Mini Cooper SE JCW review

Mini is a lifestyle icon and one of the most recognizable names in the automotive world. Its legacy started in the late 1950s but its true glory began after it stopped being promoted as an economy vehicle, but focused on winning rally starts. This solidified its success story and after the famous rally "Monte Carlo" win in 1964, the whole world wanted a piece of that fame. A list of celebrities jumped on board, while the unprecedented for the time customization options from the factory made the original Mini quickly a pop culture icon - a status it managed to retain for over 60 years.

Table of Contents:

• Exterior
• Interior
• Storage & practicalities
• Driving experience
• Tech features
• Ride comfort
• Cabin noise
• Acceleration and braking
• Consumption
• Charging speed
• Competition
• Verdict

The flip side of the coin is the immense expectations that come with each new generation of the Mini that shows up. It needs to keep up with the times and yet retain its classic charm. This hard task was mastered by BMW, who brought back the brand to life in the early 2000s and the little british car continued its success story. The latest model is co-developed by BMW and Great Wall Motors and assembled in the chinese factory of GWM.

Today we are looking at the Mini Cooper SE (internal code J01), which is the most powerful version with 160 kW (218 hp) and 243 lb-ft. Our test model is equipped with the JCW package, which gets the more aggressive looks of the upcoming JCW, as well as its bigger brakes and sportier interior. The other thing differentiating the JCW from the SE is the greater power output and a stiffer suspension.

• Dimensions: 151.9 inches x 69.1 inches x 57.5 inches, 99.4 inches wheelbase.
• Drivetrain tested: SE - FWD 160 kW (218 hp), 243 lb-ft, 54.2 kWh total battery capacity, 49.2 kWh usable battery capacity
• Other drivetrains: Cooper E - FWD 135 kW (184 hp), 214 lb-ft, 40.7 kWh total battery capacity
• Charging: 95 kW CCS
• Range: 250 miles WLTP
• Weight: 3,704 lb unladen
• Other features: Air-console games, Moods, Multiple lighting settings, OTA updates.

Exterior

Mini's newest generation is the first to sway from the oval shapes everywhere and introduce some edges to the design. Naturally, this caused a stir in the Mini community as many diehard fans think the new Mini is too much of a departure from its roots. But sharp edges are the new cool thing in the automotive world, so Mini wants in on that trend.

The front of the Mini Cooper SE JCW is more aggressive than the standard SE and E as it has bigger vents and a more pronounced lower lip. There are also fake vents on each side to complete the sportier looks.

The grille is huge compared to all previous Minis, but the general octagonal shape of it is kept to retain the connection between the models. Since the electric version doesn't really need that much cooling, almost the entire grille is actually fake and flat and only small parts of it are used for cooling the batteries.

One key part of every Mini are the round headlights and it's no surprise that the new Cooper carries on with that tradition. However, since modern LED technology allows for creativity, Mini allows you to choose between three different looks for the lights. That is welcome attention to detail and a feature that stands out as an industry-first, so we expect to see it more and more often.

The side profile keeps the traditional Mini shape. The front and rear overhangs are minimal and the wheelbase almost matches the length of the vehicle. This allows for more spacious interior and improves the handling.

The JCW package comes with a rear spoiler that accentuates the aggressive styling. It also has a JCW decal so that everybody else on the road knows you mean business.

The 18-inch tires on the JCW trims come with unique styling that tastefully compliments the design. Sadly, they come with cheap Maxxis tires from the factory that just don't fit a premium vehicle with a high price tag at all.

The door handles are the same as in new BMW models. The handles only operate when you stick your hands underneath, which has proven in time to be problematic and inconvenient, especially in winters.

The rear is the most controversial part of the exterior, which strays far from the oval shapes of its predecessors and incorporates angular shapes.

The taillights are triangular and can be programmed to different designs, just like the headlights. We have no doubt this feature will be seen more and more frequently in vehicles as time goes on.

