Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 01/14/2013 | 135000 | 1 | |
| Driving to work in the am. i smell something in the car. when i look at my passenger side seat i saw smoke. pull over and got a better look at it. i have a holes in my car seat and the two vest that i place on the seat. it appears the heated seat had a electrical failure. took car to mini dealer. they said it real odd this happen. they also nice to say i would have to paid to fix it. look at many site on internet and seen bmw/mini and other company have issues with heated seats. it do not seem to odd to me. i did not even had the heated seat on because no one was seating there. *tr | |||
| 01/14/2013 | 135000 | ||
| Driving to work in the am. i smell something in the car. when i look at my passenger side seat i saw smoke. pull over and got a better look at it. i have a holes in my car seat and the two vest that i place on the seat. it appears the heated seat had a electrical failure. took car to mini dealer. they said it real odd this happen. they also nice to say i would have to paid to fix it. look at many site on internet and seen bmw/mini and other company have issues with heated seats. it do not seem to odd to me. i did not even had the heated seat on because no one was seating there. | |||
| 11/14/2012 | 76525 | 1 | |
| Started vehicle in the morning of 11/14/2012. the shift indicator on the dash shows ep mode instead of d,r,n,etc. the car seemed to drive fine but there's something wrong with the shifter electronics. the car does not seem to know what drive mode is in. putting the auto manual transmission into sports mode does not change the shift indicator on the dash. in sports modes it still showed ep. in ep mode the car does not rev beyond 3000rpm and drives rough at certain speeds. this may be a manufacturer defect with a transmission sensor, or the shifter electronics. *tr | |||
| 11/14/2012 | 76525 | ||
| Started vehicle in the morning of 11/14/2012. the shift indicator on the dash shows ep mode instead of d,r,n,etc. the car seemed to drive fine but there's something wrong with the shifter electronics. the car does not seem to know what drive mode is in. putting the auto manual transmission into sports mode does not change the shift indicator on the dash. in sports modes it still showed ep. in ep mode the car does not rev beyong 3000rpm and drives rough at certain speeds. this may be a manufacturer defect with a transmission sensor, or the shifter electronics. | |||
| 09/11/2012 | 64868 | ||
| While driving through a residential area, the wheel of the car became very hard to turn. it was determined that the electric hydraulic power steering pump (ehps) was malfunctioning. the fan of the ehps was not disengaging when the car ingnition was turned off, therefore running down the battery and causing the ehps to not work correctly. the next day, with the same ehps, the power steering was working fine. | |||
| 07/22/2012 | 105916 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. the contact stated that power steering failed. in addition, the vehicle was unable to be started. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who advised that the failure caused damage to the electrical system, which had become inoperable. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 105,916 and the current mileage was 105,960. | |||
| 07/22/2012 | 105916 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. the contact stated that power steering failed. in addition, the vehicle was unable to be started. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who advised that the failure caused damage to the electrical system, which had become inoperable. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 105,916 and the current mileage was 105,960. kmj | |||
| 07/22/2012 | 105916 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. the contact stated that vehicle power steering fail and was no able to star the engine at all and was inoperable. the vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who stated that failure caused damaged on the electrical system and was inoperable. the manufacture was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 105,916 and the current mileage was 105,960. | |||
| 07/21/2012 | 60000 | 1 | |
| Earlier in the day i took the car on a day trip to lake tahoe driving a combination of interstate and mountain pass road. 3 hours later, my wife had taken the car to run an errand and came home and parked the car in the garage completely off and locked. 10-15 minutes later we hear the car alarm going off. we opened the door to the garage and saw white smoke coming from the engine compartment. there was high pitched wining also. when i opened up the door the put in neutral, the lights on the instrument panels were all on with no keys in the ignition. opened the garage and moved the car to the driveway and away from the house. called the fire department and i used an extinguisher underneath where orange glow was visible. the glow of the flames were toward the back part of the engine compartment and low. saw no visible flames in the main compartment when the hood was popped open when fire department showed up they used a garden hose to cool engine compartment and suggested to disconnect the battery which i did. i had the car towed to the mini dealer in reno, nv. *tr | |||
