Mini Problems

Mini felt like it was getting pushed by the wind . Realized wasn't wind Mini loss of completely all functions of steering wheel. On super busy highway. Devine intervention Was in far left car went left to right lanes then hit median gaurd rail spun around Finally got it to stop. Never Hitting and hurting anyone around me. Nobody hit me. Car is totalled ! Still at tow place. I saw my life flash as cars were zooming by me. Someone should be held responsible for my car and almost my life. Called out of work can't move upper body that well

The contact owned a 2005 mini cooper convertible. The contact stated that while driving at 5 mph after exiting his driveway, he suddenly lost power steering without warning. As a result of the failure, the contact lost complete control of the vehicle as the vehicle veered off the road and into a utility pole. The contact was unaware if the air bags deployed upon impact. The contact stated that he exited the vehicle, walked back to his home and took a nap. An hour later, the contact stated that he was awoken by a sheriff's deputy who asked him questions about the incident with his vehicle. A police report filed and the contact later went to a doctor where he was treated for injuries for his lower back which including a slipped disc and a bruised vertebrae. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was destroyed. Recently, the contact received a recall notice for NHTSA campaign number: 15V660000 ( steering) which he linked to his vehicle failure. The contact reached out the manufacturer where he was asked questions about his vehicle failure; however, the contact refused to answer any questions and decided to seek legal advice. The vehicle was deemed destroyed. The failure mileage was unknown

I was approaching a corner on a back road and half way through the power steering failed which caused the car to go off the road rolling two and a half times landing on the roof

Blindsided Drive side impact car ignited I was cut from my car suffering emence Injuries due to the malfunction of the airbags . No air bags deployed

The contact's friend owned a 2019 Mini Clubman. The contact stated that while the driver was driving 25 MPH from a complete stop, another vehicle traveling approximately 30 MPH crashed into the front passenger's side of the vehicle by the fender, in the middle of an intersection. The driver depressed the brake pedal and brought the vehicle to a stop. The air bags failed to deploy. The contact was occupying the front passenger's side seat while the contact's wife was occupying the rear driver's side seat. Both the contact and the driver were able to exit the vehicle. The contact's wife was bleeding due to the front of the hairline being torn open and pushed back to the skull. The contact's wife was assisted out of the vehicle by the ambulance and was provided first aid. The contact's wife was not wearing a seat belt during the incident because she could not find the seat belt buckle prior to the incident. All the passengers of the vehicle were taken to the trauma center of a hospital. The contact's wife underwent surgery. The contact sustained back pain and was currently wearing a back brace. The driver sustained unknown injuries. The vehicle was towed and totaled. No further information was available because the driver had stopped communicating with the contact since the incident. The failure mileage was unknown

I was stopped at a red light behind a line of cars. A toyota tundra going 45-60 mph rear ended me. This sent me into the car ahead of me and sandwiched me in between the two. It destroyed the front and back of my vehicle. The tundra's airbags went of, mine did not. Despite me taking most of the damage and force. The car is totaled

On 10-15-2024 while i was on my way home my mini caught fire while driving. Total loss, i was driving about 65mph and my coworker who travel the same direction flagged me down then calling me to tell me my car was smoking really bad. After i pulled directly over to the side of the road and went to pop the hood and saw nothing but smoke rising up from under the hood. With in 5-10 mins the whole front of the are was engulfed in flames. The damage was so bad that it was undetermined what caused the fire

The contact owns a 2010 Mini Cooper. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, there was a rattling sound heard with a burning odor detected. The vehicle stalled without warning. The check engine light warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on several occasions however, the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The dealer performed an oil change and the check engine light was reset; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and diagnosed with engine failure after failing the smog test. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that the Vin was not under recall. The failure mileage was 104,000

The turbocharger had to be replaced, new turbo got hot and melted the valve cover. Then the turbocharger caught fire while in motion in a rural neighborhood. All within 6 months

I parked my 2003 mini cooper s at work, and shut the car off. When I got out of the car, I noticed the power steering pump was still running. I was going into the office get a wrench to disconnect the battery, and within 5 min, an email was sent out "2003 mini cooper heavily smoking in parking lot." as soon as I got out there, the fire/smoke has been put out by a coolant line that split open by the fire and put the flames out. When I looked under the car, I could see the power steering pump completely burnt. I filed a claim with my insurance company, and so far this is over $4,000 worth of damage. I am filing this complaint as I have done much research on the internet and have found this is not a rare incidence. In fact, it is very common, and bmw refuses to recall this faulty designed part. I am just so fortunate that this did not happen in my garage. This needs to be addressed and investigate by someone other than bmw, as they have stated publicly there is no problem. I will provide any evidence needed to help this investigation. There is a mini cooper community that shares their problems and frustrations here: http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/stock-problems-issues/73527-spontaneous-engine-bay-fires.html the list is only growing, as this is a very common issue. I hope it doesn't take a death for bmw to recognize there is an issue

The clutch has been a problem. The clutch wears out prematurely, causing loss of acceleration, which caused loss of power trying to merge into freeway traffic, which nearly resulted in a collision with a semi. Looking up repair or replacement information, it appears this is a common problem that Mini has, some people were replacing the clutch 3 times before 50,000 miles, and also refusing to honor their warranty, claiming it’s the user fault. I got a quote from Mini Cooper in Tacoma, to replace the clutch, and I was quoted $3400. I paid $12,000 for my Mini Cooper. To change it myself is about impossible due to ‘special’ tools required. I think this is scam set up to get money. It is very unsafe to lose acceleration in places where it’s vital like freeway merging. If people cannot afford to get these these fixed then that’s another safety issue. I’m now stuck figuring out how to get this fixed. Please look into this

