2005 MINI Cooper S: engine overheating

Filed Mar 12, 2020 · Engine, Steering · 75,000 miles · IA

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. The contact stated that while driving at 30 MPH, the vehicle overheated and smoke began coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where the water pump was replaced. After the repair, the power steering ceased without warning upon starting the vehicle. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 15v660000 (steering) as possible cause of the failure however, the VIN was not included. Mini of des moines located at (9900 hickman rd, des moines, ia 50325) was contacted and confirmed that the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 75,000.

Filed Jan 26, 2015 · Steering · 80,000 miles · MI

Power steering pump failed to turn off with vehicle. Resulted in battery being drained and ultimately loss of power steering. Power steering pump, fan, and fluid had to be replaced as a result of fan becoming seized, pump overheating and failing.

Filed Oct 29, 2014 · Steering · 94,253 miles · MI · crash

Power steering abruptly stopped working while cornering causing driver to use heavy manual force to corner the vehicle thru a tricky viaduct train bridge passageway. While midway into the turn, the power steering abruptly "kicked back on" causing the steering wheel to turn violently across lane and nearly into corner of cement wall holding up overhead train bridge. Other cars were missed, and driver stopped car with front bumper slightly touching viaduct cement wall. Wife and 7 year old child were on the impact side of vehicle. Vehicle was checked by an independent mechanic which noted the ehps power steering pump is failing. He cleaned the power steering pump and installed a new cooling fan on the power steering pump. The pump was overheated and packed with metal debris. Independent mechanic advised me to return to mini as potential recall issue which has been widely reported but refuted by mini. Power steering pump still has significant noise and is scheduled for review by a mini dealer.

Filed Jul 19, 2014 · Engine · 50,000 miles · SC

My problem is with a 2005 mini cooper s. Why is their not a recall on the water pump? It has been know for going out premature and bmw has redesigned the new pumps with a metal impeller instead of previous plastic. Talking to the dealer, they made me feel fortunate that my water pump made it to 50,000 miles stating they replace many water pumps in the 1st generation series around 20,000 miles. I strongly believe this is dangerous, as the failure can cause overheating and requires you to shut off the car, and sit on the side of the road. Cars are not made to over heat. This greatly increases the chance of a fire. Bmw knows they have a problem but is not recalling the water pumps until 2006-2011. I think the 1st generation minis should have the same recall as most minis including mine has/had a water pump issue and would like over a thousand dollars to have it replaced. I have caught mine early but only because I jack up my mini to clean the underbody about once a month. Mini coopers are well known for their water pumps, thermostats, and power steering, failing. I am 18 years old and would like to use this car to travel from south carolina to wisconsin in the future, yet if my coolant system (water pump or thermostat) could go out again at any time and cost a fortune to replace and leave me stranded on the side of a highway. I will be taking a plane every time I travel a few hundred miles and rent a car. This must be addressed! I just paid 1200 for mini to replace a water pump that should have had at the least 30-50 thousand miles more.

Filed May 9, 2012 · Engine · 80,000 miles · FL

My 2005 mini cooper s out of no where buried the needle on the thermostat and was completely overheated. Unable to drive any further as I smelt smoke and possibly a sweet smell coming from the engine. Had it towed to a mechanic and have now seen that this is an item that has been recalled on all mini coopers s from 2006 to 2011, I find it hard to believe that the 2005 does not have the same pump electrical circuit board etc. As those and I feel that my car should be also recalled for this item. Obviously, I can not drive it and the price is outrageous to fix it.

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 Mar 6, 2012 · Engine, Steering · 93,000 miles · FL

Over heating constantly no technical person knows of a remedy. Overflow tank blows out when car overheats constantly .this seems to be a problem since the beginning no matter what year the car was built and never remedied. Why not a recall? Not knowing what other damage this causes to the engine. This has to be a recall for the company to fix it is a hit and miss fix??? This is a costly process and even in the forums on mini it has been an ongoing issue. Front end fails all at the same time. (control arms, cv joints) steering becomes hard to control. Mini help

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 Dec 28, 2010 · Steering · 97,500 miles · SC

The power steering suddenly went out on my 2005 mini cooper s as I was about to turn right onto a highway on ramp. I felt the lack of power and continued straight so I could pull into a service station up ahead. The power steering was intermittent for a bit then totally out, leaving me with a 45 minute drive down the mountains to home without power steering. I have had multiple incidents of the power steering fan running after the car was off. Now it looks as if the fan is no longer cooling the pump causing it to overheat which could start a fire. I am planning to try to replace the fan soon but I am just a broke college student so I really hope this recall goes through.

Filed Feb 24, 2010 · Steering · MA · fire

Owner parked mini cooper at store went inside. While in store, heard over intercom that her vehicle was on fire. She went outside and saw flames underneath front of vehicle. Fire went out before fire department arrived. Investigation found that electro-hydraulic power steering system wiring had overheated and burned only - nothing else ignited. The damage was consistent with the previous ea analysis ea07-011 pertaining to 2002-2003 mini coopers.