MINI Complaints

CONSUMER HAD 2005 MINI COOPER IN SHOP FOR COLLISION REPAIRS THAT WERE NOT MADE. *TS THE CONSUMERS VEHICLE HAD BEEN AT THE BODY SHOP FOR OVER 2 MONTHS, BECAUSE THE AUTO BODY SHOP RECEIVED THE WRONG PART 3 TIMES. *JB

FRONT WHEEL RUBBING NOISES AT LOW SPEED WHEN TURNING HARD LEFT OR HARD RIGHT. MINI DEALER TOLD ME THAT THE NOISE IS NORMAL, NOTHING WAS DONE. *JB

(1) EVENTS: DRIVING LONG DISTANCE, AFTER APPROXIMATELY 4 HOURS I NOTICED THAT THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL WAS MAKING CLUNKING NOISES. I SLOWED DOWN, AND THE NOISE GOT WORSE. EVENTUALLY, I SLOWED DOWN, PULLED OVER, AND THE CAR KEEPS BOUNCING UP AND DOWN, AND THEN AFTER I STOPPED IT WOULD NOT MOVE FORWARD ANYMORE. (2) FAILURE: LOST 3 OUT OF 4 LUG BOLTS ON THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL, AS A RESULT, THE LEFT FRONT WHEEL IS ALMOST FALLING OFF OF THE CAR. THE LEFT FRONT RIM WAS ALSO BENT. (3) CALLED BMW ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE, TOWED THE CAR TO THE NEAREST DEALER, AND THE DEALER REPLACED 3 OF 4 LUG BOLTS AND ALSO REPLACED THE BENT RIM. *JB

FAILURE OF STEERING GEAR ASSEMBLY RESULTING IN REPLACEMENT OF ASSEMBLY 3X. FAILURE RESULTED IN MORE DIFFICULTY TURNING STEERING WHEEL AND CREAKING NOISE EMITTING FROM UNDERSIDE OF CAR. DEALER STATED THERE WAS A TSB ON THIS ISSUE. 1ST INSTANCE 7/8/04 @32,297 MILES, 2ND INSTANCE 3/2/05 @48,551 MILES, 3RD INSTANCE 7/25/05 @59,112 MILES. ALL FAILURES OCCURRED BETWEEN JULY 2004 AND JULY 2005. OLD PART KEPT BY DEALERSHIP.*JB

I HAD MY BRAND NEW 2005 MINI COOPER S AUTOMATIC FOR LESS THAN ONE MONTH WHEN IT STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET - THE ENGINE JUST STALLED OUT OR WENT INTO WHAT I'VE BEEN TOLD IS "LIMP MODE". LUCKILY, THE STREET WASN'T CROWDED AND I WAS ABLE TO COAST TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. BUT WHAT IF I WAS ON THE FREEWAY???? I'VE SUBSEQUENTLY FOUND OUT MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM AND BMW KNOWS ABOUT IT, BUT HASN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIX THE PROBLEM CORRECTLY. I BELIEVE THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE! BMW SAID IT IS A SOFTWARE PROBLEM AND THEY HAVE MADE UPDATES, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE IT HAS BEEN CORRECTED. I AM STILL AFRAID TO DRIVE ON THE FREEWAY FOR FEAR OF BECOMING A STATISTIC! BMW SHOULD AT LEAST NOTIFY ALL MCS AUTOMATIC OWNERS OF THE POTENTIAL HAZARD! *JB

OWNER NOTICED CHANGE IN STEERING RESULTING IN HARD TURNING AND NO RETURN OF STEERING WHEEL WITHOUT ASSISTANCE AFTER TURNING VEHICLE. DEALER FOUND FAILURE OF LOWER STEERING SHAFT UNIVERSAL JOINT AND REPLACED LOWER STEERING SHAFT ASSEMBLY AND RETAINED OLD PART. VEHICLE WAS MANF. 2/2003 AND HAS 64482 MILES ON IT TO DATE.

