2006 MINI Cooper S engine problems

Filed May 15, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · 71,056 miles · MD · fire

I was driving on the road my I turned the AC on and about 20min of me riding in the vehicle me and my infant son my my vehicle started smoking under the hood heavy white smoke under the hood of the 2006 mini cooper s. My car began to loose power while engine bay still heavily smoking I managed to get car in a nearby dealership get my son and I out of the car I put water on the side of the engine that was burning to keep the rest of the car from burning up.the rest of the car I had to call my insurance company the car wont do anything at all the electric system or the wires burnt under the hood.

Filed Jul 24, 2014 · Engine · 60,000 miles · CA

Loud noise/rattle at idle. Loose camshaft timing chain due to tensioner failure. It would appear from several forums that this is fairly common problem that dealers are refusing to fix since warranty is expired.

Filed Nov 5, 2013 · Driver assistance, Engine · 70,000 miles · TX

In april 2013 I was merging onto highway i20 with my children in the back of my mini cooper s 2006. As I was speeding up to merge onto the highway the car completely cut off. I veered over into a median in the middle of six lanes of high-speed traffic. The car had completely shut off, even the hazard lights. I was very lucky that the median was there and that I had not yet entered the main stream of traffic. The police came, then a friend. After about a half hour it restarted without power steering and he was able to slowly drive it, and he fixed a belt that he said had looked like it had blown out. About four times in the year prior to this the car had cut off, but not while I was driving; it shut down as I was pulling out of a parking spot but then immediately restarted. No one could explain it. After the april incident I went to the mini cooper dealer and spent close to $3000 to ensure that the car was safe for my children. However, yesterday, 11/5/13, I was backing out of a parking spot and the car completely shut down. I called the dealership for assistance and they said they had never heard of this kind of problem and couldn't help; fortunately the car restarted about ten minutes later. However, I am extremely concerned that this car is unsafe and I have heard from an acquaintance who also has a mini cooper s 2006 who said this has happened to her, that something random happened with her car and it completely shut down while she was driving. She told me that there was a recall, but I called mini corporate today, and was told there was no recall and referred me to the federal safety agency.

Filed Apr 7, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 7,300 miles · CA · fire

As I turn on the engine, battery light came on, 5 seconds later, engine started to smoke. I turned off the engine. Engine won't turn back on and lost all power, steering wheel won't turn. Before this incident, gear would shift up and down on it's own while I'm driving. Very dangerous!

Filed Dec 26, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · NY · fire

Driving at 55 MPH on parkway. Engine made clunk and lost power. Pulled car onto shoulder and started with white smoke under hood, progressing to black smoke and flame. Exited car at first sign of smoke. Car burned in engine compartment, moved into cabin. Final damage was a total. Front end of car is completely burned. Fire in cabin melted dashboard, moved across and melted ceiling, and melted front windshield. Took pictures of final damages at garage following incident.

Filed Nov 15, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 93,000 miles · CA

Driving on the freeway when I felt the car jerk forward and then it felt as if the automatic transmission was slipping in and out of gears. Managed to pull off the freeway and drive to the local mini dealership, which was luckily about a mile down the road. Was told by dealership the problem was transmission failure and was quoted $9,000 repair cost. When I asked the mechanic why the transmission had failed this early, told me they had no idea. However, when I asked another employee how many other cars had they seen with transmission problems, he reluctantly admitted "quite a few".

Filed Oct 25, 2012 · Engine · 67,500 miles · IL

Was driving on highway at app. 60 MPH, downshifted to pass and eml light came on and power to car was greatly reduced. Found out it was a broken crankshaft vibration dampener. Notified dealer and was told that there was no warranty or recall on this issue. Quite expensive to repair also. Contacted mini of USA and was told that it had to be diagnosed by a mini dealer for any possible assistance, but was not guaranteed that assistance would be provided.

Filed Feb 12, 2012 · Engine, Fuel system · 7,308 miles · NJ

Brand new vehicle was towed in for repair at 7,308 miles 1/27/10 vehicle was brought in for service due to misfires 1/27/810. Mini service cleaned fuel system and provided "courtesy" first time injector service. Vehicle was returned to me and brought back the next day for the same misfire faults 2/2/10, high pressure fuel pump was replaced and fuel rail was removed. 7,318 miles, 10 miles later... The vehicle was towed in again for combustion misfires 24,491 miles 8/12/11 brought vehicle in for strange noise, mini said it was nothing to worry about. 24,783 miles 8/18/11 vehicle was towed in due to engine seizing...turbo carbon build up, turbo feed line issues 33,124 miles 01/31/12 vehicle was making noises, brought in to service, mini said they would need to inspect the car closer to see what was going on. I scheduled a service and loaner for 2/1/12 (report said that there were misfire issues, I was not informed...until I noticed it on the report a week later) 33,250 miles 2/1/12 vehicle was towed in engine seized, engine completely replaced. Mini claims that this is not a lemon in any way and that I will need to continue to pay for my lease until the contract end. I feel unsafe driving a car, with a track record of seizing or misfiring at any time on a highway or road, putting me in a very dangerous situation.

Filed Jan 25, 2012 · Engine, Steering · 19,650 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 mini cooper s. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving 5 MPH. Upon restart, the vehicle would operate as normal. The contact also stated that the steering wheel would intermittently seize. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 19,650. Updated 03/05/12*lj the consumer stated the vehicle was ultimately taken to the dealer for a diagnosis. However, they were unable to determine the cause of the stalling. Updated 03/06/12

Filed Jan 20, 2012 · Engine · 92,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 mini cooper s. The contact heard an abnormal grinding noise when accelerating at any speed. The dealer advised the contact to bring the vehicle in for diagnostic testing but the manufacturer was not notified. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who advised the contact to replace the super charger assembly, water pump assembly, bypass valve, and the anti freeze. No repairs were performed. The current and the failure mileages were 92,000.