MINI Complaints

TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE THE AIRBAG SYSTEM IS OFF LINE. THE PASSENGER AIRBAGS DO NOT TURN ON WHEN A PASSENGER IS SEATED. THE PASSENGER AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT SHOWS THAT IT IS NOT TURNING ON WITH OR WITHOUT A PASSENGER. ALSO THE DRIVERS SIDE AIRBAG INDICATOR LIGHT COMES ON THE DASHBOARD AND THE TACHOMETER WHEN I START THE VEHICLE. THIS PROBLEM BEGAN WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED AND STATIONARY.

THE PASSENGER AIRBAG WARNING SAFETY LIGHT COMES ON AND STAYS ON WHEN NO-ONE OR SOMEONE IS SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT WITH AND WITHOUT THEIR SEATBELT FASTENED. I SEARCHED ONLINE REGARDING THIS AND FOUND SEVERAL OTHER PEOPLE EXPERIENCING THE SAME ISSUE. SINCE THIS IS POTENTIALLY A SAFETY HAZARD TO A PASSENGER IT MUST BE RECALLED SINCE MULTIPLE MINI COOPERS ARE EXPERIENCING THIS ERROR.

THERE IS A COOLING SYSTEM FAILURE IN MY CAR THAT HAS CAUSED CYLINDER HEAD ISSUES AND HEAD GASKET ISSUES. EVEN THOUGH MY CAR IS A 2009, IT ONLY HAS ABOUT 53,000 MILES. I PURCHASED THE CAR IN DECEMBER 2019 AND IN JANUARY 2020 THE CAR OVERHEATED WHILE DRIVING AND THEN I NOTICED THE COOLANT WAS LEAKING FROM THE CAR. I REPLACED THE HOSE AND THERMOSTAT. NOW IN AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2020 THE CAR OVERHEATED AGAIN AND THERE WAS ALSO LEAKING FROM THE COOLANT. I TOOK THE CAR TO THE MECHANIC AND THEY SAID THE ENGINE NEEDS MAJOR REPAIR WORK. I RECENTLY NOTICED RECALLS ON THIS MAKE AND MODEL REGARDING THE ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING, HOWEVER BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS CAR, I'M THINKING THIS MAY STILL BE AN ISSUE WITH THIS CAR. ADDITIONALLY, I REVIEWED THE CARFAX REPORT FROM THE PREVIOUS OWNERS AND THERE WAS NO INFORMATION ABOUT ANY RESOLVED RECALLS. HOWEVER, I SPOKE WITH THE BMW DEALERSHIP THAT THE CAR HAD WORK DONE AT FROM THE PREVIOUS OWNER AND THEY SAID THE RECALLS IN 2012 (AUXILIARY COOLANT PUMP) AND 2015 (HEAT SHIELD TURBO CHARGER) WERE RESOLVED. I ALSO CONFIRMED THIS WITH ANOTHER MINI COOPER DEALERSHIP. BASED ON THE CARFAX REPORT, THESE RECALLS MAY HAVE NEVER BEEN RESOLVED.

WHILE DRIVING, CARS AROUND ME WERE BEEPING WHEN I SWITCHED LANES AFTER SIGNALING AND STEPPED ON THE BRAKES. I WAS NEARLY REAR ENDED! COME TO FIND OUT ALL OF MY LIGHTING SYSTEMS WERE INOPERABLE. I HAD: *NO BRAKE LIGHTS *NO TURN SIGNALS *NO HAZARD LIGHTS *NO HEADLIGHTS *NO TAIL LIGHTS *WINDOWS WERE INOPERABLE. THE LIST GOES ON. THIS IS TERRIFYING TO HAVE HAPPEN WHILE DRIVING, AND EVEN WORSE, I DIDN'T REALIZE WHAT WAS HAPPENING UNTIL I HAD NEARLY BEEN HIT BY TWO DIFFERENT CARS. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN EVEN WORSE HAD IT FAILED AT NIGHT. I HAD MY CAR TOWED TO THE DEALER TO BE DIAGNOSED. THE ISSUE IS THAT THE FOOTWELL MODULE (AKA FRM) HAD FAILED. THIS HAPPENED AT ONLY 41,000 MILES. APPARENTLY THIS IS EXTREMELY COMMON AND A LONG-KNOWN DEFECT ON MINI COOPERS. IN MY OPINION THERE NEEDS TO BE AN IMMEDIATE RECALL ON ALL AFFECTED FRMS. I LEARNED THAT MINI ISSUED A "SILENT RECALL" OF EXTENDED WARRANTIES, FROM 4 YEARS TO 8 YEARS, AND NOW TO 10 YEARS/156,000 MILES. I AM OUTSIDE OF WARRANTY 6 MONTHS BY TIME, BUT WITHIN WARRANTY BY 115,000 MILES. I CONTACTED MINI USA TO REQUEST THAT THEY COVER THE PART REPAIR, AS THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECTIVE PART IN MY CAR'S MODEL AND YEAR AND A CRITICAL SAFETY ISSUE. THEY HAVE REFUSED, DESPITE ME GETTING IN TOUCH THREE TIMES. I ALSO NOTIFIED CUSTOMER RELATIONS AT MINI USA THAT I NEVER RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF THE WARRANTY EXTENSION ON THIS PART, OR ON ANY OTHER PART. ADDITIONALLY, I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY NOTIFICATION OF RECALLS THAT APPLY TO MY VEHICLE, THOUGH THROUGH MY RECENT RESEARCH I HAVE FOUND THAT SOME HAVE BEEN ISSUED. A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH AS WELL AS DISCUSSIONS WITH MINI TECHS WILL REVEAL WIDESPREAD FRM FAILURE. MANY OTHER COMPLAINANTS ON THIS PAGE ARE REGARDING THE SAME ISSUE. HAS ANY INVESTIGATION TAKEN PLACE? IF NOT, I HOPE THERE WILL BE ONE.

