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.
2007 MINI Cooper S engine problems
173 complaints (69% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 52,000.
- owner complaints
- 173
- of this car's complaints
- 69%
- typical mileage
- 52,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 3
Which part fails
- Engine15
- Exhaust system8
- Engine: gasoline: turbo/supercharger2
- Exhaust system: manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe1
- Engine: gasoline1
- Engine: diesel1
- Cooling system1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
MINI Cooper S engine problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2007 MINI Cooper S engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Engine failure 36Check engine light 30Stalling 18Knocking 12Loss of power 9Oil consumption 6Won't start 6Misfire 5Overheating 5
Related recalls
Engine and engine cooling: engine: gasoline: turbo/supercharger
- What is wrong
- BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2011-2012 BMW 550i, 550i xDrive, 550i Gran Turismo, 550i Gran Turismo xDrive, 750i, 750Li, 750i xDrive, 750Li xDrive, 760Li, X5 xDrive50i, X5 M, X6 xDrive50i, X6 M, ActiveHybrid7, MINI Cooper S Convertible, John Cooper Works (JCW) Convertible, Cooper S Countryman, Cooper S Countryman ALL4, Cooper S, JCW, Cooper S Clubman, JCW Clubman, Cooper S Roadster, JCW Roadster, Cooper S Coupe, JCW Coupe and Rolls-Royce Ghost, 2011 BMW X6 Hybrid and 2012 BMW 650i Coupe, 650i xDrive Coupe, 650i Convertible and 650i xDrive Convertible vehicles. The electric auxiliary water pump may fail and cause the circuit board to overheat.
- Risk
- If the circuit board were to overheat, it can increase the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the electric auxiliary water pump, free of charge. Depending on the model, there are currently limited parts available, however not all parts are available at this time. Owners will be notified of the recall beginning June 11, 2018, and will receive a second notification when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact BMW customer service at BMW 1‑800‑525‑7417, MINI at 1‑866‑825‑1525, or Rolls-Royce at 1‑877‑877‑3735. Note: BMW recommends that owners park their vehicle outdoors until the recall remedy has been performed.
Recall number 18V248000 · Recall details
Engine and engine cooling: engine: gasoline: turbo/supercharger
- What is wrong
- Bmw is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 mini cooper s, 2008-2011 mini cooper s clubman, 2009-2011 mini cooper s convertible, 2009-2011 mini cooper jcw, 2009-2011 mini cooper jcw clubman, 2009-2011 cooper jcw convertible, and 2011 cooper s countryman passenger cars manufactured from november 14, 2006, through january 18, 2011. The electric auxiliary water pump that cools the turbocharger has an electronic circuit board that can malfunction and overheat.
- Risk
- The circuit board may smolder which could result in a vehicle fire.
- Remedy
- Bmw will notify owners, and dealers will replace the water pump free of charge. The safety recall beganduring february 2012. Owners may contact bmw at 1‑866‑275‑6464.
Recall number 12V008000 · Recall details
Engine and engine cooling: exhaust system: manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe
- What is wrong
- Bmw is recalling 28,450 my 2007-2008 mini cooper s vehicles. The centrally located tailpipe extension protrudes slightly beyond the rear bumper. It is possible for inadvertent contact to occur with a person's leg.
- Risk
- If the tailpipe extension is hot during inadvertent contact, a burn could occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the tailpipe with a new shorter tailpipe free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during january 2009. Owners may contact bmw at 1‑866‑275‑6464.
