Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIR BAGS | ||||||
| DP05006 | BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC | 09/19/2005 | 10/06/2005 | AIR BAG WARNING LAMP ILLUMINATION | ||
| Odi has granted the petition and has opened a preliminary evaluation (pe05-053) on illumination of air bag warning lamp on model year 2002 and 2003 mini cooper vehicles. | ||||||
| PE05053 | BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC | 09/27/2005 | 03/01/2006 | AIR BAG WARNING LAMP ILLUMINATION | ||
| In march 2006, bmw reissued a service bulletin first issued in september 2003, to mini dealers regarding the repair procedure for improper wire crimps in approximately 31,500 model year 2002 and 2003 mini cooper vehicles produced up to january 2003.the new service bulletin states that the warranty coverage for the issue (i.e., air bag warning lamp illumination with fault code for high resistance in side air bag/seat belt pretensioner circuit) is extended to 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first.bmw plans to send letters to owners during march 2006.the subject wire crimps are located under the front seats and are part of the main wiring harness that interface with the under-seat wiring harness connectors for side air bag and seat belt pretensioner modules.bmw stated that, although the subject crimps were improperly manufactured, the crimp connection is still sufficient for the restraint system to deploy when needed.according to bmw, the electrical resistance levels in the subject vehicles can exceed the threshold that illuminates the air bag warning lamp, but they do not exceed a much higher limit in which deployment of the restraints may no longer occur.odi believes that there is lack of evidence at this time to conclude that the restraint systems may not deploy with the high resistance condition.the agency believes that further expenditure of agency resources does not appear to be warranted at this time.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that no safety-related defect exists.the agency will monitor the issue and reserves the right to take future action if warranted by the circumstances. | ||||||
| AIR BAGS - SIDE/WINDOW | ||||||
| DP05006 | BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC | 09/19/2005 | 10/06/2005 | AIR BAG WARNING LAMP ILLUMINATION | ||
| Odi has granted the petition and has opened a preliminary evaluation (pe05-053) on illumination of air bag warning lamp on model year 2002 and 2003 mini cooper vehicles. | ||||||
| PE05053 | BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC | 09/27/2005 | 03/01/2006 | AIR BAG WARNING LAMP ILLUMINATION | ||
| In march 2006, bmw reissued a service bulletin first issued in september 2003, to mini dealers regarding the repair procedure for improper wire crimps in approximately 31,500 model year 2002 and 2003 mini cooper vehicles produced up to january 2003.the new service bulletin states that the warranty coverage for the issue (i.e., air bag warning lamp illumination with fault code for high resistance in side air bag/seat belt pretensioner circuit) is extended to 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever occurs first.bmw plans to send letters to owners during march 2006.the subject wire crimps are located under the front seats and are part of the main wiring harness that interface with the under-seat wiring harness connectors for side air bag and seat belt pretensioner modules.bmw stated that, although the subject crimps were improperly manufactured, the crimp connection is still sufficient for the restraint system to deploy when needed.according to bmw, the electrical resistance levels in the subject vehicles can exceed the threshold that illuminates the air bag warning lamp, but they do not exceed a much higher limit in which deployment of the restraints may no longer occur.odi believes that there is lack of evidence at this time to conclude that the restraint systems may not deploy with the high resistance condition.the agency believes that further expenditure of agency resources does not appear to be warranted at this time.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by nhtsa that no safety-related defect exists.the agency will monitor the issue and reserves the right to take future action if warranted by the circumstances. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIR BAGS | |||
| 04/10/2012 | 121000 | 1 | |
| The airbag light was on in my mini. there was a recall on the cable tensioner, but on models of 2003 and above. i am wanting you to reconsider the year of this recall to include 2002. i needed to replace the rep cabe f seat side airbag, rep cable bel tensioner, cable strap, cable connector, shrinking hose and cable strap with bracket for a cost of 800. the affect of this defect in the car is for the car to be unable to determine the weight of the passenger in the car in order to deploy the airbag properly. *tr | |||
