[5] Since late 2023, the electric Mini Cooper is developed and produced in China at the Spotlight Automotive joint venture facility in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu.

The concept was originally unveiled at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show at a joint BMW/Rover press conference, with details of the Chrysler/BMW joint venture Tritec engine, and proposed trim levels including Mini Minor (not used) and the Cooper/Cooper S.[7] Ultimately, BMW prevailed, and in 1999, they assumed control over the entire project following the departure of BMW's CEO, Bernd Pischetsrieder.

[6] His short-term solution was to pick up an empty beer can, punch a hole in it, strip off the paint and push it into the clay at the back of the car, which took just a few minutes.

[6] The overall design for the mock-up was so good that the board members told him not to change a thing, resulting in the distinctive exhaust tip seen in production cars.

Aside from minor design changes (mostly up front, and the steering wheel) and improved equipment, the Rover R65 manual gearbox was replaced with a Getrag five-speed for the MINI One and Cooper.

It has a higher volume exhaust and air filter, and uprated brakes and suspension, and different 17-inch (430 mm) wheels from the S models.

Hand-finished by Bertone in Italy, it was offered as a limited-production run of 2000 cars during the 2006 model year, with 444 of those originally intended for the UK market, although ultimately, 459 were sold.

The GP has more bolstered Recaro front seats but had no rear seats, which along with reduced sound-deadening, removal of the rear wash-wipe system, optional air-conditioning and radio, and other weight-reduction steps, resulted in a weight saving of around 40 kg (88 lb) compared to a Cooper S. Mechanically, it has a less restrictive intercooler, recalibrated engine management, high-volume injector nozzles, and a freer-flowing exhaust system.

In August 2006, BMW announced that future engines would be built in Great Britain, making the car essentially British-built again.

BMW introduced an all-new, second generation of the Hardtop/Hatch Mini model in November 2006, on a re-engineered platform incorporating many stylistic and engineering changes.

This was necessitated by United States law, requiring all essential lighting to henceforth be mounted to fixed, non-movable parts of a vehicle.

The C-pillars are no longer encased in glass and have been shaped to improve aerodynamics and to reduce the tendency for dirt to accumulate on the back of the car.

Another key difference is the introduction of an upgraded electric power steering system, the sharpness of which can be increased by pressing a "Sport" button in front of the gear lever (both auto and manual); additionally, the "Sport" button adjusts the response of the accelerator, and in conjunction with automatic transmission, also allows the engine to rev almost to the redline before changing gear.

The more powerful 175 PS (129 kW) Cooper S replaces the supercharger with a new twin scroll turbocharger N14 DOHC motor in the interests of efficiency, and has petrol direct injection; consequently, this engine version does not have Valvetronic.

All Mk II models with optional Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) also include "Hill Assist", which prevents the car from rolling backwards on an incline by holding the brakes for 2 seconds after the driver releases the brake pedal, allowing the driver time to engage the accelerator pedal without the vehicle drifting down-hill.

The Mini John Cooper Works Challenge is a purpose-built race car, based on the R56 Hardtop, and manufactured in the BMW Motorsport factory located in Munich.

The R56 Challenge has a six-speed manual transmission; 17-inch Borbet wheels with Dunlop control slick racing tyres; John Cooper Works aerodynamic kit including front splitter, rear diffuser, and high-downforce, adjustable rear wing; race-specific AP Racing ABS braking system; KW suspension rebound; height- and camber-adjustable coilover suspension; full roll cage; Recaro bucket seat with six-point safety belt; HANS device; Sparco racing steering wheel; air jack system; and a fully electronic fire extinguishing system.

It includes the John Cooper Works aerodynamics package; John Cooper Works Cross Spoke Challenge light-alloy wheels in Jet Black; specific body paint colours (Connaught Green body with Pepper White roof and bonnet stripes), carbon fibre bonnet scoop, rear diffuser, exterior mirror caps and tailgate handle; and specific interior colour scheme (Carbon Black interior with red knee-rolls, armrests and red stitching on the floor mats, gearshift & handbrake gaiters).

The GP features additional performance, with 218 PS (215 bhp; 160 kW) at 6000 rpm and 280 N⋅m (207 lbf⋅ft) of torque at 2000–5100 rpm from a larger turbo and engine internals,[50] larger front brakes with 6-pot calipers developed by Brembo, coilover suspension developed by Mini and Bilstein, lightweight 17" x 7.5" wheels, semi-slick tyres developed by Kumho specifically for the GP, rear diffuser and carbon kevlar flat under-tray, carbon fiber rear spoiler, 'GP Mode' traction control system, weight saving by the removal of the rear seats and fitting of Recaro sports seats for driver and front passenger.

Styling features include specific vinyl stickers on the bonnet, roof, and door panels, GP badging on the boot lid.

Interior includes a new gearknob, leather with red stitching, rear upper strut bar (non-structural) and GP badging on the dash.

[54] At the London 2012 Olympic Games, a set of quarter scale remote-controlled Minis delivered throwing equipment, loaded into the car through the sun roof, to the athletes.

Plant Swindon produces the new rear door cells in the sub-assembly line with additional roof and panel tooling in the press shop.

Other more extreme racing features (for a street car) like the centrelock wheels and five-point harnesses were removed, although the back seats were kept absent.

A heavily refreshed version of the third-generation Mini Hatch is sold alongside this generation since 2024 as the internal combustion engined (ICE) option.

[78] The model was developed and produced by Spotlight Automotive, a joint venture between BMW Group and Great Wall Motor, at a newly built manufacturing plant in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.

[85] It heavily based on the previous generation model, while introducing updated styling with similar design elements from the battery electric J01 Cooper.

The Mini brand enjoyed paradoxically strong sales and customer loyalty in the US, while at the same time being rated worst for problems found in the JD Power survey.

In 2009, Mini ranked last, 37 out of 37 brands, in the JD Power Initial Quality Survey, having landed second to last the previous year.

This contributed to brand loyalty and relatively strong sales, and expanding the number of US Mini dealerships, in the midst of the 2008 recession and automotive industry crisis of 2008–10.