2016 MINI COOPER Complaints

2015 and 2016 Hard top Mini Coopers, Standard (F55) are prone to their environmental air catalyst sensor breaking, causing a check engine light and emissions issues. The remedy is replacing the entire radiator. This occurred on my vehicle at only 40,000 miles. MINI is aware of the issue, but only issued an extended warranty for "S" (or 4-cylinder) models, despite the 3-cylinder base model containing the same radiator sensors with the same defects. [XXX] This extended warranty should cover base models with the same parts. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The malfunction indicator lamp light is on (MIL) with the following fault code stored in the DME: Fault code Control module Fault code text 1B8302 DME LIN bus, communication (EAC sensor): missing Problem verified. Don't know if car will quit on the highway. Mini recall for exact problem and extended warranty to solve the problem only on the "S" model with the exact same engine.

The Environmental Air Catalyst (EAC) Sensor on my 2016 MINI failed two years ago when I had only 25,000 miles on the car. (The car now has 30,200 miles on it; I do not drive it very much). NHTSA worked with MINI/BMW several years ago, and MINI extended a limited warranty for this sensor to 15 years/150,000 miles, but only for Cooper "S" models. Mine is not an "S". See Recall "S1 M01 05 20" The S has a BMW "B46M PZEV/SULEV " engine, which is covered by the extended warranty. My car - not the "S" model - has the BMW "B36M" engine. This is not covered by the extended warranty noted above. I have gone online and saw lots of complaints, as this appears to be a very common problem. A MINI dealer in Richmond, VA told me the same thing: the sensor fails, and you have to replace the entire radiator because the sensor is attached to it. I was quoted more than $2,000 to fix this problem. It seems to me that this defect is as common in the non "S" MINI Cooper's as it is in the "S" versions, and that MINI should extend the same warranty to vehicles with the B36M engines. Can you help?

The rear brake lights and rear signal indicator lights keep going in and out arbitrarily. It's dangerous because it will work fine and then just randomly stop working and then work again. People can't tell if I'm stopping or turning when this randomly occurs. This is currently not a recall on my Mini, however, I saw that it is a recall on other Minis and it seems mine is having the same issue so it's possible they all have similar or the same faulty wiring/electrical for the brake lights and signal indicator lights.

Front passenger side motor mount failed pretty terribly, the rubber completely slipped off the engine side mount leaving a severe engine vibration. The mount is very under engineered. Ours failed at 27,0000 miles.

The contact owns a 2016 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the message "Left brake lamp and Tailgate light malfunction" was displayed and while depressing the brake pedal the driver’s side rear brake light failed to illuminate. Additionally, the left turn signal was blinking quickly while activated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who replaced the rear brake light bulbs, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was then taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the driver’s side brake sensor wiring harness was melted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V222000 (EXTERIOR LIGHTING). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 34,000.

Oil filter housing failure. MINI issued a recall for this part in 2014 when the third generation MINI Cooper S/JCW first launched. Unfortunately they did not fix the part and now as time goes on, the issue is occurring with high frequency on every BMW/MINI and Toyota Supra with the BMW B46/B48 2.0L turbocharged engine. The plastic oil filter housings crack causing oil and coolant to leak. In my case oil poured down the front of the hot engine which could have caused a fire. BMW/MINI dealers charge nearly $2500 to repair this failure. The ODI should investigate this concern as it has been reported dozens of times on each model with this engine including the BMW X1 28i/M35, BMW X2 28i/M35, BMW X3 30i, BMW X4 30i, BMW 328i/330i, BMW 528i/530i, BMW 330e hybrid, BMW 530e hybrid, BMW Z4, Toyota Supra 2.0T, MINI Cooper S/JCW 3-door and 5-door, MINI Countryman, MINI Cooper S/JCW Convertible, etc. BMW is aware of this common failure. Thus far BMW has refused to issue a service campaign or recall for this problem which causes owners of these affected vehicles to be out of pocket thousands of dollars. If oil drips onto hot exhaust or into a wiring harness, it could easily cause a fire.

Drivetrain error occurred. I pulled codes and found P0015. I added oil, cleared code. The next day the drivetrain error popped back up. Pulled codes and found P0366. I took the vehicle to mechanic for diagnostics and to find the issue. They found faults: 130F11 and 120408. When replacing engine oil and filter, they found metal shavings in the oil; bearing material. They are recommending replacing the engine. Doing research, it appears this has been a common occurrence with these vehicles/engines. Is there a current recall on some of these engines, or a possibility for a discounted replacement due to the issues being widespread? The car has less than 74,000 miles, and the mechanic said it looks like it may have been going on a while. I purchased this car from a used dealership less than 3 months ago, and have already encountered so many unexpected issues. I really expected more from the Mini brand. Thanks.

There have been thousands upon thousands of failures of the oil cooler/oil filter housing on all BMW/MINI B46/B48 2.0T engines. This problem dates back to 2014 when BMW issued a stop sale order and recall on the 2014 MINI Cooper with both the 1.5L I3 (B38) and 2.0L I4 (B48) engines. Since 2014, the engine has been installed in over two million vehicles sold in the United States under the BMW, MINI, Karma, and Toyota brands. There is a defect with the oil cooler/oil filter housing that leads to coolant and oil leaks due to the plastic housing failing after being heat cycled a certain number of times. It has gotten so bad that numerous aftermarket metal replacement parts exist to try and prevent this issue from recurring. Due to the placement of the part on the engine, the repair costs up to $3000. Failures are occurring on vehicles with as little as 30,000 miles, but vast majority between 50,000-80,000 miles. Due to the loss of both oil and coolant, a fire risk exists. Coolant can come in contact with electrical components and cause a short, while the oil can begin to drip onto hot engine or exhaust parts. This is a dangerous hazard that should be recalled. BMW should refit affected engines with a more durable component. Below I have included a link to the original NHTSA stop-sale from 2014. [XXX] I’ve also included links to various forums and news articles about this issue. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] / [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

While driving straight on an Interstate highway at approximately 65 mph, the right front and left rear brakes momentarily locked up after the windshield wipers were turned on due to light rain starting to fall. This happened multiple times, only when the wipers were turned on. There were no warning lights illuminated in the instrument cluster or dash displays. This nearly caused a loss of vehicle control on several occasions and nearly caused an accident as well. The car has been routinely serviced to factory schedules including brake fluid time based changes. There appeared to be some occasional delay in the release of the brakes when starting from a stop. The brakes were serviced after this incident and the service center recommended completing a few panic stops to operate the ABS system. They could not explain how the wiper system can cause one circuit of the braking system to operate momentarily. A search of web forums for the F56 series MINI shows that this random locking of the RF & LR brakes with teh wipers in operation has happened to quite a few other owners of similar Mini Coopers. This problem creates a very significant safety risk.