MINI’s drop-top icon returns: Here’s what’s new for 2025

MINI's Cooper Convertible is back and better than ever for 2025, and its all-new, fourth generation comes with plenty of welcome updates and upgrades. It fills an incredibly niche market segment, as its main rivals at its price point are the Mazda MX-5 and the Ford Mustang EcoBoost Convertible–much different vehicles, united by their topless appeal. If you're really just looking for something with a removable top at this price point, technically even the two-door Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler can be considered rivals as well. 

The convertible MINI offers something in-between its aforementioned rivals, combining the compact, sporty appeal of the MX-5 with the more functional, four-seater grand touring practicality of the Mustang Convertible and off-roader mentions. With edgier styling cues, a refreshed interior, and reconfigured powertrains, let's take a look at what the new MINI drop-top brings to the table. 

The 2025 MINI Cooper Convertible's redesign is fresh but doesn't mess with success

The all-new Cooper Convertible keeps up with the times in its aesthetic appeal, brilliantly modernizing the iconic Cooper without reinventing its definitive style. Without a doubt, upon first glance, the all-new MINI Cooper is still, very much so, a MINI Cooper. However, the Cooper gets even quirkier than before, thanks to newly-added, intuitive design features like changeable LED lighting modes. 

See three separate 2025 MINI Coopers cruising down the street, and you might notice their tail lights display different patterns. That's because for 2025, the Cooper allows drivers to choose between three unique tail light patterns, thanks to their pixelated LED layout, allowing for further personalization even above and beyond its extensive list of factory- and dealer-installed options and accessories. Two of its pattern choices are displayed below:

The Union Jack flag has found its way onto many MINI Coopers of the past, and its placement on the roof has become a particular favourite design decision for many Cooper buyers. Now, even if you'd like some top-down fun from your MINI, you can still enjoy the unique Union Jack roof theme despite the lack of a hardtop roof.

The 2025 Cooper Convertible embraces vibrant paint colors

Since the debut of Mazda's ND-generation MX-5 Miata, enthusiasts have been begging Mazda to give it some more exciting paint options than the currently available, and relatively boring, palette filled with neutral shades of grey, black, white, red, and beige. MINI, on the other hand, has gladly embraced the desire for exciting colours, and its colour range is truly extensive.

To name just a few of its available colours, the 2025 MINI Cooper Convertible can be had in Chili Red II, Sunny Side Yellow, Ocean Wave Green, Indigo Sunset Blue, and Icy Sunshine Blue. Below, the Cooper S Convertible is pictured in British Racing Green IV and Copper Grey Metallic.

The 2025 MINI Cooper ditches the 3-cylinder, and instead rounds out its range with 2.0-liter four-cylinder offerings

For the Cooper's fourth generation, MINI has ditched the 134-horsepower, 1.5-liter, turbocharged 3-cylinder engine in its previous base model, and instead replaced it with a more muscular, 161-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. 

The Cooper S gets a power bump as well, jumping from 189 in the previous generation to 201 horsepower in the current gen. In the John Cooper Works Convertible, horsepower stays the same at 228, but torque is increased to 280 lb-ft–a 45 lb-ft increase over the previous generation.

The Cooper's standard, 6-speed manual transmission is unfortunately no longer available for its new generation, but thankfully the 7-speed dual-clutch automatic makes for a similarly engaging partner, and helps the cabriolet propel from as quickly as 0-60 miles per hour in just 6.2 seconds, in John Cooper Works guise.

The Cooper's interior gets a major styling refresh, too

The Cooper's fourth-gen updates extend into its interior cabin, as well, most notably through the relegation of most major instrument gauges and cabin controls to the circular, central display screen. While MINI's certainly putting a lot of pressure on that screen to handle most of the cabin's duties, it's a styling decision that gives the dashboard a much cleaner look and allows for the integration of unique patterns and textures. 

Pricing for MINI's trendy new drop-top start at an MSRP of $33,950 for the base Cooper Convertible, $37,200 for the Cooper S Convertible, and $43,700 for the JCW Convertible. We're glad this option is still around, as brand-new convertibles become more and more rare every year.