2005 MINI Cooper S: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed Dec 28, 2018 · Fuel system · 140,000 miles · OK · fire

Driving on interstate and lost power. I pulled to shoulder and black smoke came thru air vents. I opened the hood and there was fire. My car completely burned up. I never had any mechanical problems. The tow truck driver said he believed the fire started under my car.

Filed Feb 17, 2016 · Electrical, Steering · 53,000 miles · CA · fire

On 2/11/2016 I got home from work and I parked my 2005 mini cooper s (53,000 miles) on the driveway, turn off car and stayed with my kids & wife since they were waiting for me outside, my wife notice a sound & smoke coming from the car, the smoke were coming from the engine, I immediately open the hood & there was more smoke coming out, the headlights & all the lights turned on & stared flickering, also the wipers turned on, couple of seconds later the botom of the engine was engulfed in flames. My wife ran to get the water hose & I were able to put the fire out, we were lucky that I didn't walk inside the house like I always do, it could have been a horrible tragedy for me, my family and even our neighbors. The next day I had the car towed to my mechanic who after an inspection found out if was the power steering pump that got on fire and damaged all the wires around it, since he is a mini specialist he told us about a recall for that specific part, but to our disappointment he ran our VIN # and found that our car is excluded from that recall since its a late 2005 production. That exactly same thing happend to us with the actuators, one day while my wife was shopping with my kids, they just got locked inside the vehicle with the windows rolled up, it was a summer day and luckily she was able to get out through the back trunk, we contacted mini because there is also a recall for the actuators and they also excluded our car saying that it was a late 2005 production and were not able to get the recall. The way we see it mini is not taking responsibility for their defective components, it is not fair since I have no way to find out if my car was build with not defective parts, obviously it was. I am terrified by the idea this could have been worst since we r always driving with our kids. U need to do something about this & make mini liable for these safety issues.

Filed Dec 22, 2014 · Engine, Steering · 88,000 miles · GA · fire

About two weeks prior to the fire, my back bumper was hit by someone,nothing too serious just the tail light broken. Their insurance had my car fixed at world toyota collision center in atlanta georgia. On saturday morning, I picked up my car. I noticed clicking noise coming out from inside the car and the steering wheel becoming rigid as soon as I started driving. I pulled to the closest gas station (was in need of gas as well). White smoke came out from the front right after I parked. My husband lifted up the hood trying to see where the smoke is from. Not even two minutes later, there was flame, yes, actual fire underneath the engine compartment. Fortunately, there were two officers next to us at that time so they used fire extinguisher to take the fire down. I'm extremely frightened and disappointed at mini cooper. Very dangerous car.

Filed Oct 26, 2014 · Engine · 66,000 miles · PA · fire

A "pop" was heard when I was driving my vehicle on i95. I was able to pull over to the side considering when the "pop" occurred, my mini lost power. As I was pulled over, the vehicle burst into flames.

Filed Feb 16, 2013 · Steering · 85,354 miles · CA

The mini cooper was sitting in the garage. My family noticed a distinct burning smell. We did not know where is was coming from. The burning smell was traced to the garage, but still did not identify the source. The next day when the vehicle was driven, there was no power steering. Upon inspection and removal of the power steering pump, all the electrical connections to the unit were melted. The power steering unit and the wiring harness leading to the unit are damaged and must be replaced. In conclusion the unit drew power while the car was off and fried the electrical connections.

Filed Jul 23, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 60,000 miles · NV · fire

Earlier in the day I took the car on a day trip to lake tahoe driving a combination of interstate and mountain pass road. 3 hours later, my wife had taken the car to run an errand and came home and parked the car in the garage completely off and locked. 10-15 minutes later we hear the car alarm going off. We opened the door to the garage and saw white smoke coming from the engine compartment. There was high pitched wining also. When I opened up the door the put in neutral, the lights on the instrument panels were all on with no keys in the ignition. Opened the garage and moved the car to the driveway and away from the house. Called the fire department and I used an extinguisher underneath where orange glow was visible. The glow of the flames were toward the back part of the engine compartment and low. Saw no visible flames in the main compartment when the hood was popped open when fire department showed up they used a garden hose to cool engine compartment and suggested to disconnect the battery which I did. I had the car towed to the mini dealer in reno, nv. *tr updated 8/8/12 *cn the consumer stated the parts that seemed to have caused and were damaged in the incident were the power steering pump, power steering cooling fan, and electrical harness all in the engine compartment of a 2005 mini cooper s. Updated 08/14/2012

Filed May 4, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 59,930 miles · WA · fire

Vehicle fire 5/2/2012. Car parked for 4 hrs. Returned to car & drove it $3500 from mini dealer. The dealer's assessment: "verified power steering pump has overheated to the point where it has burned up internally as well as externally (melting all three connectors and the wiring leading to them). Inspected power steering cooling fan and verified cooling fan is seizing up which very likely LED to the overheating and eventual failure of the power steering pump. Removed engine compartment fuse box to examine megafuse powering the power steering pump, fuse is intact and did not burn up. Inspected power steering pressure hose and it appears the rubber section of the power steering pressure line was subjected to the heat/melting of the main power connector (it's in very close proximity to the connector) and it appears the hose has taken a level of damage from the heat. Recommend replacement of power steering pump, the wiring section/connector pigtail from the fuse box (this is the main power connector), the engine wiring harness (contains two other electrical connectors to the pump which received extensive damage), the power steering fan (likely cause of failure), power steering pressure line (high pressure hydraulic line which has been exposed to the main connector melting and subsequent heat), and other miscellaneous items associated with those components (o-rings, crush rings, hose clamps ect...)"

