No. And this is the biggest disappointment of the car for us. In my view it should be a legal requirement in this day and age, and it would also enable rear cross traffic alert which is another important safety feature imho. I'm going to check out aftermarket(?) wide angle replacement glass. I have those on my Tesla for the same reason and they're worth every penny.
Does the MINI actually have any blind spots to monitor? With my mirrors adjusted properly, I haven't noticed any that aren't covered by turning my head
I disagree with it being required. we might as well just go autonomous. We bought/are buying a drivers car (albeit with dull electronic steering) enjoy the drive.
I have my mirrors adjusted to eliminate blind spots and always shoulder check, but it would only benefit us to have an electronic monitor. Feels like an oversight or cost savings.
The SE is so small that there isn't such a thing as a blind spot, really. Just need to adjust mirrors correctly, which many people don't realize. I'd agree an electronic sensor could provide extra safety, but I know of Tesla owners who get lazy about doing shoulder checks because they become dependent on the electronic detector.
I’d make the same argument about he reversing camera, while has been a legal requirement for 5 years. Just use your mirrors or turn around and look back. However, accidents happen. And having a little indicator light warn you something is in your blind spot even when you already know that from your shoulder check, is no bad thing. And backing out of a grocery store space when there is a large SUV or truck either side of you (this being the USA) is dangerous as you can’t see no matter which way you twist your head/body around, so a cross traffic sensor that can see past the back of those vehicles just as you start to back out is another useful safety device. And this stuff costs virtually nothing these days.
And that is exactly why I always back INTO parking spots (and driveways). A very long-time habit, reinforced by driving an ambulance.
My wife's car has a blind spot monitoring system and it is the most annoying thing ever. It encourages you to not use your turn signal to avoid it complaining which is a very bad unintended consequence of this feature. I'm much happier without it and the drivers around me see my turn signals. Plus, as others have stated, the Mini is so small that it doesn't have much, if any blind spots.
I am used tin backing into spaces also, even our garage. But that is not what the world does and won’t be changing its behavior anytime soon. I don’t need reversing cameras, parking sensors, blind spot monitoring or anything like that, but the average standard of driving in this country is extremely low. We have to cater to the masses.
Wait. This forum is dedicated to the 2-door, non-SUV, electric MINI Cooper SE. There is no vehicle in its price range that caters less to the masses.
I got mine from aliexpress last month. They are very similar to the Suma Performance I got for my Model Y with the blue tint. I think you have the same on your Model Y but without the tint. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256801558519422.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.53fb1802c7toqg&gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt What I like about these is it reduces glare from headlights at night and also the sun when it's behind you. They also help with backing up for those that don't have parking lines. The driver side is wide enough to see the parking line on the ground while backing up.
I've added aftermarket blind spot monitors to two vehicles now (including my '22 SE.) It's not too hard if you are handy with basic 12v and car disassembly. It's something I personally like but agree F56 has good views all around. Happy to share details if that's something that would be helpful. Swapping in the european OEM mirrors makes more of a difference IMO and takes about 3 minutes.
Sure, gist of it is below. The kit I used is a Driintel 77GHz unit from AliExpress for reasons detailed below. I didn't take a ton of pictures, but attached what I have at the end. Spoiler: Too many words Hardware: In the past I've sworn by Rydeen (BSS2x/BSS3x only!) but they are showing their age and WILL NOT WORK for size reasons. When picking a kit, keep in mind: Cheaper kits often only detect things overtaking you but miss things you over take. You want something that will give you a simple YES/NO answer, not something full of conditions. MINI SE very size constrained. Rydeen doesn't work because it's around 9cm x 9cm x 3cm and mounted ~37-39°. There is no way to make this fit without really modifying the black plastic under the bumper cover. I personally went with a Driintel 77GHz unit from AliExpress. I know it sounds sketchy but it works really well. Most importantly it fits at about 7mm x 7mm x 2.5cm and a very shallow mounting angle of 20°. It's priced better ($400 vs $1,000+) and it uses newer more accurate tech (77GHz vs 24GHz.) Domestic brands are often buying from these suppliers anyway, you can tell just by looking at the specs and parts. Amazingly enough Driintel has better customer service despite the time and language difference. One caveat, while it does fit I did have to make slimmer brackets out of aluminum bar to tuck it in as tight as possible. General process: Remove the rear bumper cover. There are several videos for F56 on YouTube and the general process is the same. Remove tail light rings and 3 torx per light, unclip the tabs from behind and remove wiring. Peel back the wheel arches about half way. Unplug side markers. You should now see two small torx on each side, remove those. Remove all bolts along the bottom, there is one hidden about 2ft in and 1ft up from the passengers side wheel liner, kind of a pain to get. From here it should be just clips to carefully pry off. There will likely still be wires attached. I just left them and rest the bumper cover on a soft clean blanket. Follow the instructions in the purchased kit. Installation tips: Follow the very specific instructions about mounting height and angle - the detection accuracy depends on it. The only way I deviated was running wires from back to front since I had everything I needed in the trunk (power and space to cable manage.) Power can be run from the fuse box or tapped off the rear 12v outlet since these kits only use around 2-3a. Removing the socket you can add a spade splitter and fuse to keep it tidy. Use the VHB tape to dry fit, the tolerances are low and getting it lined up and put back together is a bit tedious. Once set, screw it in to the black plastic. Double check horizontal and vertical mounting angles and that both sensors are the same height off the ground. You can tap the reverse light normally (Green/Blue on the passenger side), but if you want turn signal integration you'll have to get it from up front from the side repeater. In my testing the rear turn wires go hot under many conditions, not just turning. I opted to not do this. Cable management is easy in the back, there is an unused grommet under each tail light. You can bundle and tie down extra cabling under the tail lights or in the side access panels. The indicator LEDs on every single unit are cheap, but they are simple LEDs meaning you can make your own if you want something custom. Rydeen uses 12v LEDs, Driintel is 5v. I modified some very small motorcycle indicators since they had a nice metal housing and smoked lens making them very discrete/invisible when off. Driintel also makes a MINI mirror with integrated LED to look more factory. They are heated, you can get flat or convex, but I believe you lose dimming (only the drivers side dims at stock anyway.) That means running the wiring through doors and thats always a PITA. If done carefully, its more or less reversable. A few small screw holes in hidden superficial plastic. Over all it works great and I'm glad I added it. It took significantly longer than expected because of how tight it all is, but you should be able to pull it off on rainy a Saturday or Sunday. Specifically I like - It's an extra set of eyes before lane change and a peripheral heads up without actually glancing at the mirror. Backing out of spots it blinks and beeps, useful for you are surrounded by pickups. Happens suspiciously often in my MINI. When parked in the city it will trigger for cyclists or oncoming cars as you are exiting. Again, just another set of eyes to prevent damaging your door or humans. One neutral point I have with this exact system is that it will trigger if someone in your lane is coming up hot behind you. Seems based on it's expectation of collision, so it might give you slight heads up that someone is coming in faster than expected. One downside is lack of integration. To turn it off you'd need to wire your own switch. There is potential for PDC sensors and these new sensors to beep at the same time - think reversing in a parallel parking situation with lots of traffic from behind. Photos:
For those in the states, you can buy OEM convex side mirrors that are euro spec that have a much better field of view. Not cheap but neither is an accident!
