Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - SOFTWARE | |||||
| SIM-12-07-12 | 06/01/2012 | 10044719 | Mini: there is a software error causing the service engine soon light to be illuminated that is related to valvetronic diagnostics. models r55, r56, r58, r57, r60, r59. no model years listed. *pe | 07/26/2012 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 02/22/2013 | 70000 | ||
| The o2 sensor failed on my car. mini issued an extended warranty on 2006 models but my vin was not included. this is ridiculous that i have the exact same issue but my vin is not included. | |||
| 12/26/2012 | 1 | ||
| Driving at 55 mph on parkway. engine made clunk and lost power. pulled car onto shoulder and started with white smoke under hood, progressing to black smoke and flame. exited car at first sign of smoke. car burned in engine compartment, moved into cabin. final damage was a total. front end of car is completely burned. fire in cabin melted dashboard, moved across and melted ceiling, and melted front windshield. took pictures of final damages at garage following incident. *tr | |||
| 12/26/2012 | |||
| Driving at 55 mph on parkway. engine made clunk and lost power. pulled car onto shoulder and started with white smoke under hood, progressing to black smoke and flame. exited car at first sign of smoke. car burned in engine compartment, moved into cabin. final damage was a total. front end of car is completely burned. fire in cabin melted dashboard, moved across and melted ceiling, and melted front windshield. took pictures of final damages at garage following incident. | |||
| 10/01/2012 | 80000 | 1 | |
| The passenger seat occupancy sensor is weak and prone to failure. mini does not cover replacement and charges $1200-$2000 to replace the part leading many owners, including myself to drive the car in an unsafe condition (low speed or non deploying airbags). *tr | |||
| 10/01/2012 | 80000 | ||
| The passanger seat occupancy sensor is weak and prone to failure. mini does not cover replacement and charges $1200-$2000 to replace the part leading many owners, including myself to drive the car in an unsafe condition (low speed or non deploying airbags). | |||
| 03/25/2011 | 49000 | 2 | |
| Traveling on highway at 70mph and instrument panel lights up, speeds drops to maximum 30mph creating unsafe driving condition. first occurrence march 2012 was diagnosed as failed throttle body, second occurrence in july 2012 was diagnosed as failed wiring harness. *tr | |||
| 03/25/2011 | 49000 | ||
| Traveling on highway at 70mph and instrument panel lights up, speeds drops to maximum 30mph creating unsafe driving condition. first occurrence march 2012 was diagnosed as failed throttle body, second occurrence in july 2012 was diagnosed as failed wiring harness. | |||
| 05/14/2012 | 78000 | ||
| Executing a left turn and all of a sudden the power steering went out. was unable to control the car due to the fact that i was not expecting this issue. damage front right side of car against curb. i have learned that this is a serious problem. this issue needs to be addressed on a recall! | |||
| 03/14/2012 | 40600 | ||
| My 2006 r53 only has 40,000 miles and out of nowhere the steering became periodically stiff. after persisting for 2 weeks, it has become incredibly hard to move the wheel and the pump seems to have cut out completely. it is much stiffer then any car with manual steering that i have ever tried, rendering my mini totally undriveable. somehow the cooper s is not included in the recall from transport canada? ( http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/7/vrdb-bdrv/search/recalldetail.aspx?lang=eng&rn=2012029 ) | |||
| 12/01/2011 | 60000 | ||
| Plethora of electrical problems. heated seats are a major concern. they go on and off by themselves, seem haunted. sometimes, they get so hot they leave burn marks in my legs. i am afraid of an electrical fire. the heated seats get so hot, they left burn marks in my seat. aisin 6 speed automatic transmission, equipped with lifetime fluid, begins slipping gears at 70k the supercharger had to be replaced due to the design of the supercharger it could not be repaired, i was forced by bmwusa to purchase a remanufactured supercharger. i was told it was a common problem i have also found out from forums such as northamericanmotoring.com this is a problem that bmw does not want to admit its at fault for however they are acknlowedging the widespread happenings across the country. the availability of new superchargers is very low because of this problem, hence me purchasing a remfgd one. rear wiper motor failed at 40k quoted hundreds to replace, not worth it!!!!! | |||
| 10/02/2007 | 3354 | ||
