Car stalls while driving and will not start again. No codes thrown. Found relay K96 on Junction Box Electronics module to have cracked through-hole solder joints resulting in bad continuity. Relay K96 supplies power to the low pressure fuel pump in the tank, thus with bad continuity, the pump gets no power. Relay K96 P/N is NEC Philippines P/N EP2F-B3G1ST. This issue has happened to many other people with the same car that I know. I suspect heat cycles over time stressed and fatigued the solder joints, causing the joint to crack. Overall the circuit board layout needs a heat sink for the relay to alleviate the heat produced from operation. I am IPC certified and work with aircraft engine electronics regularly and have seen similar issues.
2011 MINI Cooper S engine problems
17 complaints (55% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 60,000.
- owner complaints
- 17
- of this car's complaints
- 55%
- typical mileage
- 60,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 2
Which part fails
Owners did not name a specific part.
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
MINI Cooper S engine problems in other years
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 2011 MINI Cooper S owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The contact owns a 2011 Mini Cooper S. The contact received a recall notification for the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 18V248000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
I owned a 2011 mini cooper s ("mini") vehicle that caused a fire and injuries at our home. The fire was discovered while the mini was parked in our garage with the ignition off. The fire destroyed our residence, personal property and two vehicles, including the aforementioned mini. Fire authorities determined that the fire originated in the mini's engine compartment and a subsequent investigation yielded that the cause of the fire was an electrical failure to an electrical connection for the circuit board on the auxiliary water pump. The failure ignited nearby combustibles in the engine compartment. The failure was determined to be consistent with that described in the federal safety agency safety recall campaign 12v‑008, which affected 88,911 bmw vehicles. It is unknown why our mini was not recalled and or included in that campaign. Bmw manufactures minis, as well as other vehicles, and it has been the subject of several recent national media reports involving numerous "unexplained" vehicle fires for which they have not accepted responsibility or provided plausible explanations for. To date, bmw has failed to do either of the latter with regards to our fire. This complaint is being filed for the purpose of enabling the federal safety agency to thoroughly investigate this matter in the interest of public safety and in support of its mission of saving lives and preventing additional injuries.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 mini cooper s. The contact stated that the vehicle overheated while driving and the check engine indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (ray catena mini of westchester, 9543 tarrytown rd, white plains, ny 10607) where it was diagnosed that the water pump failed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified and did not assist. The failure mileage was 85,000.
The engine light kept coming on and the fan kept running even after car has been turned off. The gadge would read cold that hot. Took it to mechanic, the mechanic claimed it was a safety mechanism to keep car from over heating, had the car for 4 week and the car just shut off showing the same issue. The thermostat was not correct also. This was city in motion and stationary, once it cooled off it would start fine, but then just cut off, each time it stop I just had it towed which was 3 times rather than driving it , I just did not trust the vehicle
My mini cooper was parked in my garage for over two weeks. On august 10, 2017 I moved it out of the garage to get to some things in my garage. When I backed it back in, I heard a pop and within minutes I saw smoke coming from the hood. When we were able to open the hood the engine was on fire. We had to call 911 and they told us we could not leave the car in the garage because of the fire incident. We had to figure out how to get the car into neutral so that we could move it out of the garage without starting the car. Once parked on the drive way, my car proceeded to smolder two more times. We disconnected the battery and finally all the smoking stopped. My car has been at the bmw momentum dealership since august 12, 2017 with no resolution on what caused the fire. According to mini, they were sending a fire specialist to see my car which they said would take some time. My car was finally looked at the first week of october and as of this email, bmw has not informed me as to what caused the fire. This incident is very concerning to me. My three kids were upstairs doing homework when my car caught on fire. Had I not paid attention to the pop I heard and closed the garage door, the car would have been on fire in our attached garage with all of us in the house. This all took place about 8 pm as we were winding down for the day. The outcome of this could have been catastrophic for me and my family. I want resolution to this whole incident which as of today bmw has not given me any indication as to what caused the fire.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 mini cooper s. While driving at any speed, the check engine and oil pressure warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (south bay mini in torrance, ca, 310‑939‑7150), but the technician was unable to duplicate the failure. The failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed a code from the spark plug. The technician also diagnosed that the valve cover was punctured and leaked oil; however, the technician was unable to determine how the failure occurred. The vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic who specialized in mini vehicles and diagnosed that the timing tensioner exploded and punctured the valve cover. The timing chain tensioner was replaced. The manufacturer stated that there was no recall and referred the contact to the dealer (universal city mini in north hollywood, ca, 8148-452-1139) and the fuel pump was replaced. The failure mileage was 130,000.
Tl* the contact owned a 2011 mini cooper s. The contact smelled a burning odor and noticed white smoke coming from the engine compartment while driving 45 MPH. The contact exited the vehicle and it became engulfed in flames. The fire department was notified and extinguished the flames. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a salvage yard where it was deemed destroyed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 mini cooper s hard top. The contact stated that the vehicle caught fire while parked and unoccupied. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the fire originated at the turbo system due to a failed cooling system. The fire department was not present and a police report was not filed. The manufacturer stated that the vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 12v008000 (engine and engine cooling). The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 85,000.
Known issue with thermostat housing & sensor - mini has acknowledged a known design issue that causes coolant to leak onto the thermostat sensor. Full replacement is recommended with updated design at customer's cost. Manufacturer should cover this cost since this is an engineering design defect and may lead to potential electrical fires. Affected parts are the thermostat housing, thermostat, thermostat sensor, upper radiator hose & crossover tube. Please refer to manufacturer's communication post: 10049421, 10046779, & 10045301.
Questions about the 2011 MINI Cooper S engine
Does the 2011 MINI Cooper S have engine problems?
Owners have filed 17 complaints about the engine of the 2011 MINI Cooper S, 55% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 2011 MINI Cooper S engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 60,000 miles.
Is there a recall for the 2011 MINI Cooper S engine?
Yes, 2 recalls: 18V248000, 12V008000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
Other 2011 MINI Cooper S problems
Electrical 16Airbags 3Fuel system 2Acceleration 1Body 1Lights 1
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2011 MINI Cooper S?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history