Interior

The cabin of the Mini Cooper has always been a strong selling point, offering modern features and technologies, combined with better materials than the competiton. The new Cooper SE is no exception and vastly differs from all of its competitors and just like its predecessor it offers endless customization options, essentially guaranteeing you’ll never see two of the exact same Minis on the road.

What you see as you enter the Mini Cooper SE J01 is a vivid interior with colors splashing everywhere, creating a fantastic setting for the driver and passengers. Most of the materials look very good and fit well with each other. Sadly, once you touch most of them you sense they are quite rough and on the cheaper end. However, the build quality is fabulous as there are absolutely no creeks or rattles.

Inside, you are greeted by the sporty seats that come with the JCW package. They offer thick bolstering on the sides and a two-tone color scheme, which in our test car was black and red, following the sporty theme.

The steering wheel is the usual chunky affair with a small radius. It doesn't feel great to touch and the materials are outright low-quality. It's understandable that BMW Group should make the Mini less luxurious than its other models, but the steering wheel is the part you touch the most and it just doesn't suit a premium model.

There is a cool stripe of fabric on the bottom of the steering wheel, making it seem like it is three-spoke. It looks outlandish and is just the kind of cute silliness one can expect from a Mini.

As in many modern vehicles, there's no gauge cluster behind the steering wheel and is actually integrated into the multimedia display.

Optionally, you can get a head-up display, which isn't actually projecting on the window, but instead it has a separate piece of glass sticking out of the dashboard. This is due to the almost upright windshield and also to minimize production costs. Its readouts change depending on your drive modes and it's clearly visible even in very bright lighting.

The main display is the centerpiece of the interior. It is a giant circle right in the middle of the dashboard, sticking out prominently. It is a nod to previous generations, which all sported a circular centerpiece. It controls almost all features of the Mini, but it is sadly slow to respond and leaves a lot of unused space due to its shape.

On the back of the multimedia display there are little projectors that light up the left and right parts of the dashboard in different patterns, which is a quirky features no other manufacturer offers and injects some soul to the Mini.

We should mention that the ambient lighting inside the Mini Cooper SE is on a very high level and lights up multiple surfaces. Sadly, it is also directly connected to the drive mode you're in. This means that if you like to drive in one mode, but another offers a better ambient lighting pattern, you’ll have to decide which one you want more as you can't mix and match.

Ambient lighting sets the mood in the Mini Cooper SE.

Even the optional panoramic sunroof lights up at night if you want it to, which used to be a feature only the most luxurious BMW models got just a few years ago, but now the little Mini also treats its passengers to that experience.

Below the center screen you can find the only buttons in the interior, which control vastly different functions, despite being in the same area. Gone is the switch a la airplane toggle to start the car and instead you turn a fake key. Then you choose which gear you need by pressing a switch, while the parking brake is a separate button to the side.

There is another button labeled "Experiences," which is how BMW now calls its drive modes. As we already mentioned, they change a number of things inside the vehicle, including ambient lighting.

Thankfully the hazard lights are not a touch button like in some BMW models and are just a big old school red button in the center. A particularly interesting button next to the hazard lights is one that portrays a car with some lists next to it. It is actually a shortcut for the driver assistants, which is very useful as we'll discuss later on in the review.

The center console between the two passengers is designed to be minimalist and funky, but sacrifices a lot of functionality. The phone storage space is too small for most modern phones. The cupholders are shallow and have no rubber outline or clamps to hold your drink in place, essentially guaranteeing anything you put there will either fly out or spill.

And then we move on to the armrest, which is borrowed from a low-cost office chair and is flimsy and cheap. The front passengers have to decide which one will use it, as it is way too small for both of them and such an object should never be found in any vehicle, let alone at that price point.

Instead of some big and deep storage space, there is something that looks like a glasses case and offers very limited storage. It also opens opposite to the driver, so its usability is further compromised.

One of the most impractical center console storages in the industry.

There is the option to equip your Mini Cooper SE with a Harman/Kardon sound system, which offers great audio experience and is very well integrated into the design of the interior.

