MINI Complaints

MINI COOPER S 07 MAKES A HORRIBLE RATTLE ON COLD START UP. ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON. CAR DIES. SOUNDS LIKE THERE IS NO OIL IN ENGINE. AFTER CAR IS WARMED UP NOISE GOES AWAY. DEALER HAS REPLACED NON RETURN OIL VALVE. DIDN'T WORK. CAR HAS BEEN AT THE DEALER AT LEAST 6 TIMES FOR THIS PROBLEM. THIS MUST BE DAMAGING THE ENGINE. ONLY 13,300 MILES ON THE CAR. *TR

MY 2001 330I WITH 110,000 MILES ON IT ABRUPTLY STOPPED GOING IN REVERSE. ONE DAY IT WAS FINE AND RUNNING NORMALLY AND THE NEXT DAY WHEN I WENT TO BACK OUT OF MY GARAGE IT WOULD NOT GO IN REVERSE. I RECENTLY SOLD MY OLD CAR AND BOUGHT A BMW FOR THE "RELIABILITY" AND TO GET A HIGH VALUE CAR, INSTEAD I HAVE A MONEY PIT THAT I CAN NOT AFFORD TO FIX AND NOW NEEDS A $6,100 TRANSMISSION. WISH I HAD KEPT MY OLD CAR. *TR

I WAS DRIVING MY 2002 MINI COOPER. I HAD DRIVEN 1/4 MILE AND THOUGHT I HEARD SOMETHING CRACK OR SPARK UNDER THE DASHBOARD ON THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE VEHICLE. THEN I SAW SMOKE, PULLED OVER, GOT OUT, AND THE WHOLE CAR WENT UP IN FLAMES. *TR

WHEN ACCELERATING OUT OF A TOLL BOOTH, THE ENGINE LOST ALL POWER JUST AS I CHANGED LANES IN FRONT OF LARGE TRUCK. FORTUNATELY, THERE WAS A PULL-OUT ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD. IF I HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO QUICKLY PULL OVER, THE TRUCK WOULD HAVE LIKELY COLLIDED WITH MY CAR. TURNING OF THE ENGINE AND RESTARTING IT TEMPORARILY CLEARED THE PROBLEM. IT WOULD REOCCUR WHENEVER I USED FULL THROTTLE AND THE ENGINE HIT 5000 RPM. THE PROBLEM TURNED OUT TO BY A STICKY SUPER-CHARGER BYPASS VALVE. IT IS A WELL KNOWN PROBLEM, SO MUCH SO THAT THE DEALER ALWAYS HAVE THE PARTS IN STOCK. LOOSING ALL ENGINE POWER IS POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS - BMW SHOULD FIX THIS. *TR

2001 BMW X5- I'VE OWNED THE MENTIONED VEHICLE FOR 3 YRS. AND AM UNABLE TO DRIVE IT THE WINTER DUE TO DOOR WILL NOT CLOSE BECAUSE LATCHING MECH FREEZES AND WILL NOT CLOSE UNTIL DOOR THAWS OUT. IT'S BEEN TO BMW DEALERSHIP AND SAYS IT'S A FAULTY CARRIER ON THESE 2000-2001 BMW WILL NOT HONOR THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION MY DRIVING WITH THE DOOR OPEN AND HAVING TO HOLD IT SOMEWHAT CLOSED AFTER GETTING IN !! IT'S A WIDESPREAD PROBLEM ACCORDING TO THE DEALERSHIP. YOU MAY READ ABOUT THIS ON THE BMW WEBSITE -WWW.ROADFLY.COM AND SEARCH THE ARCHIVES OF THIS PROBLEM. THEY WANT CLOSE 800.00 TO FIX THIS PROPERLY WITH A NEW DESIGNED "CARRIER" . *TR

POWER STEERING PUMP IS NOISY ALL THE TIME. I AM AFRAID THIS MAY LEAD TO FAILURE OF MY ABILITY TO STEER THE VEHICLE . THE CAR IS A 2002 MINI. *TR

