The power steering pump stopped working the first time when I stopped to get a sandwich. When I restarted the car to drive off the steering was very heavy. I shut the engine off once again so I could look under the hood to check things out but everything looked fine so I restarted the engine to try to drive off again and the steering still was very heavy. No power assist. This has happened four times since, one time while I was driving.
2005 MINI Cooper S steering complaints
Page 3 of 8: complaints 41 to 70 of 212, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The power steering pump on my 2005 mini cooper s failed, making it extremely difficult to maneuver the car safely in traffic. I was able to get the car to a service shop and later discovered that this is a very common problem. I called mini, and they told me that the VIN number for my car was not one covered by the extended warranty for this problem, even though my car is a model year 2005. They offered no financial assistance whatsoever to help me replace the part. A new part was quoted as 1300 dollars, and that was aside from the labor. For cost reasons, it looks like I will have to install a refurbished part instead, which gives me concerns about future failures.
I was on my way back to work from lunch in my 2005 mini cooper s and my power steering suddenly and without warning failed in the middle of a curve! I fortunately managed to regain control of the vehicle and limp to the parking lot to pull over. Then, I turned the car off to get out, and discovered my power steering pump was still running even with the car completely off!? I was afraid that this would cause a meltdown or fire, so I quickly called a mini dealer to ask how to shut the pump off. I was told that the battery had to be disconnected! The battery had to remain disconnected while the car was off or the pump would run continuously. I did not feel the car was safe to drive at this point. My power steering was now unpredictably intermittent when the car was running. The power steering would suddenly fail and then suddenly come back on, causing a jerk-and-swerve reaction in the steering wheel for me while driving. So I called mini USA to report the problem, and I towed the vehicle to a mini dealer. The mini dealer diagnosed the problem to be the known power steering failure covered by the extended warranty on the power steering pump and associated pump cooling fan for model years 2002-2005 for up to 13 years/150,000 miles. But mini USA denied coverage despite my car only having approx 70,000 miles, claiming that they stopped coverage after feb 2005 because the newly designed replacement parts were installed after feb 2005. My car was built in may 2005 and was proven by the mini dealer to have the original faulty power steering parts, not the newly designed parts. I am reporting this as a known potentially dangerous safety issue that should instead be a safety recall, rather than this extended warranty that mini USA does not properly advertise or honor, so that all mini owners will get their steering checked before anything bad happens.
While I was driving, my power steering suddenly cut off completely. Luckily, I was close to home, but it was almost impossible to parallel park my car. The next day, the power steering worked again.
Problem of power assist failing causing steering to become difficult. Only happens after been on highway for more than 15 minutes. Very similar to other reports on 2004-2005 mini cooper s's reporting this problem.
Temporary loss of power steering.
Power steering pump failed while driving. It is a combination electro/hydraulic pump. Electrical burn smell was evident. I almost got in an accident, and luckily there was no car in the other lane or I would have hit them. Canada has made bmw mini recall these as it is a common problem.
While driving on a 2 lane 2 way (1 per direction) rural road very windy on my daily commute into my office I lost power steering. I was on a straightaway and luckily not in a curve because the steering instantly became tight and at low speeds is almost unable to steer. I say almost because I I am able to drive with great effort and attention however any evasive movement for an emergency may cause me to be involved in an accident. I have seen mimi had a recall for the exact issue in canada but has not had a recall in the USA while we are having the exact problems. Mini also changed the steering pump/fan/wiring in the 2006 models which is the last year of production on the exact model I own. Obviously they (mini) is aware and tried to fix the issue on their end without a recall.
