  Wait a few generations for them to work out all the bugs. There are a lot of them.

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  Interior Ergonomics Need Work - 2004 Mini Cooper
  By babelfish - December 1 - 2:00 am

  The car looks cool on the outside but it needs some help with the interior finish. The sunroof rattles. My dealer pretends the problem does not exist. The biggest pain is the placement of the foot pedals. Every time you use the clutch, your left foot smacks against the door of the fuse box. It makes a resounding smack and is quite annoying. The interior styling is nice, but the color choices are limited. For example, a tan interior looks good with British Racing Green paint. However, they charge $1300 more for that! Otherwise your choices are limited to black with silver plastic, or black with grey plastic.

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  Poor Quality - 2005 Mini Cooper
  By riverbendmike - June 21 - 1:23 pm

  I have had nothing but trouble with my 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible. I have spent thousands of dollars in out of warranty repair bills. My problems have been. 1. Convertible mechanism cable replacement. 2. Oil gasket replacement. 3. Power steering failure (safety issue) 4. Trunk latch replacement. 5. Shift mechanism replacement. The car is at the dealer and the oil issue is being looked at again because Ive had to add oil too often. So that may need to get done again. Im seriously thinking of just leaving the car there. There is a reason it has go-cart handling. - Its built like a go-cart.

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  Piece of junk! - 2009 Mini Cooper
  By Carol Forte - May 11 - 10:00 am

  The first year could be called the "honeymoon period". After that lookout! First of all the service dept is comprised of idiots. They will NOT listen to the customer and will look for any reason than the one the customer is complaining about to blame the issue on. My issue? Carbon deposits in the motor. Yes folks, this can happen to your "fun loving" MINI too - and probably will. 4 trips to MINI - 2 times with the engine light on and guess what? Carbon deposits aka "engine buildup". This issues starts to occur between 30- 40K. You will notice skipping in 1st gear, decreased performance, oddities, etc... and the run around from MINI. Good luck! I traded my little buggy of issues!

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  Dont Say You Werent Warned - 2007 Mini Cooper
  By Bryan Parry - April 22 - 11:44 pm

  Got sucked into the sporty performance and good look and then... I owned a preowned MCS 07 w/ 39k on it for THREE MONTHS before selling. Let me say that again THREE MONTHS. I experienced the following. Random Limp modes and stall outs in the middle of traffic. Timing Chain "death rattle." Carbon build up. Frozen throttle/ unable to start. Multiple engine misfires in cylinders 1 & 2. Inexplicable grinding into third gear (had a brand new clutch btw). Inexplicable problems with power locks including the hatch randomly opening itself. Cabin rattles. This car was clean and maintained right on schedule. I was the third owner. I finally threw in the towel and got a Mazda

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  Cons outweigh the Pros - 2003 Mini Cooper
  By MIssMyVW - December 28 - 10:00 am

  I purchased this car used in 2007 and I didnt even get 5000 miles on it before the clutch went out on it the first time. Six months after that replacement, I had to have it back in the shop because the clutch pedal had a master/slave issue and I had to have the cylinders replaced. Then, just this past week, after approximately 21 months and 9,000 more miles on the car, I had to have the clutch replaced again. Seriously, while the car looks really cool and is sometimes fun to drive, it is *not* worth all the extra money it will cost you for ownership. I cant wait to pay this thing off and go back to driving a VW again.

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  Fun looking but poor quality - 2006 Mini Cooper
  By katefromca - December 2 - 9:46 am

  Owned the Mini for 2.5 years; in that time, had an oil leak, brake problems, steering wheel problems, and a dead battery. Good thing it comes with warranty and full maintenance! It is a fun car to drive and people still gawk when seeing a Mini convertible. But, it is an extremely unreliable car and after awhile that does eat into the fun, even with free repairs and maintenance. Finally, traded it in for a not-so-fun but reliable and safe Subaru. If you are considering this car, make sure your Mini dealership is close to where you live, youll be visiting it often!

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  MCS is Junk - 2006 Mini Cooper
  By randy - September 24 - 8:40 pm

  We love to drive the 06 Mini Cooper S! Trying adding a stiffer rear sway-bar and the "fun to drive goes off the chart". But Minis customer service and reliability make this car a piece of junk, a $26,000.00 piece of junk! When the dealership cant resolve an issue you call BMW/Mini and they give you more of the same! Then an employee tells you,"If you think there is something wrong the car why dont you sell it!" With less then 4,000 miles on the car! Now that will make your day! So fun to drive only goes so far. And the Mini has run out of road! One of the issues here is the passenger seat air bag sensor cycles on and off. If God forbid we are in accident an the air bags dont deploy someone could die! Look else where!