I've had my ScangaugeII hooked up to my 2008 R55 lately to study some CEL's and just happened to notice that at highway speeds, cruising for 15-20 mins, the WT is about 220F. This is my first MINI and my first 4cyl but my old V6 used to hold steady at 208F while cruising at the same speeds, same time of year (external temp).

Also, I've seen the temp go through some wild swings; e.g. 220F down to 180F them back up in less than a couple minutes, although not usually while on the highway. I would naturally accuse the tstat of sticking, but changing one out in a MINI isn't as easy or cheap as it is in most cars ($130 vs $8 ).

 

Normal operation.

The water pump is computer controled. Normal temp is 220Fish. When you put the auto ac to max, the temp drops to 180. Or when you are really hammering on the car it will go into max cool mode.

Nothing to worry about. If you still have the stock intercooler, program the SG to read AIT (intake temp) and watch the fun when you really boost it...

 

I only had the gauge installed briefly to look at things, but also observed the temperature indication going to 225 deg F before stopping there under regular driving conditions. Higher than I'm used to seeing, but maybe that's a concession for fuel economy reasons.
I do notice however that it also seemed to take longer to come up in temperature from a start in cold ambient temperatures, almost thought it was a thermostat being partially open, but it eventually came up.
Par for the course I guess.

 

I've seen 224 before, and it's perfectly normal. And it probably is for mileage or emissions.

 

Many small cars run higher temps not to assist in Fuel economy and emissions control. Seems they reduce the emissions by running higher temps.

220 in normal with temps as high as 224-225 and as stated by richardsperry during certain times and driving conditions it will drop to below 190.