Is MINI’s Digital Experience Getting in the Way of Driving?

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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.

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