MINI Cooper SE / Electric (F56): 5 ANNOYING PROBLEMS After Half a Year of Ownership

I have been running the F56-generation MINI Electric (also known as the Cooper SE in some parts of the world) for half a year as my daily driver.

I have already shown many aspects, most positive, of the vehicle on the channel, ranging from the matrix LED headlights to the excellent cold weather performance.

However, there were some things which got on my nerves which are all covered in this video.

Surprisingly, it wasn't the limited range and the "only" 50kW DC rapid charging rate which you would have probably guessed by looking at the spec sheet.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
00:29 Range and Charging Performance?
01:31 Build Quality
06:52 Navigation System
10:21 Outdated Interior
13:08 Leather Seats
15:36 Front-Wheel Drive Architecture
17:20 Other Positives

[jellyd]

This is good info for 2nd hand buyers. You do know that all the issues named, would be immediately fixed at the Mini garage under warranty. I got all rattles, bangs and other noises fixes on all of my cars. You do not have to put up with it.

[pilotandthecity]

Then my question : why the mini and not the BMW I3(S)? The last has a much bigger interior, is available with bigger battery, amazing interior design, and can't rust.. no brainer in my opinion...
Besides that, your videos are great! You're one of the best out there. It's a relief to see someone with knowledge of the cars you're reviewing! Compliments .

[brendan_waugh]

Besides range, which isn't a big issue with the way or 2022 SE is driven, in 2 years we haven't been able to fault the car at all, it's been fantastic. There is a misalignment of the chrome trim on the bonnet, the same as pointed out in the video, but it's not a major issue, and I'll mention it at the next service. I'll keep an eye out for some other things mentioned, hopefully it keeps going as well as it has since we got it.

Thanks for the video, and sharing your experience of the time you spent with the car.

[marti]

Hey Martin, have been going crazy over the minor rattle from the sun roof/sun shade, so your observations were welcome. You did skip through this quite quickly, so I would REALLY like to see how this fix is applied, more clearly, so that I can sort this on my car!!

[hammo]

Would rather have buttons than a distracting iPad sized screen

[Kaltpfote]

Mini fan here who also owns a 2020 Cooper SE, I hit the like button as usual, as I always enjoyed your content about the car and so I did this one. Fan aside or not, I kind of agree with a number of points. For example regarding the charging port:
The door isn't sealed, which means water gets inside fairly easy, while there are plastic covers for the actual ports, water again easily manages getting around them. I always hand wash my car and after pressure washing, especially the lower DC port is partly flooded with water.

I also agree regarding the leather choice and general build quality, it's ok, but it's not great. Considering the price, I sometimes think build quality, especially on the higher level trims, could be better.

However I enjoy you still got physical controls with buttons, switches and knobs over the mostly digital touchscreen interface on the new Minis. For me it's more intuitive to use.

[ecarfun]

Great video! We have a 2023 facelifted Iconic (Level 3), and have solid door thunk slams and not noticed any rattling. We also haven't had the problem with the charger door (but we do live in sunny Cali). The air conditioner is kind of squeeky when it first turns on, but our local dealership told us that so far it was "normal wear" and to let us know if it gets louder. I'm kind of curious though, because the air conditioning unit often has problems on the I3, right? Also, lots of damaged tires. :( although this is mostly from potholes and other unfortunate driving events.) We love our mini though. I do feel like it's going to be kind of a unique car in the history of cars. It's like a factory made EV conversion, with all the faults and advantages that has. It's very comfortable, and more importantly way more fun than it had to be though, and so, for me, it's more than special...it's cool.

[timoliver]

I handed my 2021 facelift L3 back to Mini in April. It was my 1st EV and I loved it. The sunroof blind in the facelift cars is different being a sliding panel that appears to be made of papier-mâché and the front panel on mine didn’t rattle but the back did when left open so as I never had rear seat passengers it stayed closed and rattle free. Other things to look for in the face lift models is paint damage in the door shuts, looks like on some cars the hinges were badly aligned (it didn’t happen on mine but plentry of reports of it on the Fb group ). I had the charge port open warning issue but otherwise the only thing that needed a garage visit was a safety recall on the granny/3 pin socket charger- as mine was unused I got a straight swap for a brand new bagged one. I’m not sure of this but I thing that the traction control on the face lifted cars might have been better than on the pre-facelift cars as I really had to try very hard to provoke front wheel spin.
I’ve been driving the all electric U25 Countryman S E Sport L3 since early April - compared to the F56 Electric it’s huge but then I have managed to eke out 235 miles (with 10 miles remaining on the GOM when I found a charger!) on a single charge of its 65kW battery which isn’t bad for such a fun but heavy car to drive that runs in AWD all the time.

[kellypaws]

We previously had a Mini ICE car and would (retrospectively) say it was generally a triumph of form over function. So, no disagreement there.

But speaking of form over function Martin, those jeans…. maybe, don’t please?

