Hi all MINI Countryman S All 4 owners . . . According to the MINI USA website, the Personal experience mode will be available in a July 2024 Remote Software Update. I have called both our dealership and MINI, asking when this update is coming and neither could give me an answer. Has anyone heard anything about this update? July has come and gone . . .

 

I'm anxiously awaiting the supposed July update as well. We have a long list of issues with the MimiOS and are hoping this update corrects some of them. I've been checking the update menu periodically but no joy.

​​​​​​THe other day we were presented with this blank screen at startup:

 

Today we started up our 2025 MINI Countryman S All 4 and our infotainment screen was completely black with only the speed showing - nothing else - no temperature / fan / home / navigation / map / mode . . . Turned engine off and restarted - same thing - tried changing to different mode - still black. I did not take a picture as I did not have my phone with me. On our drive home, the screen came back on after a few minutes and looked and functioned normally. Any ideas as to what would cause this to happen?

 

Hi, i have recently bought the u25 electric countryman. My dealer did not offer the mini experience mode option. However, they started offering that option after i bought the car. My car has only green, go kart and core mode, and i would really like have all the experience modes with a software activation, with fee of course. It is probably not possible to add interior lightings and the projection. But can’t they add the software after? I think the mini sound in go kart mode is a really good factor which connects you to the road. At least can’t i add that to my mini countryman.

 

The July update became available in the US at the end of SEP. I upgraded my Countryman on 3 OCT. The bulk of the update was to complete the experience modes, including the addition of Personal Mode. I am still unable to upload a custom photo, but the default ones are accessible. The Trail Mode is now complete, and Balance Mode has been tweaked. Details are included in your Mini App after you begin to download the upgrade.

 

I updated our Countryman yesterday and Spike the Personal Assistant disappeared, replaced by a picture of the Mini that will not respond to questions.

 

Updated the miniOS in our 2025 Countryman S All4 yesterday to version 07/2024.40. Here are my initial observations:

1) Android Auto wireless connection appears to be more stable. I had no disconnects during two drives yesterday though both were fairly short. Previously, I would have seen the AA wireless connection drop during a drive of that duration.

2) Personal Mode has been added BUT I have not been able to successfully apply a personal photo using the app despite the app appearing to work as described. No big deal, I tend only to use Go Kart mode anyway. [UPDATE: I have now successfully uploaded a photo which is displayed in the background of Personal mode, though barely can tell it's there given the transparency level.

3) Much to my charging, the fan speed issue still exists. The "Low" fan speed is too fast. They REALLY need to recalibrate the fan speed settings.

4) Chagrin Part II: If you cancel a route using Waze in Android Auto, the HUD continues to display the next turn from the point you canceled the route. I have found no way to clear the HUD of this erroneous display other than restarting the car. This was an issue in the previous version as well.

5) There seems to be a new requirement to unlock your phone in order to start Android Auto. I need to play around with this to see if there is an option to bypass this requirement. [UPDATE: I think I resolved this by selecting option in AA to use while phone is locked]

 

I have the same issue after the upgrade. Before, the Personal Assistant was working as expected.

 

I had the same problem following the update. I started my vehicle, and then depressed the volume **** for ~30 seconds, or until the display turned black. Release the ****. This is how to "reboot" the IOS system. In about a minute, the screen will refresh itself, initially showing a few items on your screen until it is fully loaded. After this, navigate to the personal assistant menu and you should see SPIKE as an option versus the MINI character. I turned the ignition off and restarted the vehicle. This restored the Voice Activation to normal. Mini Support (USA) walked me through this procedure (866-275-6464).

 

In the US, with the July update, I was finally able to upload new backgrounds using the Mini App for Personal Experience Mode (as of 13 October 2024). When you bring your cell phone to the car and it connects, it will upload the new background image and it will be selectable via Personal Experience.

 

I’ve been wondering about this too! It’s frustrating when updates are delayed, especially when the features sound so cool. I haven’t heard anything concrete, but sometimes these things roll out gradually. By the way, if you’re into tech and software solutions, you might find ddi-dev.com interesting. They work on custom development, and it’s a good example of how tech companies handle updates better than car brands sometimes. Hopefully, MINI gets their act together soon, though—this update sounds worth the wait!

 

What versions of MINI OS do ya'll have?

Mine had 07/2024.40 available on December 9 and I upgraded from 07/2024.25 but haven't checked to see if Personal Experience Mode was there to use.