WHILE DRIVING ON ROAD DRIVER'S SIDE ROLL OVER BAR JUST POPPED UP. I'M CONCERNED THAT IF CAR WOULD HAVE ROLLED OVER PASSENGER WOULD HAVE BEEN CRASHED. ALREADY NOTIFIED MIN ICOOPER WAITING FOR A RESPONSE. CAR WILL BE SERVICE THIS WEEK.

FUEL FILLING NOZZLE SHUTS OFF REPEATEDLY WHILE REFUELING. UPON GASSING UP, VALVE CLICKS IMMEDIATELY AND PUMP SHUTS OFF LIKE IT'S FULL NO MATTER WHICH GAS STATION OR PRESSURE I EXERT. I SAW A BULLETIN "SI M16 01 15" WHICH AFFECTED MINIS PRODUCED IN 2014 BUT DID NOT INCLUDE MY 2015 COOPER S. A COMMENT FROM THE BULLETIN HAD A TEMPORARY SOLUTION WHICH IS TO ANGLE THE PUMP TO 45, THEN PUMP SLOWLY AT THE MAGIC SPEED, THOUGH THIS CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM 10 TO 30 MINUTES. THIS IS DANGEROUS ON MY PART AS I TRAVEL PAST MIDNIGHT FOR SEVERAL HOURS AND SPENDING MORE TIME AT A GAS STATION IN THE DARK IS WORRISOME. I DO GET SPILLS OCCASIONALLY WHICH I HAVE TO KEEP WIPING AND IS A STATION HAZARD. REPLACING THE FUEL TANK COMPLETELY AT AN ESTIMATED $2K+ IS TOO COSTLY ESPECIALLY DURING THIS PANDEMIC AND IS DUE TO FAULTY MANUFACTURING.

PASSENGER AIRBAG SENSOR IS MALFUNCTIONING. THE PASSENGER AIRBAG SENSOR FAILURE RESULTS IN THE AIRBAG FOR THE PASSENGER SIDE BEING DISABLED WHEN THE CAR IS IN MOTION/DRIVING REGARDLESS OF WHETHER A PERSON IS SITTING IN THE SEAT (AN ADULT WILL BE SITTING IN THE SEAT AND THE AIRBAG WILL CONTINUE TO BE DISABLED AS THE CAR IS DRIVEN AROUND). THE LACK OF AIRBAG FOR THE PASSENGER OF THE VEHICLE DUE TO THE FAULTY SENSOR IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY RISK THAT WILL LIKELY RESULT IN THE DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY. THIS APPEARS TO BE A PROBLEM MINI HAD ON OTHER MODELS OF ITS CARS WHICH RESULTED IN A RECALL.

MY CAR HAS PROTRUDING TAILPIPES, IT CAUSED ME AND MY HUSBAND 3RD-DEGREE BURNS AFTER A SHORT DRIVE TO COSTCO.

RECENTLY PURCHASED A USED 2008 MINI COOPER. PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAG SENSOR WARNING LIGHT IS ON AND ALWAYS STAYS ON. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT THAT MINI HAS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY/RECALL. I TOOK VEHICLE TO BMW/MINI DEALER IN BIRMINGHAM, AL AND WAS INFORMED THAT THIS PARTICULAR RECALL EXPIRED IN 2018, OR WITH VEHICLES WITH MORE THAN 120,000 MILES. MINE HAS 123,000 MI. ALSO CALLED MINI CUSTOMER SERVICE AND RECEIVED THE SAME INFORMATION. MANY VIDEOS EXIST ON INTERNET/YOUTUBE ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR DEFECT AND HOW TO BYPASS PROBLEM BY INSTALLING A PART THAT BYPASSES THE SENSOR OR BY USING A SCAN TOOL TO ERASE THE CODE TO REMOVE THE WARNING LIGHT. NEITHER OF THESE SOLUTIONS SEEM SAFE. I AM CONCERNED THAT THE CAR'S PASSENGER AIRBAG WOULD FAIL TO DEPLOY IN THE EVENT OF A COLLISION. HERE IS A VIDEO THAT EXPLAINS THE PROBLEM AND A POSSIBLE UNSAFE FIX: HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=GDLMTYGUIPM&T=615S

REAR DRIVER SIDE TAIL LIGHT HOUSING MELTED. VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION WHEN TAIL LIGHT OUT INDICATOR TURNED ON.