2011 MINI COOPER S Complaints

2011 MINI COUNTRYMAN S ALL4 MANUAL TRANSMISSION AFTER REPEATED INCIDENTS OF THE CLUTCH "SMOKING" UNDER HEAVY USE, AND REPORTING SAID INCIDENTS TO THE DEALER, AND HAVING THE DEALER INSPECT THE CAR AND CLAIM ALL WAS FINE, THE CLUTCH FINALLY WORE DOWN SUFFICIENTLY AND REQUIRED REPLACEMENT AT ONLY 4965 MILES. WE ARE VERY EXPERIENCED DRIVERS OF MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS AND DID NOT ABUSE THE CLUTCH IN ANY WAY. MINI USA COMPLETED THE REPAIR UNDER WARRANTY AS A GOODWILL MEASURE. THERE ARE NUMEROUS ACCOUNTS OF PREMATURE CLUTCH WEAR/FAILURE ON MINI ENTHUSIAST WEB SITES AND EVEN NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE PUBLICATIONS EXPERIENCED SAME (AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE'S LONG TERM TEST CAR HAD CLUTCH FAILURE AT 15K MILES). *TT

AS I WAS ACCELERATING WHILE MERGING ONTO A HIGHWAY, AT APPROXIMATELY 55-60 MPH, IT FELT AS IF THE CAR LOST ALL POWER FROM THE DRIVE TRAIN. THE POWER REENGAGED ABOUT A SECOND LATER, AND OVER THE NEXT 5-10 SECONDS THE CAR LOST POWER/REENGAGED TWO MORE TIMES. NO WARNING LIGHTS WERE TRIGGERED ON THE DASH. I'VE TAKEN THE CAR INTO DEALERSHIP AND REFERENCED SERVICE BULLETIN NUMBER SIM12-02-11/NHTSA ITEM NUMBER 10040855. DEALER REPORTS THAT BECAUSE IT CANNOT REPLICATE THE ISSUE AND THERE ARE NO REPORTED FAULT CODES, IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY CAR, THEREFORE IT CANNOT CONFIRM IF I'M ON MOST RECENT SOFTWARE OR PERFORM SOFTWARE UPDATE TO FIX ERROR REFERENCED IN THE SERVICE BULLETIN. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2011 MINI COOPER CONVERTIBLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE DOOR WOULD NOT UNLOCK WHEN USING THE KEY FOB. IN ORDER TO ENTER THE VEHICLE, THE CONTACT HAD TO USE THE FRONT PASSENGER DOOR. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN AUTHORIZED DEALER AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT NO FAILURE WAS PRESENT. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND OFFERED NO ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 19,000.

I PARKED MY MINI CLUBMAN S AND WENT INSIDE A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT FOR ONLY 10 MINUTES, WHEN I RETURNED TO MY MINI, I WAS SHOCKED TO SEE SMOKE COMING FROM UNDER THE HOOD. I RELEASED THE HOOD LATCH AND TRIED WITHOUT SUCCESS TO OPEN THE HOOD. A NEARBY WITNESS CALLED OUT TO ME AS HE RAN TO ASSIST WITH AN EXTINGUISHER REALIZING MY CAR WAS ON FIRE. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED 911 AND STOOD HELPLESSLY WATCHING AS MY 4-MONTH OLD CAR WAS ENGULFED IN FLAMES WITHIN MINUTES. THERE WERE NO PREVIOUS WARNINGS DISPLAYED...IF MY DOG, WHO TRAVELS WITH ME QUITE OFTEN HAD BEEN IN THE CAR AS I WENT INSIDE, I CANNOT IMAGINE HOW I WOULD BE FEELING RIGHT NOW...LOSING THE CAR WAS DIFFICULT, AND NOW, I REALIZE HOW FORTUNATE I WAS NOT TO LOSE MORE, CONSIDERING THE FACT I PARKED THE MINI IN MY GARAGE EVERY NIGHT AS I RETURNED HOME FROM WORK. THE FIRE IS CURRENTLY UNDER INVESTIGATION, SO I CANNOT NAME THE FAILED COMPONENTS AS REQUESTED ABOVE, BUT I WILL UPDATE THIS INFORMATION ONCE THE INVESTIGATION IS COMPLETE. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A BMW 2011 MINI COOPER. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING 50 MPH WHEN THE VEHICLE EXHIBITED A LOUD CLUNKING NOISE WITH THE ILLUMINATION OF ALL OF THE WARNING LIGHTS. THE VEHICLE BEGIN SMOKING AS HE PULLED TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO EXIT THE VEHICLE JUST AS IT IGNITED INTO FLAMES, FOLLOWED BY AN EXPLOSION. THE POLICE WERE CALLED AND A REPORT WAS FILED. THERE WERE NO INJURIES FROM THE EXPLOSION. THE VEHICLE WAS THEN TOWED BY THE STATE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED AND THEY ADVISED HIM THAT THEY WOULD GET BACK TO HIM AT A LATER DATE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 120.