| 04/10/2012 | 121000 | ||
| The airbag light was on in my mini. there was a recall on the cable tensioner, but on models of 2003 and above. i am wanting you to reconsider the year of this recall to include 2002. i needed to replace the rep cabe f seat side airbag, rep cable bel tensioner, cable strap, cable connector, shrinking hose and cable strap with bracket for a cost of 800. the affect of this defect in the car is for the car to be unable to determine the weight of the passenger in the car in order to deploy the airbag properly. | |||
| 06/19/2008 | 50000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2002 mini cooper. the contact stated that the air bag light was illuminated on the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who could not find the cause of the problem. the vehicle was taken to a local repair shop where the light was reset. the light illuminated 28 miles later. the contact was informed that because the light was illuminated, they would not function in the event of a crash. the contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. the vehicle had not been inspected. the current mileage was approximately 69,000. the failure mileage was approximately 50,000-bk | |||
| 01/04/2004 | 85000 | 1 | |
| I have a 2002 mini cooper, i purchased new. i have had an ongoing problem since it was under warranty. my air bag warning light comes on. i have had it back to the dealer at least 20+ times for the same problem. they still can not seem to get a permanent fix for this(next appointment july 9, 2009). *tr | |||
| 09/04/2007 | 53000 | 1 | |
| The airbag light in the vehicle goes on, and the dealer told me that nothing was wrong, now the airbag light is constantly on. *tr | |||
| 04/27/2004 | 46000 | 1 | 10/29/2002 |
| I just found this web site and after reading through the various issues other people are having with their mini, i decided i should also go ahead and share my issues as well. back in april of 2004, i was hit on the front passenger side by a honda accord traveling about 50 miles an hour and my airbags failed to deploy. i never had a check engine light or an airbag light for that matter but it's a scary thought not having your airbags deploy, especially at such a high speed of impact. i used to be in love with mini's but i have been so soured by them as of late with all of the issues i have been having. my automatic transmission is shot and because of that, i can't even start my car. *tr | |||
| 10/01/2007 | 137955 | 1 | 08/02/2007 |
| Air bag light came on and stayed on. i took it to the dealer, he could not fix the problem. now i read that this is a common problem with the mini. *tr | |||
| 02/12/2006 | 53289 | 5 | 09/05/2005 |
| This is a follow-on to investigation pe05053 originally opened on 09/27/2005. i too have experienced intermittent illumination of the air bag warning lamp on my my 2002 mini cooper. the incidents of intermittent airbag warning lamp illumination started on 12 feb 06 and have continued since that time. the lamp illumination is intermittent and not steady. since i live 220+ miles from the nearest bmw/mini dealer i have not brought the car in for service or further investigation. no consequences other than the minor annoyance of the illuminated light on have occurred, although i am concerned that one or more airbags may not inflate in case of impact or crash. *jb | |||
| 01/08/2006 | 65000 | 1 | 07/08/2002 |
| Two-car crash at an intersection - airbags in 2002 mini cooper s failed to deploy. car 1 (2002 mini cooper s) was driving west on totten pond rd. in waltham, ma at approx. 30 mph, approaching green light at intersection of totten pond rd/winter st and wyman st. car 2 (2001 chevy van) was traveling in opposite direction on same road (mph unknown - approximated at 25 mph) and attempted to make a left hand turn onto wyman st. in front of car 1, striking car 1 in the front driver's side quarter panel and causing damage to entire driver's side of car1 (front and rear quarter panels, driver's door and tires). i was the occupant of car 1 and because i was not wearing a set belt, i was thrown into the driver's side door and window, shattering the window completely with my head and was then thrown into the passenger seat after impact. none of the six airbags in the 2002 mini cooper s deployed. at a minimum, from the angle of the accident, the driver's side seat airbag and driver's side curtain airbag should have deployed from the impact. i was transported to the hospital by ambulance and sustained minor head injuries (minor concussion), minor cuts to my hands and bruising to my left leg. the 2002 mini cooper s was undriveable and was towed from the scene of the crash. insurance company claim has been filed with my insurance company (liberty mutual) and the driver of car 2's insurance company (amica mutual) will be notified. a police report is on file with the waltham police dept. in waltham, ma. it is unknown what will be done to correct the failure, until the insurance claim is processed. *jb | |||