The rear seats have always been a compromise in the Mini. Our reviewer is probably not the easiest to fit rear seat passenger as he is 1.95 m (6’4”) tall. Even at that size he has enough headroom, but legroom is very compromised. This is not to take points from the Cooper SE, as all of the vehicles in that segment make that compromise in order to ensure more front row space. The rear is perfect for kids and smaller adults on short trips, which is what most people considering this kind of car will have to fit anyway.

Storage & practicalities

Storage space has never been a strong suit of the 3-door Mini and the new J01 is no exception. The small exterior and generious interior space leave almost no room for the trunk, which has the measly 7.4 ft³ of cargo space.

The trunk is expectedly small.

There are also no storage pockets around back and underneath the trunk floor so you can't even remove the charging cables from the main area.

With the rear seats down you can fit somewhat bigger objects thanks to the boxy design and 28.6 ft³ of space that open.

Another disadvantage is that there is no frunk (front trunk), which would’ve tremendously helped in a daily driver like the Mini Cooper SE. Some extra space up front would’ve offset the tiny trunk at least to some extent.

Driving experience

Based on the pure numbers of the Mini Cooper SE we weren't that excited to sit behind its wheel. It has gained a significant amount of weight compared to all of its predecessors and now weighs as much as some versions of the much bigger Mini Countryman. What was once a featherweight champion and didn’t need a lot of power to zoom through corners with great speed and agility is now a heavyweight fighter that has seemingly lost its key advantage.

However, much to our surprise, the Cooper SE handles pretty well through corners and actually lets you have fun behind the wheel. You have to be careful not to overestimate its capabilities, though, as physics eventually come into play and the weight just can cause uncontrollable oversteer. However, when you know what you’re doing you can easily dive into the corner and get out even quicker, just as a proper Mini should.

The Mini Cooper SE never suffers from lack of power. In daily situations you can confidently zip through traffic and enjoy its small size in the crowded cities. The Cooper SE has a tight turning radius and great feedback from the steering wheel. One great improvement over the last generation facelift models is that the steering rack is more direct and heavier, giving you that old-school experience.

One thing that has troubled more powerful Minis in the past is the torque steer, which is heavily present in the Cooper SE as well. You have to fight in order to quickly accelerate in a straight line from a dig, but this is a price you have to pay in almost all FWD vehicles with more than about 200 hp.

Something peculiar about the Mini Cooper SE is that it comes standard with Maxxis Premitra 5 tires, which are very low-cost and quite poor. If you have the possibility to get it with something else we strongly recommend you to do so. There is a high probability that the Mini Cooper SE would've scored much better in our testing if it wasn’t for those awful tires that are hard and have no grip. Going for an entry-level manufacturers is really hurting the Cooper SE.

As all new models, the Mini Cooper SE is equipped with the mandatory European beeping driver assistants, which are very annoying and interfere significantly with your driving. You can set them all as a favorite shortcut in the driver assist homepage, but that still requires multiple touches until you turn them all off.

The Mini has low front and rear overhangs, letting it easily conquer big potholes and parking sidewalks. The non-JCW models offer more ground clearance if that is what you're looking for.

The driving position is much higher than previous Mini models thanks to the low-mounted batteries, giving you a less focused seating setup. You sit way too high and don’t feel as connected as you should in a Mini.

Tech features

Mini put in a lot of effort in the on-board technology. The round center display is distinctive and offers a plethora of menus and customization options. It offers crisp image quality, but sadly its processor is slow and especially when you turn on the vehicle it takes time for the infotainment to start working properly. This shouldn't be the case in a modern vehicle, and makes for a bad first impression.

It is painfully slow to respond in the initial minutes after startup. The menus take a long time to load and the input lag is horrendous. For a modern car such performance is simply unacceptable and Mini should address it quickly.

The top part of the screen is dedicated to the gauge cluster, where you find your speed, all active systems and important readouts, as well as the error/caution messages. It is well integrated, but still remains a compromise compared to a traditional gauge cluster.