WHEN ACCELERATING, THERE APPEARS TO BE A 1-1.5 SECOND DELAY FROM COMPLETE STOP POSITION TO START WHEN DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR. THIS DELAYED ACCELERATION IS PROBLEMATIC ONLY FROM COMPLETE STOPPING POSITION. EXAMPLE, AT PERPENDICULAR INTERSECTION WAITING TO TURN LEFT (PULLING OUT OF A GAS STATION OR MERGING INTO TRAFFIC, THE VEHICLE REQUIRES A ROLLING OR MOVING START BEFORE THE VEHICLE WILL ACTUALLY ACCELERATE OR AT A SAFE ENOUGH SPEED TO PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC. WHEN I AM AT A COMPLETE STOP AND TRY TO ACCELERATE BY PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR FIRMLY FROM ANY COMPLETE STOP POSITION IN A SAFE ENOUGH SPEED TO CROSS TRAFFIC WHEN TURNING, THERE IS ALWAYS A DELAYED REACTION FROM THE TIME I DEPRESS THE PEDAL AND THE TIME THE VEHICLE TAKES OFF. THIS DOES NOT TO APPEAR AS A PROBLEM THAT HAPPENS ONLY ONCE IN A WHILE, BUT APPEARS ALL THE TIME AND TO BE A MANUFACTURER ISSUES WITH THE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION AND GEAR CONTROL. I CONTACTED THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT I SHOULD ACTIVATE THE SPORT BUTTON AND DE-ACTIVATE THE DCS CONTROL WHICH CONTROLS THE "SPIN-OUT" ACTION ON THE COUNTRYMAN. I HAVE TRIED THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE PROBLEM STILL EXIST. THIS IS NOT ONLY THE PROBLEM. THERE IS ALSO AN ISSUE WHEN I AM SIMPLY IN THE DRIVEWAY. WHEN STARTING THE CAR AND PUTTING THE VEHICLE IN REVERSE, THERE IS ALSO THAT "DELAYED" REACTION AFTER THE CAR IS ALREADY IN GEAR, ALMOST LIKE THE VEHICLE HAS TO THINK ABOUT MOVING BEFORE IT ACTUALLY DOES. THIS OCCURS EACH AND EVERY TIME WHILE IN THE VEHICLE. MY VEHICLE IS AN AUTOMATIC. I HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH BOTH AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS AND HAVE OVER 25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND HAVE PURCHASED OVER 15 CARS IN MY DRIVING CAREER AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT I HAVE EVERY EXPERIENCED THIS TYPE DRIVING EXPERIENCE WITH AN AUTOMATIC.

OCCASIONALLY AND INTERMITTENTLY, THE DIGITAL AUDIO DISPLAY IN THE MIDDLE OF MY MINI'S LARGE SPEEDOMETER WINDOW GOES BLANK, WHILE ALLOWING YOU TO CHANGE CHANNELS AND CHOOSE FUNCTIONS (IPOD, TELEPHONE, RADIO, SATELLITE) WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO SEE WHAT YOU'RE CHOOSING. THE GAS MILEAGE DIGITAL DISPLAY ABOVE THE AUDIO SYSTEM IS READABLE AT ALL TIMES. OCCASIONALLY ALSO AN ORANGE LINE WILL GO THROUGH THE DIGITAL AUDIO DISPLAY HINDERING THE ABILITY TO READ IT COMPLETELY. I BROUGHT THE CAR BACK TO THE DEALER WITHIN 2 WEEKS OF PURCHASING IT NEW TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM, BUT NOTHING WAS FOUND AND THE CAR WAS RETURNED WITHOUT A REPAIR AFTER 2 DAYS AT THE SHOP. I HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY EXPERIENCED THE SAME PROBLEM AND HAVE TAKEN PICTURES OF THE DISPLAY EACH TIME. *TR