What's all this about?

It's midlife model facelift time, or 'LCI' (life-cycle impulse) in BMW-speak, for the second-generation MINI Countryman.

And what have we got?

The usual stuff. Modest exterior changes, sundry interior upholstery and trim tweaks, some extra equipment, improved connectivity and greener engines. In terms of motive power, the pre-existing range of three- and four-cylinder TwinPower Turbo petrol and diesel engines continue, with outputs from 102-190hp, but the addition of petrol particulate filters and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) with AdBlue injection for the diesels means every engine in the range is Euro-6d-compliant. Excluding the John Cooper Works model, this means your range remains the One Countryman, the Cooper Countryman, the Cooper S Countryman (all petrols), the One D Countryman, the Cooper D Countryman and the Cooper SD Countryman (all diesels). Some of these come with six-speed manual gearboxes, some with seven-speed DCT Steptronic dual-clutch transmissions and some with eight-speed (also-)Steptronic automatics, while there's the option of ALL4 all-wheel drive on some variants.

ALL4 is also standard-fit on the plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) variant of the MINI Countryman, the Cooper SE, which pairs a 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol motor with electric back-up to deliver an overall 220hp. But not only is this the punchiest of these updated Countrymans (Countrymen?) so far, it can also travel for up to 38 miles on electric power alone, thanks to a 9.6kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Expect as much as 166.2mpg and as little as 40g/km CO₂ from this one, by the way.

OK, so what about the visual/tech changes?

There's a new front-end with a fresh design of radiator grille, LED head- and foglights, and a revised bumper, while around the back there's more structural tidying plus the inclusion of those oh-so-questionable Union Jack rear clusters which we first saw on the updated three-door Hatch in 2018. Extra body colours are now in the palette, in the form of White Silver metallic and Sage Green metallic, while there's a Piano Black Exterior option which clothes various bits of external trim in, um, black. Alloys range from 16- to 19-inch items in size and, moving inside, the Chester Indigo Blue and Chester Malt Brown upholstery options have been added to the Countryman family. There's also the option of a five-inch digital cockpit display, a newly designed central instrument panel, and extra choices in the MINI Yours Interior Style catalogue. The MINI Connected infotainment package also gains more functionality, too.

Matt Robinson - 26 May 2020