When it does work, the screen offers a plethora of capabilities. It is cool and novel that you can see a detailed 3D model of the car in most menus, showing you exactly what happens after choosing a different setting, or even if you blink with the headlight, open a door or use a turn signal.

There is a slide-down menu like in most phones, which enables you to add shortcuts to different menus and choose a driver profile. This is especially useful for turning off all of the annoying assistance on every startup.

The home screen of the Mini lists many menus and presets, which are uniquely designed for the mini, but ultimately have the same functionalities as all other BMW models with the iDrive 8.5 system. There are the "Hey Mini" and weather apps, which are always useful. Depending on the menus the layouts have different designs. A great attention to detail, but also probably part of the reason why the system struggles so much when starting the car as it has to load so many things.

Some useful apps appear on the homescreen.

The 360 camera system is a fine touch to the Mini, as it makes parking the little Englishman that much easier, but you also get the reversing assistant many upper class BMW's got, which records the last 1,969 inches before stopping and then it can drive back on its own. This feature is especially useful for tight parking places or tricky terrains as in the video below.

Mini also gets access to the Air Console games that are featured in newer BMW models, which allow you to have some fun while waiting inside the car.

The Mini Cooper SE comes with a memory card with 128 GB, which allows you to store photos, videos and other files directly in the infotainment, but as you can see most of that storage is already occupied by the system itself, once again proving that the Mini is not as modern as it wishes to be.

Speaking of photos, you can take both selfies inside the vehicle with the interior camera, or take photos of the outside using the 360 camera system, capturing all of the exciting landscapes you encounter while driving.

You can always use the Mini Cooper SE as a photo booth.

Another great feature is that you can add a digital key that uses your phone, allowing you to carry one item fewer while driving.

As all EVs must, the Mini Cooper SE has external speakers for pedestrian safety, but you can lower its tone, which also affects the interior pumped in sound.

The navigation system of the Mini is the same as in all other BMW models and works just as good. Mini Connected even predicts traffic jams and gives you alternative routes, based on real-life data, which is very helpful in daily conditions.

Another negative part of the giant display is that it also incorporates the climate settings, which can easily turn into a chore as all the buttons are small and hard to read. A positive is that the seat heating and temperature controls stay in the same place at all times, so at least they are easy to operate.

Mini was famous for having its gauge cluster in the center in most previous models and the new one pays homage to its roots by giving you a display that mimics an old-school radio and occupies the entire screen, only giving you the basics like speed, range, charge and power.

You can get a different speedometer depending on the drive mode.

Although you get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, they are incorporated abysmally and are clearly an afterthought. The circular display is obviously an issue and instead of figuring out a way to incorporate the systems, Mini developers just put a very tiny square in the middle of it for the phone system and went on with their lives. The previous generation integrated the same system in a similar circular display much better, so the developers have no reason to get away with this.

The integration of CarPlay is horrendous!

A great party trick that will never get you bored is the "Let's celebrate" menu that shows you a unique video and will also offer some personalised ones for holidays or birthdays.

Ride comfort

The ride of the Mini Cooper SE is stiff, but not in a bothersome way and even in the boring daily traffic it's not too bad. The car is planted and translates a lot of the uneven surfaces of the road into the cabin, but you never feel uncomfortable. It is a middle ground between the original Mini enthusiasts that have longed for a more comfortable ride, and those that didn’t want to sacrifice the go-kart feeling and direct connection to the road.

Cabin noise

For a small and boxy vehicle, the Mini Cooper SE translates surprisingly low amounts of wind noise into the cabin. The subjective feeling of quietness is even more present, as there are no rattles or squeaks anywhere in the interior due to the tremendous build quality. At highway speeds there are some more noticeable wind and tire noises, but that is to be expected given the shape and size of the car.

Sound level tests are carried out with a specialized sound level meter placed in the car's cupholders. The test is conducted with air conditioning and radio off and while maintaining a steady speed.

