2007 MINI Cooper S: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed May 5, 2025 · Electrical · 140,000 miles · AR

The contact owns a 2007 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that water was entering the vehicle through the sunroof. The contact stated that the water was collecting inside the headliner and would overflow and leak down the driver’s and passenger’s side sun visors and into the electronics of the footwell. Additionally, the front driver’s and passenger’s seats, floorboards, and dashboard would become soaked from moisture. Due to the failure, the vehicle would fail to start or operate as needed. Upon investigation, the contact discovered the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V337000 (Electrical System); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. An independent mechanic was notified about the failure and the contact was advised to park the vehicle outside as the failure could cause the vehicle to catch on fire. The manufacturer was then notified of the failure and the contact was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

Filed May 5, 2020 · Body, Electrical · 92,000 miles · KY · fire

Vehicle was stationary in my driveway, was not started and was unattended, had not been started in over a week and keys were not in the vehicles. The vehicle spontaneously burst into flames which burned the engine bay and front end of the car before the fire dept. Arrived and extinguished the fire with foam. The car had been sitting unstarted for over a week. I am unsure of what caused the fire and because of the extensive damage to the engine bay I could not determine were the fire originated. Perhaps a professional fire examiner could determine that. I am blessed that this did not happen while parked in my garage but was scary. I just want this incident on record so that others which own this particular type of vehicle can be warned about the potential dangers. I have owned this vehicle since new and had a couple of updates done per bmw such as the tailpipes and timing chain in the engine. I was not aware of any additional recalls or updates but apparently there have been some incidences of fires such as mine which I learned about after searching the internet to see if similar issues had been documented. I will attach a few pictures for you to help with your assessment. Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope this information will be some help to others in preventing a similar situation. I thank god no one was injured or property damaged other than my car. The fire department made a report but it did not include investigating the cause just a response to a fire.

Filed Feb 25, 2019 · Engine · 153,368 miles · NC · fire

The turbocharger had to be replaced, new turbo got hot and melted the valve cover. Then the turbocharger caught fire while in motion in a rural neighborhood. All within 6 months.

Filed Dec 30, 2014 · Engine · 107,000 miles · WA · fire

In 2013 my mini started to overheat. I had the fluids checked and everything was ok. I drove approx., 10 miles and the car completely overheated, the oil light came on and the car smoked and almost caught on fire. I had it towed to the dealership (mini northwest in fife wa,) they said there were no recalls and I needed a new motor and cooling system. I paid 7500$$ for a new engine installed by the mini dealership in july 2013 at my own expense. On dec, 23rd 2014 I drove my mini approx. 12 miles and parked the car in the driveway. The car was not overheating, no warning lights came on, 15 minutes later the car had flames shooting out from the hood. Fire extinguisher would not put out the fire. The car then moved approx. 5 feet forward up against the house and became completely engulfed. The tires blew up the sunroof blew up and then the back window blew out. The car is a complete loss. Mini claims they have never heard of this before, yet there are several articles of the same thing happening to other cars, including a class action suit and recalls.

Filed Mar 9, 2014 · Body, Electrical · 67,000 miles · WA · fire

Was driving car downtown at a speed on average of 15 MPH. Trip only lasted 15 minutes when I parked and noticed smoke coming from my hood. Smoke quickly escalated into a fire. Called 911 to have fire trucks out. Grabbed a fire extinguisher from a nearby business to try to put out the flames, but was unable to even while spraying directly at the flames. Firemen had to pry open the hood to get to the engine to put out the fire. Car engine was totaled.

Filed Jan 15, 2014 · Electrical · 75,000 miles · AZ

While driving in my neighborhood I noticed a burning smell and a little smoke coming from under the hood. I pulled into my garage and popped the hood to find the oil feed line to the turbo had leaked oil all over the turbo and was burning off. I know the problem is a faulty line that uses rubber washers and over time heat from the turbo causes them to fail. In 2010 mini put in a heat shield to protect the line, acknowledging the problem. This needs to be addressed properly, to many pre 2010 cooper s are having this problem.