Filed Jan 17, 2012 · Steering · 60,000 miles · MA

I had to replace the power steering pump as it had failed. It first failed while I was on a highway off-ramp and nearly crashed. The failure was due to the power steering fan seizing and therefore it was not cooling the power steering pump. After some investigation of my own, I found out that the root cause of this problem was the low fan speed resistor failed on the engine cooling fan. The power steering fan will only activate once the engine cooling fan is running. If the low fan speed relay fails, the engine cooling fan will only turn on at 233f (high speed fan minimum temperature). Once the engine cooling fan turns on at 233f, the power steering fan will turn on to cool the power steering pump. The power steering fan will be too hot at this point and will overheat itself and seize. The power steering fan failure then causes the power steering pump to overheat and fail. If the power steering fan is not replaced before the power steering pump fails, this causes the entire hydraulic system for the power steering system to fail as well and leak hydraulic fluid. If the power steering system fails, this can cause the power steering pump to ultimately catch on fire due to it overheating from low levels of hydraulic fluid. The complete replacement of parts alone for the power steering system is $1,296.35. This system is required for driving the vehicle at any speed as it is a "power assisted steering" system, thus making it very hard to control the vehicle at any speed. If you visit any mini forum (I.e. Www.northamericanmotoring.com or www.motoringalliance.com) you can find hundreds of posts about the power steering system failing in minis. I replaced the pump and fan ($876.46 parts cost), then had to replace the entire system ($1296.35 parts cost) when the system failed again because of the low speed engine fan resistor failing and causing the entire problem.

Filed Aug 2, 2011 · Electrical, Steering · 86,000 miles · FL · fire

2005 mini cooper s - engine fire a few days ago (7/27/2011) my 2005 mini cooper s caught fire in the lower rear engine compartment while parked in a business parking lot. It had been driven a short distance (about 6 miles) three hours prior with no indication of a problem. The car ignition was off and there was no key present in or near the vehicle. Fortunately, a co-worker spotted the car billowing smoke from beneath the hood and we were able to quickly extinguish the fire before any significant damage was done to the vehicle or surrounding property. According to the mechanic who diagnosed the car and subsequent electrical fire - the incident was caused by an overheating and eventual ignition of an electrical harness caused by a sudden failure of the power steering pump. I must emphasize that prior to the fire, there was no indication in the vehicle (warning system) or by the vehicles performance that there was any problem with the pump or handling. It failed completely without warning! While parked and unattended! Thankfully, the car was not parked in my garage at night where the fire would have certainly gotten a lot worse before being discovered and could have potentially been devastating to my property and family. As it stands the car is scheduled to be repaired at a cost of nearly 1000.00, possibly more as we do not yet know if there was any damage caused to additional components within the vehicle by the pumps failure. I am the original owner and only driver of this vehicle. This car has been regularly maintained and was recently mechanically inspected last march. No issues were found with the vehicle at the time of it's last maintenance and inspection.

Filed Jul 27, 2011 · Steering · 40,540 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper. The contact stated that shortly after powering off the ignition, he noticed smoke coming from the steering pump. The fire department arrived and cut the battery line. The dealer did not offer any assistance. The manufacturer was aware of the failure. The contact replaced the steering pump. The current mileage was 40,746 and the approximate failure mileage was 40,540. Updated 9/13/11 *cn the consumer repalcd the pump, fluid and other small parts. Updated 01/23/12

Filed Jan 31, 2011 · Steering · 55,000 miles · TX

My 2005 mini cooper s suddenly lost power steering as I was driving almost causing an accident. I've not had it in for repairs yet, but researching on the internet it seems many consumers have had the same problem. I have even read of those whose car caught on fire and am fearful of the same happening to me not to mention the extremely high cost of repair. Mini should recall the 2005 and fix this issue.

Filed Oct 21, 2010 · Steering, Tires · 75,000 miles · TX

The power steering on my 2005 mini cooper s began malfunctioning on 8-9-2010. While going left on a mixmaster, the power steering failed and I thought I was going to hit the side of the bridge and perhaps drive off of the side of the bridge. The passenger in my car helped me steer (with force) to the left and drive to the straightaway. The power steering is intermittent, working five percent of the time. My car was serviced in june of 2010 due to a problem with the tension belt, which caused the car to have a burning smell and no air conditioning. The "service engine" light is on ten percent of the time and the "check tire pressure" light is on often, though I no longer have run-flat tires. My car is difficult to drive due to the lack of power steering. At the time of the first incident, my car had approximately 75,000 miles.