2025 Mini Cooper 4-Door First Look

An extra set of doors adds practicality without subtracting from the popular Mini formula.

Benjamin Hunting | 

Jul 3, 2024 | 5 min read

Mini

The 2025 Mini Cooper 4-Door aims at subcompact hatch shoppers who value personal style and an above-average driving experience as key criteria when buying a new car. Although still clearly stemming from the same Mini DNA that has made the automaker popular in North America, the 2025 model brings with it a host of updates, improvements, and changes compared with the 2024 edition it replaces.

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Taller and Wider, but Not by Much

The four-door Mini Cooper follows its two-door counterpart onto a brand-new platform that brings with it fresh styling and a revised interior design. That being said, the relatively pint-size hatchbacks have a lot in common, with the obvious differences of an extra set of rear doors as well as a bigger back seat and cargo area — part and parcel of the 4-Door's extended wheelbase and body.

Despite its stretched roofline and larger countenance, it would be a mistake to think that the growth in the Mini Cooper 4-Door's platform has pushed it up into the world of traditional compact hatchbacks. The Cooper 4-Door is still about 10 inches shorter than its main European rival, the Volkswagen Golf GTI, which helps the Mini retain the small footprint inherent in its name.

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With only a modest increase in width and height, but at virtually the same length, the new Mini still delivers improvements in practicality and comfort thanks to more efficient use of interior space.

Indications that the 2025 model has evolved compared with its predecessor include the front grille's bisecting bar trimmed down and its edges rounded. A dramatic re-think at the rear sees the Cooper's taillights go from oval to triangular, making their Union Jack bars look more like a starburst than a flag nod.

Add in a black strip across the hatch and a more upturned bumper, and there are plenty of new details to gawk at, despite the vehicle retaining a considerable amount of unmistakable Mini visual energy.

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Inside the cabin, the Mini Cooper 4-Door's circular infotainment screen has graduated from dash inset to free standing, perched on the center stack like a floating LED orb. The same is true for the control pod beneath it, where a small toggle now replaces the traditional gear shifter, translating into more interior storage space for those riding up front.

The dashboard loses its gauge cluster almost entirely, with a blank expanse of upholstery in its place, or a head-up display, if so equipped.

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For 2025, Mini is shaking up its naming structure somewhat. Each vehicle will be available with one of a trio of styling packages, named Classic, Favoured, and JCW, which determine things such as exterior color and trim.

JCW is typically used as the shorthand for John Cooper Works, the high-performance version of most Mini Coopers, but that's not how it's used in this context, as its namesake package simply looks sporty without adding any extra oomph.

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The Mini Cooper S Is the First 4-Door Variant on Sale

All United States editions of the first wave of Mini Cooper 4-Doors — the S trim — will feature a 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine that is rated at 201 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque.

This engine will also be available in models that follow, albeit with varying levels of output — standing in contrast with the turbocharged three-cylinder engine found in other markets. A seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual transmission is standard for the S, but fuel-economy information has yet to be published.

If the U.S. Cooper S is anything like its European counterpart in a straight line — and it should be given its near-identical power ratings — the new Mini should hit 60 mph in less than 7 seconds.

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One Big Screen Does It All

Part of the Mini Cooper 4-Door's move to interior minimalism means a reliance on its new center screen to handle the heavy lifting when it comes to the vehicle's tech features. This OLED unit measures 9.4 inches in diameter and runs on an Android-based software setup called Mini Operating System 9.

Mini allows owners to control many aspects of the appearance and lighting of the screen and interior through something called Mini Experience Modes, of which there are seven. These include going full custom with uploaded background images and colors for the interface itself or choosing from Core, Green, Go-Kart, Balance, Timeless, and Vivid built-in modes programmed from the factory.

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Some of these modes also impact the drive of the vehicle itself, imparting a sportier, more economical, or comfort-oriented flavor to how the Cooper responds to its pilot.

The 4-Door also offers a new personal assistant feature that can help with weather reports and restaurant locations. It can even tell jokes. This is linked to cloud-based navigation that can keep tabs on traffic in real time and help reroute based on obstacles or gridlock while underway.

With so much screen real estate on offer, the Mini Cooper 4-Door also gives owners the chance to play video games while parked via something called the AirConsole, an app that it shares with parent company BMW.

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Mini Maximizes the Price for 2025

Mini's decision to lead with the S trim makes sense, as a relatively high price point helps the automaker maximize the limited inventory that typically accompanies a vehicle launch.

The starting price will be about $34,000 when the new Mini Cooper S 4-Door arrives this September, which represents a boost of several thousand dollars compared with last year's Cooper S version. A less costly variant of the 4-Door called the Cooper C will follow early in 2025.

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All vehicle pricing includes MSRP plus destination charges (set at the time of publication), and will be rounded to the nearest thousand.

Benjamin Hunting

Benjamin Hunting is a writer and podcast host who contributes to a number of newspapers, automotive magazines, and online publications. More than a decade into his career, he enjoys keeping the shiny side up during track days and always has one too many classic vehicle projects partially disassembled in his garage at any given time. Remember, if it's not leaking, it's probably empty.