Bulletins


BulletinBulletin dateReplacement BulletinItem no.SummaryAdded
STRUCTURE
SIM-51-09-0712/01/200710032984Mini: water leak from the front doors. after heavy rain, the carpet may be wet in the area near the rear of the front doors or in the footwell area. water which is allowed to enter the vehicle at the top rear edge of the door is not able06/21/2010
STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR
SIM-51-09-0712/01/200710032984Mini: water leak from the front doors. after heavy rain, the carpet may be wet in the area near the rear of the front doors or in the footwell area. water which is allowed to enter the vehicle at the top rear edge of the door is not able06/21/2010
SI-M-51-09-0803/01/200910026766Mini: rear split door opening problems. one or both of the rear split doors intermittently have functional problems. the door(s) may not unlatch when the lever on the handle is pulled or the latch may release unexpectedly without being pul12/15/2008

Consumer Complaints


Fail datemilesoccurencesPurchase date
STRUCTURE
09/16/2008200001
 Strut towers deformed. this is a result of standard equipment run flat tires hitting pot holes. the fix is a reinforcing plate attached to the top of the strut tower. either the run flats should not have been available or the strut towers should have been of sufficient strength. *tr
07/24/200617400107/24/2006
 (1) i recently traded my 2003 mini cooper in for a 2005 mini cooper s at a private dealership. (2) upon inspecting the 2005 cooper s, i noticed that the strut towers were deformed, but since this was not a mini dealership, nothing could be done by them. i bought the car thinking this could be fixed under warranty. after calling the closest mini dealership which is 200+ miles away, i was informed that this was considered abuse to the car and it would not be covered under warranty. the previous owner must have hit a pothole. the problem i have with this situation is there is a serious design flaw in the mini cooper's shock towers. this is the first time i have seen this happen to a car. i have owned many cars in my lifetime, and never have seen this happen. i am not the only owner to experience this and it is a pretty common occurrence in mini coopers. i'm concerned because this situation causes the car to wander on the road. after doing research, i'm getting feedback from other owners. some say their dealership is fixing the deformation, others, like myself are denied. i'm a little frightened at what could happen to the car over time from this. will the sheet metal get even weaker as time goes on? i believe bmw should address this issue. (3) i have not fixed this problem on my car yet, but the fix is to either pay money to have the shock towers cut out and have new ones welded in, or pound down the old ones until they are flat, then buy reinforcement plates from a vendor to keep the already stressed metal from bending again. *jb
STRUCTURE - BODY - DOOR
08/15/2008500001
 Both door handles are inoperative from the inside. dealer per phone call diagnosed common problem as the ballard cable disconnecting from the latch. after removing the door panel it was found to be intact. problem is yet to be diagnosed. it is my assumption that there is a problem with the security system since the doors do not unlock when the ignition is turned off and the doors do not appear to try and lock when the vehicle reaches the set speed of 15 mph. this is a defect of grave concern since the occupants of the vehicle cannot immediately exit the vehicle in the event of a crash or fire and would be totally unable to exit in the event of an electrical failure. *tr