2005 MINI Cooper S Convertible: loss of power steering

Filed Apr 25, 2017 · Steering · 22,000 miles · AZ

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s convertible. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, it was difficult to turn the steering wheel. The contact stated that the power steering assist function failed to operate as intended. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the electro hydro power steering system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v660000 (steering). The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 22,000.

Filed Mar 16, 2015 · Steering · 58,400 miles · CA

On the first day of occurrence, there was loss of power steering. Very difficult and hard steering. No warning lights or no check engine lights came on. Managed to park safely. Stopped car and turned off ignition. Waited a few minutes. Turned on ignition and normal power steering resumed. Occurred one more time about 1 hour later. Occurred multiple times in the coming days. If ignition is shut off then turned back on, it will resume normal operation. This has almost caused accidents because of the difficult steering and maintaining of lane especially on curved roads and turns.

Filed Jul 11, 2014 · Steering · 80,000 miles · AL · fire

Driving approx. 15 miles - mostly interstate - to attend a friend's birthday dinner. While pulling into the parking lot, lost power steering and all indicator warning lights started flashing. I proceeded to a parking space and saw smoke pouring out from under the hood. When I released the hood I could see an orange glow at the bottom of the engine (night time). Within 30 seconds it burst into flames. A 911 call to local fire fighters was placed who responded within 15 minutes. Since there were two restaurants in the complex, employees of each one had come out with fire extinguishers and put out the fire. The car had to be towed to my work place, from my work place to another city for repairs. Only the actual repairs were covered under warranty, but not the towing or rentals. I had to rent a car for two weeks and a week after picking my car up, I had other things to go out on the car caused by the heat from the fire. (domino effect). The car had to go back into a shop where it took more than 3 weeks to get all parts in and repairs made, while I incurred yet more expense of a rental car. I am now in debt almost $3,000.00 as a directly result of this faulty system.

Filed Aug 12, 2013 · Steering · 77,390 miles · OR

I had a temporary lost of power steering assist. I drove to a few blocks to stop. The problem disappeared after I restarted the car again. This happened twice before while my wife was driving a month earlier or so. This is very dangerous, I had a very hard time to steer the car and find a safe place to park.

Filed Mar 14, 2013 · Steering · 70,000 miles · CO

Bought the vehicle in feb. 2012 a few months later on several occasions 15-20 times, to date. I have lost full control of the vehicle, no steering capability. Several time has been while turning or exiting the freeway, vehicle becomes difficult to control. I have been close to causing several accidents due to the same problem.

Filed Aug 27, 2012 · Steering · 42,000 miles · CA

Was driving on an overpass between freeways when my power steering went out without warning. I was beginning my turn, and could not control or move the steering wheel and hit the railing. Cars had to dodge quickly to not hit me. Turned off ignition and turned back on and it was fine - but was really shook up. Continued driving to work 3 miles later and it did it again pulling into the parking lot. Later that day, started the car and once again no power steering. Had it towed home, and checked it throughout the weekend, without success (to get it to a garage) then this morning it started working. Drove 1/2 mile to garage, and it did it again. Called bmw service and the manager acted like this was unusual and said to make an appointment. Called another bmw and the same story. Checked with my german mechanic down the street and he said that is the #1 reason he sees mini's 2005 in the stop. 2nd was my convertible top, which quite ironically broke the same day as my power steering. The passenger side won't disengage. I'm looking at over $3000 to fix a car with only 42k miles on it. Shouldn't these parts be recalled? I was scared for my life driving on the freeway and almost caused a major accident!

Filed Mar 25, 2012 · Steering · 65,875 miles · KS

While driving down straight road steering began to intermittently "tighten up" and become difficult to manage. Road and weather conditions were clear and dry. Next morning power steering assist failed completely while backing out of driveway, causing vehicle to almost hit a fence. Vehicle had been garaged all night at ambient temperatures. Power steering unexpectedly returned two miles later, causing driver to over-correct because of the sudden return of power steering assist. The intermittent nature of this failure is the most concerning safety issue, as the driver is unaware that effort required to change lanes or navigate a turn may change drastically and unexpectedly. Over-correction in traffic is frightening. Vehicle has not been subjected to unusual or extreme driving conditions.

Filed Feb 11, 2012 · Steering · 71,000 miles · WA

For the past 5 years, the power steering on our mini would go out at random times. This has happened on the freeway (at speeds of 60-70mph) and driving around town (speeds of 10-35). It would go out randomly with no warning. My wife could barely steer the car and almost got into a crash trying to turn right one day. Last weekend, the power steering went out for good. We are taking it in on monday for mini to look at. I have read countless articles of this problem and wanted to report it happening in our vehicle.

Filed Oct 12, 2011 · Steering · 30,000 miles · NJ

My daughter experienced complete power steering failure while she was driving her mini cooper, nearly causing a collision with an oncoming vehicle. I drove the car afterward and could not believe how hard it was to steer the car (compared to a manual steering vehicle). I called mini at their toll free number and was told that they had no recall notice from the federal safety agency, therefore they had no obligation to fix this incredible defect. I hope it doesn't take a body count for the federal safety agency to recall the 223,000 mini's effected by this extremely dangerous defect.

Filed Aug 24, 2011 · Steering · 64,500 miles · NJ

2005 mini cooper s convertible with 65k miles. Original owner. Yesterday my power steering went out as I drove home from work. No warning sign and it was hard to turn the steering wheel and maneuver the car. I was glad it was me driving and not my wife. Scary experience when driving at 65mph+ on the highway.

Filed May 17, 2011 · Steering · 69,500 miles · MI

Bought mini cooper used from dealer just prior to going to florida for 2 wks. When almost home from florida power steering went out. My 3000 mile used car warranty had just ran out so checked on recalls, found none. But I did find out there was an investigation in progress. Continued to drive vehicle occasionally and found the steering sometimes worked and again would cut out with no warning, making it difficult to steer when not expected. Then one day I came home and shut the vehicle off but the steering pump would not shut off. I had to disconnect the battery to get it to stop. When I reconnected the battery it would start right back up again. That's when I decided I needed to bite the bullet and take it in to be fixed. I reconnected the battery and drove it to a mini cooper dealer who told me it was the steering pump that was bad, that it had internal electronics that fail. I had them replace it for a total cost of $1072.38 and that came with a 2 yr warranty. Please note ~ the vehicle had a whirring noise when I bought it that I thought was from the turbo. I found out later it was the steering pump making the noise. When the new pump was installed it was a lot quieter.

Filed May 2, 2011 · Steering · 46,000 miles · VA

Power steering failure.