Manual transmission had an issue with 2nd gear not fully engaging and popping out under light acceleration. Transmission was replaced under warranty in December 2022. In April of 2024 the same issue occurred again where 2nd gear would not stay in gear after 18 months of having transmission replaced. The replaced transmission is no longer under warranty. This indicates a part defect of their 6-speed manual transmissions

Car impacted the rear end of a jeep at low rate of speed (was braking to avoid crash in the front). Upon impact the car burst into flames. The air bag deployed. Luckily the occupant of the vehicle was able to get out of car. Within minutes the car was totally in flames. No one was killed or seriously injured but if the occupant did not get out when they did the occupant would have died due to smoke or flame injury.my complaint is that this low front end impact should not have resulted in immediate fire and large flames. I have photos of the car just after the occupant got out of the vehicle and also photos of the car after it was towed back to wrecker yard

The contact owned a 2009 Min Cooper Clubman. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V337000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, turned on, and unoccupied, there was black smoke coming from the interior of the vehicle. The contact stated the footwell control module located on the driver's side had caught on fire. The vehicle was extinguished by the Fire Department. The vehicle was destroyed as it was consumed by the fire. A fire report was filed, and a fire report number was provided; however, the cause for the failure was not yet determined. A police report was not filed due to the incident occurring on private property. No injuries were sustained. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was not towed and remained at the incident location. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000. Parts distribution disconnect

I got home from work parked car and heard a whining noise under hood I could see smoke and buring smell coming from steering cooling fan the fan stayed on and went into extreme high speed and continued to smoke and wiring burning ,I was fortunate enough to be able to disconnect battery which stopped fan and electrical burning I have car parked in drive way and contacted my insurance to file a claim ,I am afraid to start car and need to have car repaired

The contact owns a 2014 Mini Cooper. The contact stated that while driving approximately 25 mph, there was smoke detected from the vehicle. The vehicle caught fire without warning. There were no reported injuries, air bag deployment, or crash. The fire department distinguished the fire. A police report was filed. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was towed to a lot. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 84,700

A "pop" was heard when I was driving my vehicle on i95. I was able to pull over to the side considering when the "pop" occurred, my mini lost power. As I was pulled over, the vehicle burst into flames

Component/System That Failed: The oil filter housing cracked, causing a coolant leak. This part was made of plastic, which appears to be a weak point in the design and should ideally be aluminum for durability. Unfortunately, I no longer have the failed part for inspection. Safety Risk: The coolant loss resulted in a sudden loss of heat in freezing temperatures, which could be dangerous for drivers and passengers in winter conditions. While the engine did not overheat, the loss of coolant could have eventually led to engine overheating and failure, posing a safety risk if left undetected. Problem Confirmation: The issue was confirmed by an independent service center, which verified that the plastic oil filter housing cracked, leading to a coolant leak. The technician noted that this type of failure should not occur at such low mileage and suggested that the part’s material may be a design flaw. Inspection by Manufacturer or Others: At this time, the vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives. However, reports from other Mini owners suggest similar failures, indicating a potential widespread defect. Warning Signs Before Failure: There were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms prior to the failure. The first noticeable sign was a loss of cabin heat in extremely cold weather. Upon checking, I discovered that the coolant level had dropped due to the leak

While driving the rear view mirror suddenly tilted downward (drooped). What happened, was that the tension ring popped off. As it turns out, this is a known issue per internet Mini Cooper pages. On hot days the ring loosens and, since the design does not include anything to prevent the ring from sliding off, it does slide off, resulting in the rear view mirror drooping. I reinstalled the ring. This occurred again the next day. I ended up uninstalling the rear view mirror, reinstalling the ring and gluing it in place. Thus far this has held

The dual power sunroof is stuck in the open position. After doing some research I have found that this happens very frequently on the 2007 model mini's and nothing is being done by the manufacturer. To fix the problem mini is charging over $2500.00 to correct this. There should be a recall on this item

My wife was driving our 2004 mini cooper home traveling uphill on a steep paved mountain roadway traveling a maximum of 15 mph when for some unknown reason the vehicle left the roadway; struck a tree with its left front and burst into an exploding fire killing my wife who was not able to escape the burning vehicle. The nc state police are investigating the cause of the fire and death. They do not know yet whether the vehicle caught fire prior to striking the tree but, feel the fire could not have been caused by the vehicle striking the tree at a low impact and speed. Nc mv accident report#[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

The contact owns a 2003 mini cooper s. While driving 40 mph, the vehicle caught fire. The contact pulled over and doused the vehicle with a bucket of water. The dealer and the police were not notified. The vehicle is parked in his garage. The contact discovered from the NHTSA website that there are approximately eight others who have filed complaints regarding the same failure. The current and failure mileages were 58,000

My panoramic sunroof exploded while driving. Sounded like we were shot at. The vehicle is currently at MINI of Des Moines. It can be inspected. USAA is sending an appraiser to the shop to assess damages. This is a known issue. However, after a 7 year federal investigation they were unable to pinpoint an exact reason why this happens and unable to put a recall on this vehicle. The dealership gave me a loaner and told me it’s not covered under warranty but offered to pay my 1k deductible which I gladly accepted. No warnings. Just a spontaneous explosion