2007 Mini S on 2040-cars

Auto blog

BMW-designed Mini Cooper celebrates its 20th birthday

Mini is celebrating a major milestone. It unveiled the original Cooper Hardtop 20 years ago at the 2000 edition of the Paris auto show. More than merely a new car, this retro-styled hatchback laid the foundations for the entire brand. Its predecessors sometimes wore Mini emblems, but they were always sold by various companies including Austin, Morris, Rover, and, through a licensing deal, Innocenti. The name didn't officially denote a standalone carmaker until the hatchback was presented to the public in the French capital two decades ago. The decision to make Mini a brand came from executives at the top of BMW, which purchased England-based MG-Rover in 1994. Developing a Mini for the 21st century was a Herculean task. Releasing an evolution of the original car, which made its debut in 1959, was completely out of the question; it had outlived its expiration date by decades, and was a fossil in automotive terms. The new model had to be designed on a blank slate. And yet, the development team decided it still needed to look like a Mini, and it also had to drive like one. After experimenting with several concepts, like the futuristic ACV30 (pictured below) shown in 1997, designers settled on a basic set of guidelines. 1997 Mini ACV30 concept View 4 Photos According to Mini, the project brief stated the 21st-century model needed to have short overhangs, round headlights, a hexagonal grille, and room for four passengers. It also had to be front-wheel drive, a layout that made the original car a packaging masterpiece (and, admittedly, a bit of a nightmare to work on), but stylists decided to give it a hatch in the name of practicality. Finally, product planners decided to push the Mini upmarket, away from its roots as a value-friendly alternative to bubble cars, and embed it firmly into premium territory. Called R50 internally, the hatchback was initially offered in two variants named One and Cooper, respectively. Mini expanded the range in record time. Model year 2002 brought the hotter Cooper S (R53), a turbodiesel engine joined the European line-up in 2003, and a convertible (R52) was introduced in 2004. Sales in the United States started for the 2002 model year, and driving enthusiasts gave it a warm reception. It was well worth the wait. BMW never planned to keep Mini anchored to a single model. It introduced the second-generation Cooper in 2006, and new variants arrived in rapid-fire succession. By 2010, there was a Mini to suit nearly everyone's needs.

Mini Countryman X-Raid gets some off-road chops courtesy of the Dakar team

Mini trades on its heritage quite a bit, particularly when it comes to racing. But one aspect of its motorsports history has been difficult to capitalize on: Dakar off-road racing. That's understandable, considering the disparity between Mini's road-going cars and the Mini-branded trucks built by X-Raid that do the racing. X-Raid itself seems to have figured out how to bridge that gap with its own set of upgrades for the Mini Countryman. X-Raid's example for its off-road upgrades is a Mini Cooper S Countryman All4, though we would expect the various parts could just as easily be fitted to other Countryman variants such as the base 134-horsepower Cooper Countryman. The S makes more sense for a racing company what with its 189-horepower turbocharged four-cylinder and the All4 offers off-road friendly all-wheel drive. Though Mini doesn't go into specifics about the suspension and chassis upgrades, we know that there is some level of suspension lift, as well as 28-inch all-terrain tires mounted on what appear to be 17-inch beadlock wheels. These modifications give the Mini Cooper S Countryman Powered by X-Raid (yes, that's the actual full name of the car) an extra 1.6 inch of ground clearance. As with the parts list, Mini and X-Raid haven't given precise pricing or availability for the parts. X-Raid is a German company, and we suspect it's only planning on selling the parts in Europe, but we wouldn't be surprised if there were a way to have them ship to the U.S. If you're interested in getting your own, Mini says to contact X-Raid directly for more details, and you can find their contact info at their official site, linked here. Related Video:

Did BMW drag its feet on Mini recall?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is opening an investigation into BMW's reporting of a recall for 30,456 examples of the 2014-2015 Mini Cooper Hardtop, Cooper S, and the 2015 John Cooper Works. According to the government, "it appears from a review of NHTSA's databases that BMW may have failed to submit recall communications to NHTSA in a timely manner." The automaker issued the recall in July because crash tests showed the models didn't meet side impact requirements for passengers in the back seat. While there were no reported injuries at the time, the company decided to install energy-absorbing material in the space between the rear interior panels and the exterior. However, NHTSA has decided to investigate whether this campaign should have started much earlier, given the evidence the company had. According to the government's report, the Cooper Hardtop failed side-impact tests in 2014, although one of these tests was five-miles-per-hour faster than the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. The agency claims: "In January 2015 BMW verbally committed that it would conduct a service campaign to add padding to the rear side panels of MY 2015 Mini 2 Door Hardtop Cooper models. However, BMW did not initiate the service campaign and failed to inform NHTSA of its failure to do so." A subsequent crash test of an example with this fix showed it to make the vehicle compliant with the rules. Mini spokesperson Mariella Kapsaskis told Autoblog: "Regarding the NHTSA audit query, BMW Group is evaluating the request and will respond to NHTSA as appropriate." INVESTIGATION Subject : BMW Reporting & Timely Recall Execution Date Investigation Opened: SEP 24, 2015 Date Investigation Closed: Open NHTSA Action Number: AQ15004 Component(s): STRUCTURE All Products Associated with this Investigation Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) MINI COOPER 2014-2015 MINI COOPER S 2014-2015 MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS 2015 Details Manufacturer: BMW of North America, LLC SUMMARY: NHTSA is opening this AQ to better understand and evaluate BMW's process(es) for its notification procedures and for timely and efficient execution of its safety recall campaigns. In mid-2014, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) had side impact moving deformable barrier (MDB) tests performed on two model year (MY) 2014 Mini 2 Door Hardtop Coopers. These two tests were performed at a speed 5 mph higher than required by Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 214, Side impact protection.