With the Mini still capable of generating smiles on both owners and passersby five years after the introduction of the first generation model, the completely new 2007 Mini Cooper still thankfully displays the same insouciant appearance and offers the same fun-loving performance.

To meet European environmental and mileage requirements, BMW designed a completely new engine for the 2007 Mini Cooper in cooperation with Peugeot. It produces approximately the same horsepower as before: 120 in the Cooper and 175 in the Cooper S. But the devil lies in the details. A turbocharger in the Cooper S in place of the old supercharger produces 177 pound-feet of torque from 1700 to 5000 rpm, significantly improving the sportier model's performance.

The new engine, as well as new European pedestrian safety standards, required that BMW redesign the front panels. To maintain overall design integrity, the stylists chose to tweak the contours of all other panels. Nevertheless, without the old model to compare, most observers would have difficulty spotting the changes. The Mini still is most aptly described as looking like a cheery English bulldog.

There are changes in the headlamps and turn signals, now mounted on the chassis instead of attached to the hood, but they retain their large oval shape. Combined with the broad grille, chrome on the Cooper and black mesh on the Cooper S, the car has the same smiley face as before.

The interior has been redesigned to increase space, but continues to pay homage to the Mini heritage. The speedometer, now larger than ever, is still placed prominently in the center of the dashboard, with the tachometer conveniently mounted behind and moving with the tilting steering wheel.

Though the Mini is still the smallest four-passenger car on the road in North America, the interior is large enough to accommodate all sizes of drivers and front passengers in comfort, and the rear seats are actually functional, if not capacious. With the hatchback and folding rear seats, the car can even haul reasonable amounts of gear.

Recognizing that the Mini appeals to a broad range of buyers, from young single professionals to golden-age retired couples, BMW has responded with a quantum increase in styling options, with choices not only in upholstery style, material and color, but also in trim panels, accent panels, and ambient lighting.

With the long list of optional upgrades, buyers can easily go from the economy-level entry price, promised to be increased only slightly from 2006, right up into the near-luxury class, but BMW quality may convince many customers that's a reasonable trade-off.