Is MINI’s Digital Experience Getting in the Way of Driving?
We’ve been spending a lot of time behind the wheel of the all new 2025 MINI Countryman S and dissecting every aspect of its design, performance and its all new digital experience, MINI OS9. What we’ve found is a system full of the great ideas, good execution and more than a few bugs. But perhaps more importantly we’ve found that it requires more attention to use and master. Which begs the question, has this new found complexity gotten in the way of driving?
To get to some answers we’ve been spending some time behind the wheel of a 2025 MINI Countryman S to really get to know the new system. What we’ve found is a MINI that not only has a new design and more performance. It offers a level of digital experience and complexity we’ve never seen before in a MINI.
Naturally this isn’t news. When we first experienced the new system in a top secret BMW studio in June 2023, we knew it would be a massive change for the brand. But now that we’ve lived with the car and MINI OS9, we’ve got some real answers that both confirm and challenge some of what we expected.
Is MINI’s digital experience getting in the way of driving? The answer is complicated. Yes you can say MINI’s reliance on the circular screen has made aspects of it more complicated. Turning on heated seats or changing some basics settings takes your eyes off the road more than it did before. And the barrage of notifications can be confusing for new owners.
While we could argue that the world and our litigious society is actually more at fault (as its forced MINI’s hand), is there more that could be done to simplify the experience? For our full view plus a look at MINI OS9’s more complex moments, check out the video below.
Digital experiences are definitely getting in the way of driving, as well as life in general, whether they’re on your phone, on your wrist, or built into the dashboard.
I’m slightly optimistic about AR as at least people will be looking forward instead of down at a screen, but how long before people are living completely virtual reality?
At first, I was really excited for this new interior and the new digital experience. That was until I sat down and played with the screen and other interior details. They’ve digitized all but a few controls and what few physical buttons remain are just flat touch sensitive surfaces with icons painted on. So even for those, you still need to look at it to know what you’re pressing.
Since my time with the new mini each time I drive my F55 I’ve been focused on the in car adjustments I make without losing road focus. Being able to use things like climate controls, seat heating, interior lighting, ambient light colors at the literal flick of a switch is so vital to my every day. Imagining needing to make prolonged eye contact with anything I’m about to use instead of just feeling it, it has taken my excitement or drive to get this generation of MINI.
I think I’ll hold off until a mid cycle refresh when hopefully they bring back some real life buttons and heck maybe even… some toggle switches. Those were my favorite part of two different gens I’ve owned. Truly a shame they’re just gone now.
The symptoms you’re getting are consistent with the installed apps not being compatible with the currently-installed OS version. I had this when the car was first delivered and was surprised to find a lot of the car’s core functionality is app-based (parking assistant in my case was non-functional until updated via the Manage option you can see near the end of your video).
I learn something new about this interface everytime I watch a new video (I had no idea where the LED color control was with this interface!). However, the OLED screen interaction is just one aspect of the user interface on the new Countryman. The voice controls haven’t really been explained, and the interaction with the HUD via the steering wheel controls is typically omitted. Accessing music sources and channels is far too difficult with the OLED screen, but much simpler with scroll wheel/HUD display once you have created your favorites.