During the first incident I was driving in town, suddenly the steering had a hard resistant making it difficult to do a right turn. I had to muscle the wheel in order to keep from veering into oncoming traffic. When I pulled the vehicle over to do an under the hood inspection and check the steering fluid level, I saw nothing that indicate damage. Once I restart the vehicle, it seem to correct itself. I though was it was maybe a fluke. Later on, my wife indicated she heard a whining noise that came from under the hood, and ask me to look into it. After looking it over, I add some belt dressing, because I thought could have been the problem. In the meantime I made several calls to the mini dealership in tempe, az. The service manager stated this noise could be several indicators, such as an aging steering pump, a mixture of non-recommended fluid in the reservoir or the pump could be going out. I dismissed the mix fluid indicator, because the levels were always within range and to my knowledge was never tampered with or topped off. As several months went by, the vehicle continue to operate without incident, other than the whining noise, which was heard when the vehicle was started for the first time of the day, or while the vehicle was running in idle. Recently, my wife call me from work and indicated while she was driving to work for the 2nd time, the steering seem to lock and was difficult to steer. She manage to drive home without injury to herself or others. That same day, when I looked over the vehicle for leaks, damage or fluid levels and the vehicle steering again locked in place. After a little research, I found this has been a major safety issue with the 2004 and 2005 mini coopers, which has been acknowledged by mini of canada who issued a recall. On the flip side, mini corp in the us and local dealers do not. Please advise with a reply.
The power steering in my car has failed continuously. We had the entire rack replaced in 2011 - the steering fluid constantly leaks, or burns dry - for the last few months, the power steering pump does not stop running when the vehicle is parked - requiring for the battery to be disconnected at every stop, or risk a dead battery.
I made a left turn at a light and the power steering quit working in the middle of the turn. The steering became very heavy and I thought I had a flat tire. I pulled over and checked the fluid and the level was correct. I continued driving and the steering was fine.
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.
The power steering pump suddenly went out on my 2005 mini cooper s. Fortunately for me (although this easily could have been tragically unfortunate for someone else) this happened in a school zone, which means I was driving very slowly. But with little children around this could have been extremely dangerous. In doing some research I find this sudden power steering failure is a common problem on early mini coopers. The pump has been recalled in canada, but why not in the u.s.a? Can you tell me why this is not a recall item here?
Power steering failed as I was making a right hand turn from one street to another. While 1/2 way into the turn the steering no longer responded and started to go straight into oncoming opposing traffic. It took quite a bit of effort to yank the steering wheel and avoid a crash (much more effort than steering my 54 chevy pick up truck). Had car towed to bmw/mini dealer - diagnosed as "power steering pump shorting". Cost of repairs to replace power steering pump (including new p/s hoses): $1977.62.
Power steering failed at freeway speed. Driver narrowly escaped accident at freeway speed. Power steering pump total failure. Someone will die unless this issue is addressed.
Was driving along the road and came up on a turn when the steering locked up. Put all of my weight into the steering wheel to keep from jumping the median. Scared the life out of me. Immediately pulled over to figure out what happened. Turned the car off, then back on and it seemed fine. Then getting on the freeway, I was on the clover-leaf and it locked up again so I put all of my weight into it again, then it suddenly released. With the sudden jerk/movement (and it has done this a few times) someday I know it will cause the car to flip. The power steering seems to work in phases: it will be fine for a couple days, then its intermittent/gone for a week or 2. The past few days, it has sounded like the engine fan was engaged even though I had not been for a strenuous drive. I think it was actually the pump not turning off when the car was turned off. This morning I got to my car to find the battery completely drained... An apparent short in the power steering pump (and/or fan) killed it.
While driving my mini cooper s '05, I suddenly lost power steering, which made it extremely difficult to steer. I feel threatened driving my car.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. The contact stated that while attempting to turn, the steering wheel failed to respond. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic were it was found that the power steering pump failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the issue and offered no assistance. The failure and current mileages were 59,895. Updated 1/29/13 *cn updated 2/7/2013
The power steering went out and was virtually impossible to steer.