Recall number 08V657000 · Recall details
Related investigations
Engine compartment fire
In a January 10, 2012 letter to the federal safety agency, BMW of North America, LLC. (BMW) submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) identifying a defect in the electric auxiliary water pump in approximately 88,911 model year (MY) 2007-2011 Mini Cooper vehicles manufactured from November 14, 2006 through January 18, 2011 (Recall 12V‑008).According to BMW, the auxiliary water pump on vehicles equipped with 4-cylinder turbocharged engines may overheat.Electro-migration can cause the pump electronic circuit board to overheat resulting in smoldering of the water pump. If smoldering occurs, it may lead to an engine compartment or vehicle fire.The pump supplier, Pierburg Pump Technology GmbH, redesigned the pump to address factors that may contribute to circuit board overheating.The redesigned pumps were completely implemented in production vehicles by January 2011.Recall 12V‑008 was the third recall initiated by BMW to address electric auxiliary water pump fires in vehicles equipped with Pierburg pumps.In two October 20, 2011 letters to the federal safety agency, BMW submitted DIRs for similar auxiliary water pump defect conditions in approximately 32,084 MY 2008-2011 BMW 5-Series, 7-Series, X5 and X6 models equipped with 8- and 12-cylinder engines and manufactured from May 2008 through December 2010 (Recall 11V‑521); and for approximately 589 MY 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost vehicles manufactured from September 2009 through September 2010 (Recall 11V‑522).In three separate April 5, 2012 letters to the federal safety agency, BMW submitted amendments to Recalls 11V‑521, 11V‑522 and 12V‑008.The amendments all described a common defect condition related to a manufacturing process deviation in a certain production range of the redesigned Pierburg water pumps that could result in cracks in the pump housing, which may allow coolant to enter and contact the pump?s circuit board.BMW indicated that further analysis identified a specific machine process error at the sub-supplier that manufactures the water pump housing.Pump housing cracks may cause the circuit board to overheat and lead to smoldering of the water pump.Recall 12V‑008 was, thus, amended to include approximately 1,457 MY 2011 Mini Cooper vehicles manufactured from March 31, 2011 through April 22, 2011, when pumps manufactured with the suspect manufacturing process may have been used in vehicle assembly.The amendment to Recall 11V‑521 was assigned a new recall number, Recall 12V‑161, and covered approximately 2,846 MY 2011-2012 BMW 5-Series, 6-Series, 7-Series, X5, and X6 vehicles manufactured from April 1, 2011 through August 1, 2011.The amendment to Recall 11V‑522 was assigned a new recall number, Recall 12V‑166, and covered approximately 69 MY 2011 Rolls-Royce Ghost vehicles manufactured from April 7, 2011 through June 2, 2011.The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) analyzed complaint data provided by BMW as well as complaints submitted to ODI from consumers. In total, there were 30 unique Mini Cooper reports indicating engine fire.In addition, BMW provided warranty data showing 493 claims for replacement of the subject component on Mini Cooper vehicles.Owners of the recalled vehicles are notified to take their vehicle to a BMW dealer, who will replace the auxiliary water pump to prevent any incidents related to this issue.This preliminary evaluation is closed.The ODI reports cited above can be viewed at www-odi.the federal safety agency.dot.gov/owners/Searchreference under the following identification numbers (ODI Nos.):10286597, 10286663, 10289793, 10310677, 10314796, 10342365, 10394808, 10394192, 10403982, 10418325, 10422646, 10429003.
PE11036
Exhaust pipe burns
Bmw will conduct a safety recall (08v‑657) on 28,450 mini cooper s vehicles manufactured from november 18, 2006 through july 8, 2008.dealers will install modified exhaust pipe tips that do not extend beyond the rear bumper.the two exhaust pipe tips of the subject vehicles exit the underside of the vehicle at the center of the vehicle and extend beyond the rear bumper.the complainants reported being burned on their legs when they inadvertently touched the exposed hot exhaust pipe tips while removing items of cargo from the rear of their vehicle via the hatch back door.some complainants reported being burned on more than one occasion or that other family members were also burned.the 50 injuries reported in this investigation include significant second degree burns causing blistered and scared skin and one incident resulted in a third degree burn.this investigation also resulted in an initial decision of a defect.for information regarding the initial decision and details of the investigation see documents, inrm-ea08020-31646.pdf (initial decision letter) and inir-ea08020-31648.pdf (initial decision report), in the investigation file.this investigation is closed.
