Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIGITAL INSTRUMENT PANEL | |||
| 05/15/2006 | 61000 | 1 | 03/15/2003 |
| 2003 mini cooper s i drove to work as on any other day and pulled into my usual parking spot. about 10 minutes later my car alarm went off. when i went outside to check, all the electrical systems were going nuts - door locks, lights, the alarm, etc. i saw a little bit of smoke coming from under the hood. i popped the hood and boot, pulled out my fire extinguisher, but didn't see flames. i smelled electrical fire, and saw a whisp of smoke but that was it. i emptied the boot and tried to disconnect the battery (i heard something 'whirring' and realized that the electrical system was obviously malfunctioning.) i couldn't disconnect it manually so i left it and checked the engine bay again. still no flame, but more smoke. i ran inside and asked a co-worker to call the fire department. then grabbed my phone and ran back out. another co-worker came out with me and helped me get the fire extinguisher working; now we could see some small flames coming from below the airbox. i used up the extinguisher but there was still a little fire. fortunately it worked itself out... then the fire department showed up. they disconnected my battery and had a look. they said that using the extinguisher definitely kept it from spreading. they filed a report but to my knowledge there was no police report. the damage started with the power steering pump igniting. the pump was replaced along with some wiring harnesses and a few other assorted parts. the engine bay was detailed to get all the fire extinguisher 'goo' out of it. the car has been functioning normally for almost a year now with the new parts. more info here: http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73527. *tr | |||