Acceleration and braking

The Mini Cooper SE is majorly hindered when accelerating by the terrible factory mounted Maxxis tires. They spin a lot and lose a lot of time. Still, we managed to improve the promised 0 - 62 mph time significantly and did it in 6.26 seconds. That is almost half a second quicker and will undoubtedly be even faster with some better tires.

Braking didn't feel that confident, taking 37 m (121'5") to go from 62 mph to a halt. We suppose with some stickier tires that result will improve, however the brake pedal feels awkward and requires a lot of getting used to. There is a big gap between the regen and the actual brake and you have to be really careful when stopping. The pedal feels numb and has almost no travel, requiring tremendous concentration from the driver, which is sub-optimal.

Acceleration and deceleration are measured with a RaceBox device inside the car. Testing is done with a single person inside the car, with air conditioning and traction control off.

Consumption

The Mini Cooper SE is an efficient vehicle - one of the most frugal we've ever tested. Its small battery prevents it from having an impressive range, but the improvement compared to the previous generation is tremendous. The F56 model had way too small of a range, but the J01 almost doubles it. If you want to check out our detailed thoughts on the range of the Mini Cooper SE check out our detailed range test.

We measure consumption by driving at constant speeds on an identical test route during the day. Testing is conducted with air conditioning, all safety systems and radio on. The data comes from the vehicle's board computer. Specific testing parameters such as ambient temperature are mentioned in the text on a case by case basis.

We now suggest you use the widget below to find out the Mini Cooper SE's range in every combination of speed and temperature you might need. We've used our real world tests and a complex model to provide an estimate that should be as close to the actual performance as possible.

Charging speed

Despite being a brand new model, the Mini Cooper SE charges at up to only 95 kWh on a DC charger. This is far from what some competitors offer and the 10-80% fill up requires at least half an hour. It's sad to see such an important characteristic of daily driving being neglected.

Competition

The Mini Cooper SE has few direct competitors. A lot of manufacturers are dropping their small models in favor of bigger ones. The Mini has always dominated thanks to its more luxurious interior, recognizable exterior and great handling. Most of these features are carried over to the new model generation and we have no doubt we'll see more and more of those around the streets, especially in the crowded European cities.

The first competitor is the Fiat 500, which has always been a very similar proposition in terms of appearance and status symbol. The 500 also heavily relies on heritage and has great daily usability, however the interior quality and customization options are nowhere near what the Mini offers, which offsets the price difference.

Another rival is the Ora Fnky Cat (03), which is assembled in the same factory in China and offers even more more features. It is also bigger and more practical, but what the Ora lacks is brand image, material quality and multimedia experience, which the modern user actually really looks out for.

ORA Funky Cat 63kWh 2023 - • Fiat 500 42kWh 2020 -

Verdict

Mini is a brand with great heritage and a loyal customer base. The new generation doesn't stray much from its roots in terms of design both inside or out, but it also clearly looks like a new model. Some purists might be against the angles that were introduced into the design and the simplicity inside, but the reality is that the Mini Cooper felt outdated and needed a drastic change. Whether or not these changes were the right ones and will elevate the brand to even higher levels - future sales figures will show.

For now we can only deduct that the Mini Cooper SE may make for a great daily driver, but it has a series of quirks that will lose it a lot of potential buyers. The high asking price, limited range, heavy weight and slow infotainment are significant drawbacks, but at least you get fun driving experience, recognizable silhouette and some unique features.

The Mini Cooper SE is definitely not a car for everyone, but the main problem that we seem to have is that it has lost a lot of the emotion previous generations brought. The new Mini is more sophisticated and considering the nature of the series that's hardly a great thing.

Pros

• Luxurious interior for the segment.
• Great turning radius.
• Direct steering feedback.
• Rich individualization options for the inside and outside.
• Unique feature no other manufacturer provides.
• Different infotainment outlooks depending on the mode.

Cons

• Laggy and slow infotainment.
• Terrible factory Maxxis tires.
• Slow charging times.
• Low range on a single charge.
• Huge added weight with no practical benefits
• Most materials are cheap and feel bad to touch.
• High price.
• Unusable center console.
• Small trunk and no frunk.