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BMW will add regenerative braking and engine stop/start to the Mini this year. The technologies are already in the 1-Series; the 118d emits just 123g/km CO2.

Similar improvements to the Mini will help reduce BMW’s fleet average CO2 emissions from 190.1g/km.

Mini senior engineer Horst Radivojevic said: “We can definitely profit from having these applications in the Mini. The same features will be introduced in 2007.”

The Mini’s stop/start system uses a specially adapted starter motor from Bosch. Bosch said the motor is only slightly bigger and heavier than the original starter motor. It has the same mounting dimensions as its predecessor.

Brake energy regeneration uses a conventional alternator in combination with intelligent control. In each case the use of near-standard hardware simplifies system integration.