Filed May 8, 2013 · Engine, Fuel system · 89,900 miles · AZ

I have been experiencing a major flaw with oil supply/return lines to the turbo. A condition exists where if left unattended and uncared for creates the high risk of fire and subsequent loss of engine/vehicle. This event can happen at any time the car is being driven and/or later parked. The risk is created when oil accumulates, either through time or over a leisure drive, and collects near/on the exhaust manifold & turbo components, both of which operate at extremely high temperatures. It is becoming a daily task to look under the car hood and investigate for accumulation of oil near these parts due to the fact that the car smells of burning petroleum. Need I be more apparent of burning oil that will burn and destroy a car due to a faulty product? This has been occurring for the majority life of the car but he issue has never been professionally addressed due to disregard of the mini/bmw dealerships to accept this design flaw. If researched further, there are many standard examples of this design flaw and numerous descriptions, images, examples, forums, and complaints of this flaw occurring in many cars of various styles, mileage, and trims occurring within the same year model of 2007. I have also experience many of the major flaws already listed and complained about on the federal safety agency such as the ??death rattle?? Belt tensioner failing (luckily no catastrophic engine failure and which has been listed numerous times on the federal safety agency, numerous), valve cover replacement (also listed), etc. The federal safety agency, address this problem as it is an avid and dangerous safety issue. The common person does not check under the hood daily and its only time before someone parks their mini in a garage and the home goes down in flames. I personally don??t park the mini in the garage for fear of fire. Do not repair the mini with the same faulty oil line design. Recall design.

Filed Aug 24, 2012 · Engine · 60,800 miles · IL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 mini cooper s. While driving approximately 35 MPH the contact noticed a burning odor. The contact stopped the vehicle on the shoulder and noticed small flames and smoke coming from under the hood. The contact was able to extinguish the fire with a blanket. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing where the technician stated that the oil return line that was connected to the turbo charger had began leaking oil and caused the fire. The vehicle was repaired however, after the repair the contact was driving approximately 65 MPH when the vehicle suddenly stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer a second time for diagnostic testing. The technician then stated that the turbo charger and the engine would have to be replaced. The technician stated that the turbo charger could have been damaged during the fire. In addition, the contact had previously experienced intermittent stalling and the vehicle was taken to the dealer where the timing belt tensioner was replaced. The approximate failure mileage was 60,800.

Filed Apr 17, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 70,000 miles · CA

Timing belt tensioner failed resulting in slack in the timing belt. Final result was the timing belt slack contacted plastic chain guards which broke off and lodged inside the engine. After being towed to mini service, they recommended replacing the entire engine. This is a safety issue because the critical timing chain failure LED to premature engine failure. There was a strong smell of smoke and I had initial concern that the car was going to catch on fire. I was lucky that the incident did not occur while driving in traffic as I would have been stuck on the road without any power endangering myself and other drivers. Mini is well aware of the issue with the timing belt tensioner, but has failed to proactively address the issue. The service manager at mini even has a bag full of bent rods at his desk that he showed me and told me he has had multiple cars come in with the same issue.

Filed Apr 10, 2012 · Transmission · 33,849 miles · AL

I bought this 2007 mini cooper s pre owned about 1 month ago. This car had approx. 32000 miles on it when I purchased it. After driving the car for a few days I noticed a burning smell like rubber or plastic. I complained to the man who sold this car to me and he had the turbo water pump replaced through the recall due to overheating. Heat in the motor reaching more than 225 degrees can destroy many other parts on this car! Now after the turbo water pump replacement the car continues to smell like burning plastic and he says it must take a while for the odor to leave the car. Two weeks later the car begins loosing power and acts like it has no clutch. I am an experienced driver and have owned many cars with manual gears. This car is now in the shop for repairs, a burned out clutch, and could even be transmission problems that are very premature and so many other people have had the same problem with this year make and model car. Why can't something be done to help those who were cheated by owning such a troublesome car. This car also had the timing chain replaced a very low mileage!

Filed Mar 19, 2012 · Engine · 59,000 miles · NJ · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 mini cooper s. While driving 15 MPH, the contact noticed smoke coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The contact called the fire department who was able to extinguish the fire. The dealer serviced the vehicle under the federal safety agency campaign id number: 12v008000 (engine and engine cooling) one day prior to the failure. The remedy however, failed to prevent the vehicle fire. The manufacturer had not been notified of the failure. The vehicle was destroyed. A police report was filed. The current and the failure mileages were 59,000.

Filed Nov 9, 2011 · Electrical · 42,000 miles · MA · fire

As I shut the engine off I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. Opened the hood to find a fire to the front of the engine coming from electrical wires. Was able to put out the fire with out too much damage and disconnected the battery to eliminate power to the troubled area.car is being towed to mini cooper of peabody massachusetts.