| On 29sep2007, my 2006 mini cooper s was serviced to perform the low milage service at 3,354 miles. the car was not driven on 30sep2007. on 01oct2007, the car was driven a distance of approximately one mile each way to a bus stop. the car was parked overnight in the garage beneath my townhouse. at 6:00 am on 02oct2007, when i want to the lower level of my townhouse and opened the door to the garage, i saw that the garage was filled a foggy smoke and there was a burning odor. the police were called to investigate the cause of the smoke. as the smoke began to spread into the upper level of my home, the fire dept was called as back-up. the firemen located the source under the hood of my car and determined the smoke to be from a burned power steering belton the vehicle in the garage. the firemen moved the car to the parking lot and disconnected the battery. i was instructed to have the car towed to the dealership. i told the dealership that this vehicle was defective and would no longer feel safe diving the car. they agreed to replace the car with a new 2007 mini cooper s (wmwmf73557tv31183). i was led to believe that mine was an isolated incident but have now become aware that others have had similar problems with mini cooper s from 2007-2009. when i contacted the dealer, i was advised to not park my car in the garage until the cause of the problem has been determined or if there is a recall. i now am not parking in the garage. i am submitting this report on the 2007 incident since it was never reported and i am afraid that the rate of occurrance may be under-reported. thank you. | |||
| 07/20/2011 | 69000 | ||
| I have a 2006 mini cooper. recently, complete power to the vehicle has been lost while the vehicle is in operation. this has occurred twice over the past month. the vehicle was being operated on a paved city street at speeds of approximately 20-25 miles per hour when the power failures occured. the vehicle was required to be brought to a complete stop before power to the vehicle could be restored. the vehicle was taken to an authorized mini cooper repair center (niello mini, sacramento, ca) on 07/26/11. the dealership could find no faults with the vehicle and had us drive the vehicle off the lot as is with instructions to bring it back in for further testing if the problem happened again. next time could be too late as this problem could cause an accident to occur. | |||
| 05/07/2011 | 37600 | ||
| Sudden complete loss of power steering. several days after the original battery failed and was replaced, there was a continuing sound like a fan or electric motor running constantly. this noise continued until the power steering ceased completely during a parking maneuver. after the steering failed the previously noted noise stopped. | |||
| 04/30/2011 | 70668 | ||
| I was driving home from work and the charge circuit light came on and i smelled a heated electrical smell. the power steering had cut out, shortly after, the engine temperature began to rise. i turned the car off, then back on and drove home. after some research, it seems that this model mini cooper have power steering pumps that fail around 70000 miles. i drove to my job on sunday, and the car made the round trip, except just before getting home, the failure occurred again. i have not been able to take the car to a mechanic yet. | |||
| 06/29/2008 | 13000 | 1 | |
| Driving on highway about 60 mph. extremely loud screeching burst of sound occurred. sound was similar to smoke detector test sound, lasting about a second, but horribly loud, especially in a small enclosed area with the windows up. nearly had an accident. our ears hurt badly (i still feel some soreness a day later, as i now write. similar occurrences for mini cooper noted in web forums, referencing a possible stereo amplifier problem. our radio was not on. fortunately the dealer was open (on sunday) and we have an appointment scheduled today. from what i've researched on the internet, we are not the only ones victimized by this issue. we are actually fearful and uncomfortable driving the car, worrying that at any time this could occur again. this is an unnecessary hardship and distraction that keeps us from paying full attention to safely driving the car. until the dealer can specifically explain what the problem is and perform whatever work is need to guarantee it won't happen again, i do not feel safe driving this one-year-old car, being concerned that i'll have an accident if it happens again. this is without question a serious safety issue. if i still feel soreness in my left ear later today, i plan to contact my doctor. *tr | |||
| 10/15/2005 | 180 | 1 | 09/05/2005 |
| Dt*: the contact owns a 2006 mini cooper model s. three days after purchase at 130 miles the vehicle stalled and operated at a reduced speed while attempting to accelerate. although the vehicle did not stall out completely, the vehicle was towed to the dealer. the dealer reprogrammed the computer software. afterwards, the contact was pulling into a parking space with brake pressure applied, the engine roared and the vehicle lurched forward and struck a tree. the police were on the scene and a report was taken. the vehicle sustained minor damage, but no injuries were sustained. the vehicle was towed to a dealer. the dealer performed a diagnostic test and was unable to duplicate the problem. the service department suggested replacing the engine. *ak updated 3/3/2006 - *nm | |||