1) GRINDING NOISE WAS HEARD FROM RIGHT REAR CORNER OF THE CAR WHILE BRAKING. 2) UPON INSPECTION, IT WAS FOUND THAT THE RIGHT REAR BRAKE PADS HAD WORN DOWN COMPLETELY ALTHOUGH THE LEFT REAR BRAKE PADS HAVE APPROXIMATELY 1/2 PAD REMAINING. I HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALER FOR WARRANTY SERVICE. 3) VEHICLE IS CURRENTLY AT GLOBAL IMPORTS MINI IN ATLANTA AWAITING INSPECTION BY A SPECIAL BMW ENGINEER TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THIS UNUSUAL WEAR OF BRAKE COMPONENTS. THE BRAKE CALIPERS THAT OPERATE THE BRAKE SYSTEM ARE SUSPECTED TO BE DEFECTIVE/FAULTY. THIS SAME PROBLEM ALSO OCCURRED ON THIS SAME VEHICLE ON MAY 8, 2004. AT THAT TIME, THE VEHICLE WAS ALSO SENT TO GLOBAL IMPORTS IN ATLANTA WHERE THE BRAKE PADS AND ROTORS WERE REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY DUE TO EXCESSIVE WEAR FOR THE MILEAGE ON THE CAR. HOWEVER, THE BRAKE CALIPERS WERE NOT INSPECTED OR REPLACED BY GLOBAL IMPORTS AT THIS TIME. BECAUSE THIS HAS OCCURRED TWICE ON THE SAME VEHICLE, I DO NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING MY VEHICLE WITH A SUSPECT BRAKE SYSTEM. THE SERVICE MANAGER AT GLOBAL IMPORTS (ERIC PETERS) HAS STATED THAT HE BELIEVES THIS TYPE OF INCONSISTENT UNEVEN BRAKE WEAR IS CONSIDERED "NORMAL" PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN AT THE TIME OF RECENT OCCURRENCE ARE AVAILABLE TO SHOW A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE BRAKE PAD THICKNESS ON BOTH THE RIGHT AND LEFT SIDE OF THE VEHICLE. PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR THESE PHOTOGRAPHS. *NM

THE SHIFT LINKAGE CAME DISCONNECTED FROM THE TRANSMISSION. I HAS UNABLE TO CHANGE GEARS. I LOOKED ON THE NHTSA SITE AND FOUND THAT THE CAR WAS RECALLED FOR THIS EXAC PROBLEM. I HAD ASKED THE DEALER ABOUT SUCH A RECALL SEVERAL YEARS AGO. THEY DENIED AND CONTINUE TO DENY THAT SUCH A RECALL EXISTS. AFTER I BROUGHT MY CAR TO THE DEALER FOR REPAIR, THEY CALLED TO HAVE ME PICK UP MY CAR. THEY THEN MENTIONED THAT THEY HAVE TO GET PARTS AND I WILL HAVE TO BRING THE CAR BACK. I INFORMED THAT I DID NOT FEEL SAFE DRIVING THE CAR WITH A SAFTEY RELATED RECALL THAT WAS NOT FIXED. I AM FRUSTRATED THAT THE DEALER AND MANUFECTURER CONTINUE TO DENY THAT THE VEHICLE WAS RECALLED AND TRY TO HAVE ME DRIVE THE UNREPAIRED VEHICLE. RCALL CAMPAIGN N. 02V-201 : SHIFT CABLE RETAINING CLIP. *JB

WHILE DRIVING THIS VEHICLE IT HAS FREQUENTLY GONE INTO WHAT DEALERS AND OTHER OWNERS CALL "LIMP MODE". IT BASICALLY LOSES ALL POWER WHILE DRIVING. THIS HAS HAPPENED IN THE MIDDLE OF INTERSECTIONS AND IS ENTIRELY UNSAFE AND UNACCEPTABLE. IT WOULD NOT BE ACCEPTABLE FOR ANY CAR TO STALL THIS OFTEN LET ALONE A NEW CAR. THIS CAR IS MONTHS OLD AND WE ARE HAVING SIGNIFICANT SAFETY PROBLEMS. I HAVE COME TO FIND OUT THAT THE MANUFACTURER IS WELL AWARE OF THIS AND HAS MADE SEVERAL UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS AT REPAIRING THEM ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE NEVER NOTIFIED ANY OWNER OR DONE A FORMAL RECALL CAMPAIGN (ACCORDING TO BMW CUSTOMER SERVICE REP.). THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS CONSIDERING WHAT IS AT STAKE . THIS IS A MAJOR MECHANICAL SAFETY PROBLEM NOT A CONVENIENCE ITEM FAILURE. I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE WHO OWNS THIS VEHICLE TO ADDRESS THIS WITH YOUR DEALERS BEFORE IT STARTS HAPPENING TO YOUR VEHICLE. WE ONLY FOUND OUT THAT THERE WERE THINGS TO BE DONE WHEN ART DEALER LOOKED AT OUR VIN NUMBER AT OUR REQUEST. NO NOTICE WAS GIVEN, AND OTHERS SEEM TO REPORT THE PROBLEM CONTINUING AFTER THE CURRENT FIX IS APPLIED. GOOD LUCK! *NM

AIR BAG CHECK LIGHT IS ON. NO AIR BAG WAS DEPLOYED, NO CRASH WAS INVOLVED. THIS IS ON GOING PROBLEM WITH THE MINI COOPER WHICH SHOULD HAVE A RECALL. COST IS OVER 1000.00 DOLLARS TO REPAIR. IF NOT REPAIRED AIR BAG MAY NOT DEPLOY IN A CRASH. *JB