BMW modified the Mini after an earlier test brought to light a concern with the airbag sensors in the frontal impact. Further changes were made to the door for the side impact test. These results are for the latest car. Its body structure withstood both impacts well, suffering only relatively modest deformation. Protection in the side impact was reasonable but impact forces affecting the driver's chest were on the high side. BMW decided to pay for a pole test to show the benefits of the optional head-impact airbag. Protection given by the child restraints was variable, while that for pedestrians was poor.
Front impact
Changes made to airbag sensors ensured that both stages of the airbag were inflated during impact. This prevented the driver's chest from hitting the steering wheel. However, his head did 'bottom out' on the wheel, which indicated there would be a problem if the impact was at an even higher speed. Footwell intrusion was minimal but the knee impact area was judged to be aggressive; several points behind the fascia were hard enough to cause injuries.
Side impact
After initial testing, BMW improved the door side-impact beam and reinforced the bottom edge of the door. Side airbags are standard but even so forces transmitted to the driver's chest were reasonably high. The optional side impact head airbag worked well in preventing the driver's head from hitting objects outside the car.
Child occupant
A peel-off pictogram was fixed to the centre pillar and a peel-off label fixed to the windscreen; neither warned against the danger of using a rear-facing restraint on the front passenger's seat. However, a dealer can switch off the passenger airbag, removing this hazard. BMW tell us that they are issuing new warning labels. A rear-facing restraint would have been best for 18-month-old because the forces acting on his neck were extremely high forward-facing but one will fit only when the passenger's seat is set further forward than could be achieved in the test.
Pedestrian
This was a poor performance, but the bonnet leading edge proved to be not as bad as the rest of the pedestrian impact area.