| 09/15/2002 | 3 | 07/07/2002 | |
| Airbag light remains lit. while still under warranty, i had the dealer (flow mini, winston-salem, nc) reset it on at least two separate occasions. service employee told me the lit light would not affect airbag deployment/safety. within days (miles) of resetting it, the light comes back on and will not go off without taking it to the dealer. *jb | |||
| 07/08/2005 | 51000 | 2 | |
| 2002 mini cooper s has had a second airbag system failure. when electronics associated with the airbag system detect a failure, the airbag system is disabled until taken to the dealer to have fixed. looking under the seats to see what the issue could be, discovered the fix performed by the dealer to fix the problem the first time the problem occurred. the intial fix was to compress the plug together with wireties - not to replace the plugs with a better design. both the workmanship of the repair of the airbag system and the system itself are faulty. | |||
| 03/21/2005 | 8 | 09/10/2002 | |
| The air bag system warning light has been on 8 times in 3 years of ownership. (the incident date i report below is simply the most recent occurence) each time requires a trip to the dealer to reset the system. when the warning light is on the vehicle's airbag system is de-ctivated, and therefore the system reset is an urgent safety issue. over the course of 3 years, the dealer has replaced numerous sensors, wiring harness pieces, and several of the airbag units (esp. the seat airbags). this is reported to be one of the most common mini cooper failures and has plagued these cars for all model years in production. this is an urgent safety defect and it is important that the nhsta take action! (sorry i don't know my vin by memory and can't access my registration at the moment...if you really need this, simply email me and i'll gladly provide). *ak | |||
| 01/01/2005 | 20132 | 2 | 09/25/2002 |
| Air bag failure light. 2nd time in 2 years. wiring harness connector separated when the driver side seat moves all the way backward. dealer installed longer harness. | |||
| 07/24/2004 | 12000 | 3 | 09/03/2002 |
| Air bag indicator light comes on because ofexcess wear on the wiring under the drivers seat. repair has been made three times. a simple solution needs to be developed. auto is 2002 mini cooper mfd in june of 2002. *ak | |||
| 01/06/2004 | 7000 | 1 | 11/15/2002 |
| My 2002 mini copper has had the air bag light come on on several occasions now. repaired with new wiring harness in 11/03; now in 1/04 bag light has come on again. dealer via phone cannot tell me if the bags work properly until diagnosed. i have checked web forums for this vehicle and this seems to be a widespread problem. i would think nhtsa or someone should look into this to determine if there should be a recall. *ak | |||
| 02/07/2003 | 2 | ||
| The air bag light illuminated on the dash board, the dealer was unable to rectify the problem. *jb | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL - DRIVER SIDE INFLATOR MODULE | |||
| 01/06/2004 | 8000 | 1 | 01/25/2003 |
| The airbag light came on i took car in and took the car to mini dealer. the side airbag harness is bad and needs to be replace.*ak | |||
| AIR BAGS - FRONTAL - SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE | |||
| 03/10/2005 | 44500 | 5 | 06/10/2002 |
| 2002 mini cooper vin# wmwrc33402te10846. car has been to the dealer at least four times to address the air bag light being lit, in 44,000 miles. various harnesses have been replaced three times and the air bag sensor once. now, at 44,500 miles, the air bag light is on again for a fifth time. i've been told by the dealer the air bags will not function with the light lit. i suggest that miniusa be forced to issue a recall on this vehicle to correct the problem once and for all as it is a major safety concern which they do not appear to have fully isolated.*ak | |||
| 18000 | 1 | ||
| Air bag warning light came on and stayed on, which indicated that air bags were inoperative. dealership serviced the vehicle, but the problem recurred within 2000 miles.*ak | |||
| AIR BAGS - SIDE/WINDOW | |||
| 05/28/2003 | 8700 | 1 | |
| While driving the side air bags deployed. the vehicle was towed to the dealership. bmw of north america repurchased the vehicle. *ak *cb *nlm | |||