[SWR]

Not surprised my 2014 April F56 Cooper was on of the first on the U.K. roads was in 18 times for work to fix stuff. It was delivered with loose wires, a fuse box that wasn’t screwed in, well it didn’t have any screws. The roof console had loose screws in it so sounded like a child’s rattle when driving. The passenger seatbelt had a rattle that they could identify but never fully sort. It had electrical failure that needed a new rev counter and had to wait as there was no spare parts so it sat at the dealer for a month. The door jams I knew would and did scratch the paint from day one and the frameless windows get dirt in the runners and scratch the edge.

The front bumper plastic where the number plate goes in the middle has a paint UV problem in that they faded, just look at any F56 MINI Cooper and you’ll soon spot the marbling or streaking. I got a apology from MINI and a whole £200 voucher - Wow for a Car that had been a problem from day one. Lesson learned I would never order and buy a early MINI ever. I good friend sadly passed away used to always buy the best in a JCW and always told me never by a new generation of MINI till they bring out the JCW because they had actually learned to build them by that time and he was right. I bet the Chinese cars are actually better which is embarrassing to the Oxford plant.

[Curlypawz]

Great video Martin.

I do struggle to understand BMW's approach to the Mini brand. On the one hand they try to shoehorn a round screen into the dash to mirror the older Mini style (I learned to drive in an original 1970s Mini Clubman which had a normal dashboard, so a round centrally placed display doesn't scream 'Mini' to me). On the other hand they experiment with things like the Mini Coupe which had no link to the original brand.

And while I like physical buttons, I agree that the Mini Cooper SE has a strange set of choices on which functions require buttons. And the buttons themselves also seem over-styled.

And, for me, the sight of the Union flag everywhere would stop me ever thinking about buying a new Mini. If I buy a German car I wouldn't expect it to be covered in German flags. And the same goes for any other European brands. It will be even more silly for models made in China!

[pqvid]

Another thing to consider: as BMW upgraded i3 from 94Ah (33kWh) to the 120Ah (42kWh), I was considering if it was worth the upgrading. But I came to a conclusion, that:

a) the consumption; and
b) the charging speed

define your travel pace. Yes, with a small battery you will need to stop more often — but for a shorter time, because the smaller battery fills up quicker. So at the end, the only thing that you gain is a bit more flexibility: with larger you could start charging earlier, or later, or much later. With a smaller battery, it's more or less down to a specific charging station that you've preselected before. If it's busy, or broken, or you don't feel like making a break just yet — well, not too many options with the smaller battery. But other than that, it's actually identical...

[mja]

We have the face lifted 2021 SE L3, it’s been faultless, no rattles or charge port water ingress, but see what you mean about the bonnet alignment and we’d much prefer no leather too.

Our other car is a Tesla and they are a fabulous contrasting combo. We 24hr tested an i3S and it was great, but we thought the Mini was much more fun and the sound system way better.

[kevinwhittingham]

I've a 2022 L3 Cooper SE.Picked it up with 2k on the clock and put another 3k on it since.
I've had a few issues with it also in those 6 months. It had a factory recall within weeks of me having it which meant it was off the road for a couple of days.Then it developed a rattle from the armrest which took the dealer two attempts to fix and now in the last few weeks I've the charger port open warning which again I need to take it back into the dealers..Makes me wonder what's it going to be like in another couple of years time.
The build quality definitely looks to be inferior to my 12 years old previous car a Volvo C30 which never rattled once in the 6 years of ownership.

[kcebliks]

Have a later level 2 (with the smaller gear selector!), don't disagree with most of your comments, couple of other negatives, 1) no Android Auto!, 2) inbuilt Sat Nav shows all the petrol stations but is missing a lot of charging points (even though they are on map in the app). Sat Nav instructions are identical in timing to my BMW 320D. Can't agree with you about the front wheel drive, minis have always been front wheel drive and this does give it it's distinctive driving characteristics.

[pqvid]

Hate comment.... Found nothing to hate 😊 Excellent content, thank you Martin! 👍

[mikepotter]

Petty Review - this version of the Mini car performs very well and a joy to own. I have the version just before this on a 20 Plate, which is much the same except for the front grill. Sure my car has trim slight misalignment issues but that is it. No rattles and certainly nothing to affect the performance. Easy to pre-heat the leather seats / and pre-cool / cover them with a towel on a hot day etc. I have even managed to think ahead / plan allowing for the shorter battery range on the occasional long run. If I could find a conversion kit to extend the range I would stick with my current car.

I really dislike the interior on the NEW J01 Mini Electric - the difficult to clean cloth dash, bland instrument keys, odd drive controls, functionless straps etc. Times are a changing, sadly I need the longer range more frequently. I just don't know if I could look everyday at the bland / soleless interior of the newer Mini electric with faux leather interiors that readly fall apart within a few years that you appear to crave.

Perhahs the Mini (Interior) has morphed one step too far. And for me, the new Mini Electric has had it's day??

[jeromeandre]

Hi @martin. Another good one! 👏 (It seems there’s no link to the Fellten Mini video at 6:02)

[jonperkins]

I have a question. Are you going to test out the new Mini ....with the bigger battery? I live in the States, and am curious of your opinion of the car.

[kevinnicholson]

one last point. Mini sell for a premium over many small cars due to its character. So if you make it into a little TESLA you destroy much of the reason for buying. Character is something many electric cars lack so this is a challenge for MINI going forward