I was driving down the freeway attempting to change lanes when I noticed that my steering wheel suddenly became very difficult to turn and maneuver, as if the power steering feature had been disabled. Initially, I thought it was just the surface of the road making handling of the car difficult, but the problem continued to persist even after I exited the freeway. While performing left-turns and right-turns on the side streets, I had to exert tremendous labor to complete the turn, and on a couple of occasions I almost hit adjacent cars on the road because I couldn't forcibly turn the steering wheel enough. When I arrived at my destination, I turned off my engine, re-started it, and to my relief and amazement, the steering wheel became easy to maneuver again, without a trace of the steering problems that had just occurred.
The power steering goes out intermittently.
While driving through a residential area, the wheel of the car became very hard to turn. It was determined that the electric hydraulic power steering pump (ehps) was malfunctioning. The fan of the ehps was not disengaging when the car ignition was turned off, therefore running down the battery and causing the ehps to not work correctly. The next day, with the same ehps, the power steering was working fine.
I was exiting the interstate and the ramp curved to the right, as I began to negotiate the curve I noticed I had no power steering at all. I reached my destination about 15 minutes later and had no power steering assistance at all the entire time. I parked the vehicle and did not use it again until 9/3/12 and the steering appeared to be working properly again. In reading the investigative study I noted that it may be due to an error in the internal electronics and may also result in a continuous running of the power steering pump. Last year almost to the day, the electrical system went haywire and the car would not steer and had what seemed like power surge and after shutting the car off and removing the key the car continued to make a clicking sound and the windows rolled down by themselves. I could not get the car to restart and had it towed to the dealer and was told to replace the battery,which I did, I now wonder if that was a related incident.
The passenger air bag weight sensor stop working. As a result my vehicle displays a warning that the passenger side air bags are off. My driver side fog light housing melted and crack apart. I used stock 55w halogen bulbs. My passenger side fog light housing has also begun to melt. My power steering is not leaking now. But it has been replaced 3 times.
Right after exiting the highway, the steering wheel became suddenly very stiff as I was making a standard 90 turn. I almost hit the car next to me but didn't as I managed to hit the brakes. I finished the curve on the very last lane on the right. If a car had been on my way, it would have been a crash, fortunately there was none. Mini diagnosed a power steering pump failure. Browsing on the web, I came across pages of people having had the same issue for this year's model (mini cooper s 2005). Canadian authorities even ordered a recall for this exact same failure. I have also read that the federal safety agency is currently studying this issue; could you please confirm this is true any idea how long is the process to decide whether or not a recall will be decided if a recall was decided, would we get reimburse not matter the repair was done in a mini dealer or an independent garage ? Thank you
My power steering went out while I was making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic. I managed to avoid hitting the curb and pulled over after completing the turn. It felt like driving with four flat tires. After restarting, the power steering worked again. The same thing happened again two days later. In both cases, this happened shortly after starting up.
The first time my power steering went out I was at a stop sign. I was making a right turn and had difficulty making the turn. The power steering went out again another time when I was in the middle of a turn, making it difficult to turn. I was fortunate there were no other cars around. Today, 8/20/2012 is the most recent day that it went out. I was driving at approximately 35 MPH and making a left turn when I noticed it was out. I have figured out that if I turn off my car it comes back on. Luckily I had to stop before getting onto the freeway so I was able to control my car at high speeds.
The power steering went out while driving the vehicle. It has occurred intermittently since then.
Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. The contact stated that power steering failed. In addition, the vehicle was unable to be started. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who advised that the failure caused damage to the electrical system, which had become inoperable. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 105,916 and the current mileage was 105,960.
Power steering assist fails repeatedly. Solution has been to stop car and restarted engine; seems to reset pump electronics. This intermittent power steering failure has happened dozens of times in the 3 years we've owned the car and can be very dangerous if driver is not aware of the change in steering ability. We're going to have to replace the pump I believe and with all the other complaints about this problem I feel mini/bmw should view this as a manufacturer defect and cover under warranty -- it is clearly a dangerous part and poor design.
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