The passenger seat occupancy sensor is weak and prone to failure. Mini does not cover replacement and charges $1200-$2000 to replace the part leading many owners, including myself to drive the car in an unsafe condition (low speed or non deploying airbags).
2006 MINI Cooper S electrical complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 23 of 23, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Traveling on highway at 70mph and instrument panel lights up, speeds drops to maximum 30mph creating unsafe driving condition. First occurrence march 2012 was diagnosed as failed "throttle body", second occurrence in july 2012 was diagnosed as failed "wiring harness".
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 mini cooper s. The contact was traveling 60 MPH when all of the lights along the dashboard illuminated and the vehicle abnormally accelerated. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the mechanic confirmed that the tachometer needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted and the vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 54,000 and the current mileage was 55,000. ..updated 07/11/12 *bf the contact was traveling 60 MPH when all of the warning lights on the dashboard illuminated. The vehicle then changed down to 2nd gear( the vehicle has six forward gears) causing huge acceleration and then slowing of the vehicle of the vehicle. After extensive diagnostic work by the mechanic, it was determined that the tachometer had failed which caused the vehicle to downshift to 2nd gear. The failure also necessitated the replacement of the transmission.
Executing a left turn and all of a sudden the power steering went out. Was unable to control the car due to the fact that I was not expecting this issue. Damage front right side of car against curb. I have learned that this is a serious problem. This issue needs to be addressed on a recall!
Plethora of electrical problems. Heated seats are a major concern. They go on and off by themselves, seem haunted. Sometimes, they get so hot they leave burn marks in my legs. I am afraid of an electrical fire. The heated seats get so hot, they left burn marks in my seat. Aisin 6 speed automatic transmission, equipped with "lifetime" fluid, begins slipping gears at 70k the supercharger had to be replaced due to the "design" of the supercharger it could not be repaired, I was forced by bmwusa to purchase a remanufactured supercharger. I was told it was a "common problem" I have also found out from forums such as northamericanmotoring.com this is a problem that bmw does not want to admit its at fault for however they are acknowledging the widespread happenings across the country. The availability of new superchargers is very low because of this problem, hence me purchasing a remfgd one. Rear wiper motor failed at 40k quoted hundreds to replace, not worth it!!!!!
On 29sep2007, my 2006 mini cooper s was serviced to perform the low mileage service at 3,354 miles. The car was not driven on 30sep2007. On 01oct2007, the car was driven a distance of approximately one mile each way to a bus stop. The car was parked overnight in the garage beneath my townhouse. At 6:00 am on 02oct2007, when I want to the lower level of my townhouse and opened the door to the garage, I saw that the garage was filled a "foggy smoke" and there was a "burning odor". The police were called to investigate the cause of the smoke. As the smoke began to spread into the upper level of my home, the fire dept was called as back-up. The firemen located the source under the hood of my car and determined the smoke to be from a "burned power steering belton the vehicle in the garage". The firemen moved the car to the parking lot and disconnected the battery. I was instructed to have the car towed to the dealership. I told the dealership that this vehicle was defective and would no longer feel safe diving the car. They agreed to replace the car with a new 2007 mini cooper s ([xxx]). I was LED to believe that mine was an "isolated incident" but have now become aware that others have had similar problems with mini cooper s from 2007-2009. When I contacted the dealer, I was advised to not park my car in the garage until the cause of the problem has been determined or if there is a recall. I now am not parking in the garage. I am submitting this report on the 2007 incident since it was never reported and I am afraid that the rate of occurrence may be under-reported. Thank you. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
I have a 2006 mini cooper. Recently, complete power to the vehicle has been lost while the vehicle is in operation. This has occurred twice over the past month. The vehicle was being operated on a paved city street at speeds of approximately 20-25 miles per hour when the power failures occurred. The vehicle was required to be brought to a complete stop before power to the vehicle could be restored. The vehicle was taken to an authorized mini cooper repair center (niello mini, sacramento, ca) on 07/26/11. The dealership could find no faults with the vehicle and had us drive the vehicle off the lot "as is" with instructions to bring it back in for further testing if the problem happened again. Next time could be too late as this problem could cause an accident to occur.
Sudden complete loss of power steering. Several days after the original battery failed and was replaced, there was a continuing sound like a fan or electric motor running constantly. This noise continued until the power steering ceased completely during a parking maneuver. After the steering failed the previously noted noise stopped.
I was driving home from work and the charge circuit light came on and I smelled a heated electrical smell. The power steering had cut out, shortly after, the engine temperature began to rise. I turned the car off, then back on and drove home. After some research, it seems that this model mini cooper have power steering pumps that fail around 70,000 miles. I drove to my job on sunday, and the car made the round trip, except just before getting home, the failure occurred again. I have not been able to take the car to a mechanic yet.
Driving on highway about 60 MPH. Extremely loud screeching burst of sound occurred. Sound was similar to smoke detector test sound, lasting about a second, but horribly loud, especially in a small enclosed area with the windows up. Nearly had an accident. Our ears hurt badly (I still feel some soreness a day later, as I now write. Similar occurrences for mini cooper noted in web forums, referencing a possible stereo amplifier problem. Our radio was not on. Fortunately the dealer was open (on sunday) and we have an appointment scheduled today. From what I've researched on the internet, we are not the only ones victimized by this issue. We are actually fearful and uncomfortable driving the car, worrying that at any time this could occur again. This is an unnecessary hardship and distraction that keeps us from paying full attention to safely driving the car. Until the dealer can specifically explain what the problem is and perform whatever work is need to guarantee it won't happen again, I do not feel safe driving this one-year-old car, being concerned that I'll have an accident if it happens again. This is without question a serious safety issue. If I still feel soreness in my left ear later today, I plan to contact my doctor.
Purchased a 2007 mini cooper in april of this year, and there are two issues they refuse to look at or fix: 1. The speedometer registers 7% faster than the actual speed. 2. The odometer registers 1% more than the actual mileage. They claim both of these are within acceptable levels.
I have a 2006 mini cooper john cooper wroks gp. The dsc (directional stability control), low tire warning light, and ABS (anti lock braking) warning lights came on as I traveled on the interstate. No incident occurred to cause a failure. The ABS and dsc systems do not work, or work inappropriately. Discussing this with other mini cooper owners with the so called works brakes, I find out it is a frequent problem.
Dt*: the contact owns a 2006 mini cooper model s. Three days after purchase at 130 miles the vehicle stalled and operated at a reduced speed while attempting to accelerate. Although the vehicle did not stall out completely, the vehicle was towed to the dealer. The dealer reprogrammed the computer software. Afterwards, the contact was pulling into a parking space with brake pressure applied, the engine roared and the vehicle lurched forward and struck a tree. The police were on the scene and a report was taken. The vehicle sustained minor damage, but no injuries were sustained. The vehicle was towed to a dealer. The dealer performed a diagnostic test and was unable to duplicate the problem. The service department suggested replacing the engine. *ak updated 3/3/2006 -
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