THE POWER STEERING ON MY 2002 MINI COOPER S, 62,000 MILES, FAILS INTERMITTENTLY AND UNEXPECTEDLY WHILE DRIVING, CAUSING AN INSTANT AND UNEXPECTED LOSS OF POWER ASSISTED STEERING. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND CAN CAUSE INJURY OR DEATH SHOULD LOSS OF POWER STEERING CAUSE THE DRIVER TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. FURTHER RESEARCH OF ONLINE FORUMS (MINI2.COM, NORTHAMERICANMOTORING.COM, ROADFLY.COM) INDICATES THAT THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM AFFECTING MANY MINI OWNERS, AND POWER STEERING PUMP FAILURE HAS ALSO BEEN KNOWN TO CAUSE ENGINE BAY FIRES. *CN

I HAVE A 2002 MINI COOPER WITH 52K MILES, THE TRANSMISSION HAS WENT OUT TWICE IN THE PAST 2 YEARS THE FIRST TIME AT 31K MILES. THE CLUTCH HAS ALSO WENT OUT AS WELL AS THE SUNROOF MOTOR, LEFT FRONT BRAKE CALIPER, WINDSHIELD WIPER MOTOR WITH A HOST OF SENSORS, GAUGES ETC... PARTS ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO GET AND SERVICE ON A 24K CAR (WHEN NEW) IS AS MUCH AS MY 70K BMW 7 SERIES.*CN

MY 2004 MINI COOPER S LOST STEERING CONTROL APPROACHING A VERY DANGEROUS CORNER ON CALIFORNIA SR 330. IT TOOK ALL MY STRENGTH TO TURN THE WHEEL AND I NEARLY AVOIDED A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, BUT WAS ABLE TO GET THROUGH THE TURN AND THEN GET THE CAR OFF THE ROAD. SEARCHING ON THE WEB, I SEEN HUNDREDS OF REPORTS OF STEERING FAILURE IN 2002 THROUGH 2006 MINI COOPERS. MY DEALER WAS KNEW ABOUT THE ISSUE AND REPLACED THE STEERING PUMP. MY MINI HAS 58,000 MILES ON IT. *TR

I COMPLAINED TO MINI COOPER DEALERSHIP ABOUT NOISE COMING FROM UNDERSIDE OF THE ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. THEY WERE NEVER ABLE TO FIND THE PROBLEM AND THE LAST TIME I COMPLAINED THEY BLAMED IT ON "WORN TIRES". AT 52,000 MILES I NOTICED A HIGH PITCH SQUEALING FROM UNDER THE CAR WHEN I HAD THE CLUTCH PRESSED IN. WHEN I BROUGHT IT TO MINI SERVICE, THEY SAID THAT "CLUTCH MATERIAL PROBABLY GOT CAUGHT IN THE FINGERS OF THE CLUTCH". THEY SAID THAT SINCE MY WARRANTY WAS UP (OVER AT 50,000 MILES) AND THAT THIS WAS A "FRICTION MATERIAL" ISSUE, THE COST OF THE REPAIR ($2,200 - $2,800) WOULD BE MY RESPONSIBILITY. SINCE THIS COST WAS SO HIGH AND THE EARLY FAILURE SO FAR OUTSIDE OF NORMAL EXPECTED DUTY TIME, I REFUSED THE SERVICE. SINCE THERE ARE MANY REPORTED CASES OF EARLY CLUTCH FAILURE AND FLYWHEEL FIELD UPGRADES, I CONTACTED MINI USA AND ASKED FOR MY ISSUE TO BE REVIEWED AS A WARRANTY ISSUE. THEY WOULD NOT AGREE TO COVER THE REPAIR, BUT SAID I WOULD HAVE TO PAY AT LEAST $700 TO CHECK OUT TO EVEN CONSIDER THIS AS A WARRANTY. THEY WOULD NOT ALLOW ME TO BRING THE CAR TO AN INDEPENDENT SHOP FOR REVIEW. SINCE INDEPENDENT SHOPS CHARGE ABOUT HALF THE AMOUNT FOR CLUTCH REPLACEMENT, I WANTED THAT OPTION IN CASE MINI REFUSED TO COVER ANY COSTS. THE MINI CS REFERENCE NUMBER FOR THIS ISSUE IS 2000736002924. ON 12/25 (CHRISTMAS DAY) MY CLUTCH FAILED COMPLETELY. SINCE MINI IS NOT WILLING TO GIVE ANY MATERIAL SUPPORT TO THIS ISSUE, AND THERE ARE MANY OTHER CASES OF EARLY CLUTCH FAILURE REPORTED I OPENED THIS COMPLAINT TO SEE IF NHTSA COULD HELP RESOLVE THIS PROBLEM. *TR