EA08020
Exhaust pipe burns
The office of defects investigation (odi) opened this investigation based on three consumer reports.the complainants reported being burned on their legs by the hot exhaust pipe tip while they were removing cargo items from the rear hatch area of their vehicles.the mini cooper s model has dual exhaust pipe tips that are located at the center line of the vehicleunder the rear bumper.the exhaust pipe tips extend beyond the edge of the bumper.odi is upgrading this investigation to engineering analysis ea08-020 based on information provided by bmw in response to odi's pe08-031 information request letter.
PE08031
What 2007 MINI Cooper S owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
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.
Timing chain tensioner broke and messed up the engine
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 mini cooper s. The contact stated that there was a catastrophic engine failure without warning. The vehicle was unable to be driven and was towed to braman mini of palm beach (2815 okeechobee blvd, west palm beach, fl 33409, (561) 257-4774). The dealer indicated that the manufacturer service campaign was only to address replacing the timing chain and that the replacement of the engine assembly was not included in the manufacturer's guidelines of the service campaign. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was waiting for a response from the manufacturer to determine if they could approve the dealer replacing the timing chain and the engine assembly. The failure mileage was not available.
My vehicle is currently @ braman bmw wpb (5612423210) for a timing chain problem which was under recall. The service advisor called me and notified me that the timing chain broke inside the engine & completely destroyed the motor. Te timing chain job alone estimate is $3800, but theyve notified me that the engine is unrepairable & must be replaced! They also failed to acknowledge that this happen whilst driving on an interstate, almost causing a huge accident!! Please help!! Mini apparently cares more about money than lives!!
There was a recall for the timing chain, so I had it replaced in the recall program that was offered through mini cooper. Less then 2 years later, my timing chain broke again, and has damaged the motor of my car. It would not start
Timing chain making loud noise when started
This car has been a consistent user of oil. It uses a quart at about 500 miles. This engine has a reputation for problems on mini cooper s models and the peugeot models with that same engine. I've heard that later models don't burn oil. I'd like to know why bmw has not recalled them. First the timing chain, cooling system and high pressure fuel pump., they paid for the timing chain and the fuel pump.
Mini cooper s - numerous issues found having purchased a used 2007 mini cooper s from a small dealer in tallahassee, florida, we did our research up-front with a 'carfax report' which showed no issues, we also did a VIN database search for recalls and found no open recalls and assumed that it was safe to purchase which we did for just over $5,000. Now that we are nearing a year into our 4-year payment plan, on january 17, 2016, my wife was driving north on I-75 in georgia and at approx. Mile marker 211, the engine seized and she required a tow off the interstate. Luckily, there was no accident or injury- but it seems that would have helped our case' upon attempting repairs, we find numerous issues with the engine (2007 r56/n16 4 cylinder turbocharged) including timing chain, water pump, vacuum pump, etc' below are photos of removed parts from the engine ' the vacuum pump seized and bent the metal components ' since this is connected to the 'exhaust camshaft', when it seized it seized the exhaust camshaft ' on the opposite end of this camshaft is a sprocket which connects the timing chain (another known issue with this vehicle) ' the bolt and sprocket dropped into the engine and timing chain area, creating a catastrophic failure which it appears we are going to be 'left holding the bag' for
Engine, thermostat, gasket, radiator, coolant tube, and battery went out on the v at the same time. It was running rough and just stop running.
Questions about the 2007 MINI Cooper S engine
Does the 2007 MINI Cooper S have engine problems?
Owners have filed 173 complaints about the engine of the 2007 MINI Cooper S, 69% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 2007 MINI Cooper S engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 52,000 miles.
Is there a recall for the 2007 MINI Cooper S engine?
Yes, 3 recalls: 18V248000, 12V008000, 08V657000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
Other 2007 MINI Cooper S problems
Airbags 28Transmission 26Fuel system 15Electrical 13Steering 7Body 6Acceleration 4Seat belts 4Visibility 3Brakes 2Tires 2Driver assistance 1Lights 1Seats 1
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