| 07/21/2012 | 60000 | ||
| Earlier in the day i took the car on a day trip to lake tahoe driving a combination of interstate and mountain pass road. 3 hours later, my wife had taken the car to run an errand and came home and parked the car in the garage completely off and locked. 10-15 minutes later we hear the car alarm going off. we opened the door to the garage and saw white smoke coming from the engine compartment. there was high pitched wining also. when i opened up the door the put in neutral, the lights on the instrument panels were all on with no keys in the ignition. opened the garage and moved the the car to the driveway and away from the house. called the fire department and i used an extinguisher underneath where orange glow was visible. the glow of the flames were toward the back part of the engine compartment and low. saw no visible flames in the main compartment when the hood was popped open when fire department showed up they used a garden hose to cool engine compartment and suggested to disconnect the battery which i did. i had the car towed to the mini dealer in reno, nv. | |||
| 05/02/2012 | 59930 | ||
| Vehicle fire 5/2/2012. car parked for 4 hrs. returned to car & drove it <50 yards for ~2 minutes (moved it from street to parking lot). turned it off and went in store. returned ~4 minutes later, noticed smoke/exhaust smell; presumed it was adjacent car. unlocked car. car would't start (no lights/electrical at all). i then noticed white smoke coming from hood. opened hood then noticed flame/fire inside engine compartment. went in store, got fire extinguisher and put fire out. invoice was >$3500 from mini dealer. the dealer's assessment: verified power steering pump has overheated to the point where it has burned up internally as well as externally (melting all three connectors and the wiring leading to them). inspected power steering cooling fan and verified cooling fan is seizing up which very likely led to the overheating and eventual failure of the power steering pump. removed engine compartment fuse box to examine megafuse powering the power steering pump, fuse is intact and did not burn up. inspected power steering pressure hose and it appears the rubber section of the power steering pressure line was subjected to the heat/melting of the main power connector (it's in very close proximity to the connector) and it appears the hose has taken a level of damage from the heat. recommend replacement of power steering pump, the wiring section/connector pigtail from the fuse box (this is the main power connector), the engine wiring harness (contains two other electrical connectors to the pump which received extensive damage), the power steering fan (likely cause of failure), power steering pressure line (high pressure hydraulic line which has been exposed to the main connector melting and subsequent heat), and other miscelaneous items associated with those components (o-rings, crush rings, hose clamps ect...) | |||
| 09/01/2010 | 18000 | ||
| Passenger air bag sensor is defective. the passenger air bag off light, illuminates 3-4 seconds after engine start, along with the red air bag failure light, on the main speedometer. this occurs, whether there is a passenger in the seat, or not, due to this safety defect. mini cooper dealers, deny this is a problem, however, i have found over 40 other complaints registered on this exact defect !!! major repair cost from the dealer, to change the whole bottom seat cushion assembly, which includes the defective air bag sensor, that separates from the seat cushion, after a short time! | |||
| 06/22/2011 | 65000 | ||
| Upon starting the vehicle and sometimes while moving at low speeds the power steering would fail making the vehicle extremely difficult to steer. the dealer explained that the relay in the auxiliary engine fan had failed likely as a result of the power steering fan failing. both the auxiliary engine fan and the power steering fan had to be replaced. the cost of the repairs and labor was $1060.14. | |||
| 12/03/2010 | 75350 | ||
| The vehicle has loss the power steering assist due to power steering pump failure. thus requiring increased force to steer and control the vehicle. steering has becomes extremely difficult and has made manoeuvring this car far harder and dangerous. the car has spotty electrical failures; example the window just doesn't want to roll up; no, wait, it does. no, wait, it doesn't. the stereo just gives up; no sound anymore,then it plays again. the same with the drivers side door you could here it unlock and re-lock, but the door would not open and then it would. also both of my keys to open the door both turned off at the same time and i had to have the keys re-calibrated at a mini dealership to reopen the vehicle. | |||
