For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Toyota bZ4X have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.
For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Toyota bZ4X are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper SE doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the bZ4X are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The bZ4X has standard Automatic Braking that use rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
The bZ4X has all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the bZ4X AWD’s standard Downhill Assist Control allows you to creep down safely. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer Downhill Assist Control.
The bZ4X Limited has a standard Bird’s Eye View Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Cooper SE only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.
The bZ4X’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.
To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the bZ4X’s standard rear cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Cooper SE doesn’t offer a rear cross-path warning system.
Both the bZ4X and the Cooper SE have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.
The Toyota bZ4X weighs 1123 to 1321 pounds more than the MINI Cooper SE. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.