There is a cooling system failure in my car that has caused cylinder head issues and head gasket issues. Even though my car is a 2009, it only has about 53,000 miles. I purchased the car in december 2019 and in january 2020 the car overheated while driving and then I noticed the coolant was leaking from the car. I replaced the hose and thermostat. Now in august/september 2020 the car overheated again and there was also leaking from the coolant. I took the car to the mechanic and they said the engine needs major repair work. I recently noticed recalls on this make and model regarding the engine and engine cooling, however based on my experience with this car, I'm thinking this may still be an issue with this car. Additionally, I reviewed the carfax report from the previous owners and there was no information about any resolved recalls. However, I spoke with the bmw dealership that the car had work done at from the previous owner and they said the recalls in 2012 (auxiliary coolant pump) and 2015 (heat shield turbo charger) were resolved. I also confirmed this with another mini cooper dealership. Based on the carfax report, these recalls may have never been resolved.
2009 MINI Cooper S engine problems
80 complaints (67% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 53,000.
- owner complaints
- 80
- of this car's complaints
- 67%
- typical mileage
- 53,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 2
Which part fails
- 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 2009 MINI Cooper S engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Check engine light 13Engine failure 8Loss of power 6Knocking 5Misfire 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
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
What 2009 MINI Cooper S owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The electric auxiliary water pump failed and caused the circuit board to overheat. If the circuit board were to overheat, it can increase the risk of a fire. Other observation: misfire present at several cylinders. Intake ports carbonized.
Daily on cold starts, the car misfires and stalls 2-20 times before it starts. This has just started happening in the past 3 months.
Vehicle was in motion at 55-60 MPH. Vehicle cut off and would not start or turnover. 15 minutes of rest and car was started and rpms were fluttering. Mini cooper of grand rapids stated the timing chain was "most likely" "out". They also stated no goodwill assistance could be provided while acknowledging the window, for a previous lawsuit involving thee 2009 mini cooper s, was closed and the defective tensioner and guide rails (to include engine design) were still in my mini cooper. Car has started once since but will not stay running. Other cases of fuel pumps failing on said model were acknowledged but "no recalls have been issued" said mini, thus not warranting any repair or concern for my failed mini. Repair estimate was 3,985$. After mentioning the previous lawsuit during 2015, a 'random' discount was announced of 10-15% to bring said total to est. 2,900$. My 2009 mini cooper s has had idle and RPM issues/fluctuations for a couple months after previous owner had just replaced the timing chain assembly in january of 2019 with genuine mini replacement parts (factory parts causing the same factory defect)
Auxiliary water pump failure. Same issue with other identical cars with a recall but this one is not listed. Recall number for this is 18v248000. The same issue is happening with my car but mini says it isn't listed.
My 2009 mini cooper s made rattle noise and the whole timing chain got replaced plus the thermostat house and water pump! The engine light still keeps on after trouble-shooting by my mechanics, which might be the computer issue which has to be figured out soon! The timing chain issue should be under fully-covered by manufacturer since too many mini cooper owner have the same problem and paid thousand of dollars to fix it! My mini is only about 55k miles and already has timing chain issue!
I was driving down the highway and my car gave me a warning that my engine temp was way to high. I was lucky enough to have a good place to stop and check out whay was gong on. I open the hood, the engine is smoking and the coolant reservoir is neat empty. I look and see a pool of antifreeze coming from the thermostat. This is the third thermostat I have installed on this car and the second faulty one I have had in 3 months. This is also the second time I have had to stop on the highway due to a badly leaking thermostat.
This is the 2nd time this happend the car started to acelerate by its self when stopped and the brakes couldn't hold the car back, I then put the car into newtral, then into park tapped the gas and the car acted normal. It was like the car had a mind of its own and just started to go without my foot on the gas pedal . The last time this happend was a year ago .I thought it was a fluke but now it happend again, I am a very good driver but after this happend again I think I might just get rid if this car ...it reminded me of the movie chritine when the car had a mind of its own. I was stopped at a light with a car in front of me, the weather was 45 degrees and was driving for about 15 minutes already when it happend
Car went into limp gear mode on freeway, high RPM at 40 MPH. Vehicle shipped to mini dealer 05/09/17 saying there was a transmission error code. Dealer said they tested vehicle and it wasn't the transmission it needed a water pump and cylinder need valve cover. 67,117 miles on odometer. Also front cv axle boot leaking. Had repairs done ($1692.58) after discount. At time of pickup, dealer asked to keep the vehicle a few more days to double check the transmission. A few days later they say yes there is a transmission error with the car going at higher highway speeds and it will need a new transmission! Cost ($9000) I did not have this done.the service advisor told me the vehicle was not safe to drive! This vehicle is driven by my 16 year old daughter to and from school!
I purchased a brand new mini cooper s in 2009 w/ standard 3 years of factory maintenance and I later added on an extended warranty a few years later. 2014 I entered into a 3 year lease on a bmw. Aside from maintenance, the mini was mostly garaged except for maintenance until th after a month of driving it, I heard a ticking sound that made me think it needed oil added, despite having one about 2 months prior. I added the mini synthetic oil to the car and the ticking sound stopped for a week or two. Then it started rattling and shaking severely when driving low speeds or at an idle. I checked the on board diagnostic systems, which is supposed to check oil levels and the general health of the car. No issues came up but I stopped driving it because I saw the oil light come on, and I know that couldn't be good, especially since oil was added between changes. I had the car towed to an independent mini mechanic, they told me that the timing chain needed to be replaced, there were holes in the turbo line and some various oil leaks. Their estimate was roughly $2500 to make the car drivable again. Spoke to mini corporate, urged me to take it to mini dealer for diagnostics so corporate to see what help they'd offer me on these issues because they knew the timing chain belt was an issue and they knew the car burns through oil 50% faster than their electronic system and owners manual says. They were aware of this in 2008 and it affected several mini coopers to the extent of blowing out their entire engine. A class action lawsuit was filed because mini failed to issue a recall, warn buyers, or notify current ones. They extended the timing chain belt coverage to 7 years or 80k after the suit. My car has 73k but it's 7 years going on 8. The dealer confirmed diagnosis but mini won't offer any help on the 3-4k repairs. If this happened 9 months ago, they would cover it.
Questions about the 2009 MINI Cooper S engine
Does the 2009 MINI Cooper S have engine problems?
Owners have filed 80 complaints about the engine of the 2009 MINI Cooper S, 67% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 2009 MINI Cooper S engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 53,000 miles.
Is there a recall for the 2009 MINI Cooper S engine?
Yes, 2 recalls: 18V248000, 12V008000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
Other 2009 MINI Cooper S problems
Airbags 17Transmission 16Electrical 13Fuel system 6Seat belts 4Seats 4Acceleration 3Body 1Driver assistance 1Steering 1
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