| 10/01/2009 | 67000 | ||
| The power steering failed during a left turn, almost causing me to head straight into opposing traffic waiting at the left turn signal opposite me. i managed to pull the wheel hard enough to get it to the curb. i restarted the car and it was fine. this happened again months later on a canyon road and finally on a 2 hour road trip where i was freeway driving approximately 70 mph when i felt the wheel tighten. as i was on straightaway, it wasn't obvious until i had to exit. again, i pulled over, turned the car off and restarted with no problem. i brought it in on 11/30/2010 and had to have the power steering pump replaced. now i have to go in because there is an electrical current coming through my steering wheel. there have been several other issues with this model that are not life threatening but have been an unnecessary expense. without quick reflexes and, quite frankly, a bit of strength, this could have been a very serious accident. | |||
| 07/08/2010 | 66000 | ||
| I have a 2005 mini cooper. the airbag sensor in the passenger seat failed around 66,000 miles. i was told that the passenger seat airbag and both door sensors had to be replaced along with the battery cable at a cost of $4000.00. sounds as if bmw still has real electrical problems in their cars and are sticking it to consumers to fix it instead of fixing these problems themselves. the car has never been involved in any accident. | |||
| 08/25/2010 | 45505 | ||
| I was travel at a speed of 70 mph, when my vehicle lost power immediately down to 15 mph. the engine did not shut off, but i could not accelerate above 15 mph. i was able to pull to the right because the traffic flow was spaced so i could safely pull over. there was no warning that this malfunction was going to happen. the vehicle was said to gone into limp mode. the electronic belt was replaced that apparently controls the vehicle function at a cost of $3400.00. | |||
| 01/18/2010 | 40800 | 1 | |
| Defect initially occurred at night time in rush hour traffic: dash-lights went out, turn indicator not functional, heater blower stopped working (causing fogging of windshield/windows), air bag lights went on, seat belt light on consequently had to pull on the side of road (limited visibility, no speed indicator, could not operate vehicle safely). a couple of attempts at ignition cycling partially restored functionality. after initial defect, problem could be reproduced intermittently (all/some of the component listed above failed during course of normal operation of vehicle). vehicle inspected by mini/bmw dealer, root cause: interference on k-bus of one of the audio component, resulting in failure/malfunction of other components on the bus. ultimately component (mini i-pod interface) had to be removed -- part is available if needed. request to have repairs covered was rejected by mini/bmw customer relations on grounds there was no recall (vehicle is 5 months out of warranty --- 41k miles). *tr | |||
| 10/22/2009 | 63300 | 1 | |
| 2005 mini cooper s. approximately 63,000 miles. october 22, 2009. i had just gotten home from work and parked in the garage. going in the house i smelled something burning. after a couple minutes of investigating in the house, i decided to go back into the garage, and find that it is a little smokey. i open the garage door and back the mini out onto the driveway. now there is smoke streaming from under the hood. i can hear spinning/clicking noises coming from the engine compartment. i open the hood and see flames coming out of the back of the engine, below the exhaust manifold. i emptied 3 fire extinguishers into the engine bay and it was still burning. called 911. by the time the fire department came, the fire had burned itself out. i was extremely fortunate that i went back into the garage within minutes to investigate, otherwise it could've been a huge car fire and potentially fire damage to the garage and house as well. *tr | |||
| 07/08/2009 | 35230 | 1 | |
| Power steering pump fan seized. per dealership and independent mechanic, most common mini repair. problem is that seized fan motor continues to draw power which drains battery. had to have car jumped by aaa to get it started to bring in for repair. now all the dashboard electrical functions are malfunctioning: no speedometer/tach/gas gage read out. in excess of $2k to fix plus already paid $400 for new power steering fan and battery, hoping that was all that was needed. *tr | |||
| 10/30/2008 | 97000 | 1 | |
| Auto was parked in driveway after a 30 mile drive, turned off and keys removed. after some time being parked, car started billowing smoke from under the hood. dash lights came on, parking lights came on spontaneously. no keys present in the vehicle. before i was able to disconnect the battery the apparent short circuit had drained the battery. vehicle was towed to mini of peabody ma where it was determined the electro-hydraulic power steering pump had shorted out causing the wiring harness to be destroyed and also destroying the battery. *tr | |||