MINI Cooper S won't start problems

Filed Jan 7, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · CT

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.

Filed Jun 23, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 1,400 miles · TX

During a rain shower, drove at about 15mph into roughly 4" of water gathered on the shoulder of an access road adjacent to the highway and the engine stalled. Would not restart. Puddle of water was not high enough to breach the cabin - running boards were still above water and the curb adjacent to the street was not submerged. Car would not start and transmission locked up. Bmw roadside assistance contacted and advised not to start; tow truck had difficulty loading onto the flatbed because the electrical system had malfunctioned in the electric convertible top and was overriding the ability to put the car into neutral.

Filed Jun 18, 2019 · Engine, Fuel system · 95,200 miles · MI

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)

Filed Feb 13, 2019 · Fuel system · 71,800 miles · CA

Got the high pressure fuel pump issue, the car will not start and stall and will not keep in ideal until stepping on the gas over 3000 RPM for over 1 mins, it stalled on local street couple times. The dealership said mini cover up to 7 years only.

Filed Apr 9, 2018 · Engine · 89,000 miles · NH

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

Filed Dec 18, 2015 · Engine · 35,000 miles · WA

The timing chain tensioner came loose causing an oil leak and the timing chain to slip/skip which in turn caused damage to the motor and now my car needs a new timing chain & new motor which is costing around $9k. This car only has 35k miles on it & this should not have happened! I was driving on the freeway when all my oil leaked out, causing lights to flash & loud noises. Once pulled over to a gas station and found all the oil was gone, a mechanic there noticed the tensioner coming out, tightened it, then refilled the oil. The car held the oil at this point but then the car would not start. After towing it to a shop, they saw that it would need a new timing chain but didn't want to do a full break down of the car since it is very involved and there could be motor issues so he suggested I contact mini USA & a mini dealership. The dealership said they had to have it there to determine the issue & see if the manufacturer would cover the costs. So I towed the car again to a mini dealership & they said it needs a new motor since the valves were damaged also. After sending this info to mini USA (the manufacturer), they reported to me that they would pay $4k of the $9k in costs (not even half). Getting advise from a lawyer, this entire issue should be covered by the manufacturer and I already paid too much just by having it towed twice when this is a flaw in the car. The car only has 35k miles & this tensioner should not have come loose in the 1st place causing all this damage. In the end, I am still fighting with mini USA (after being without my car for almost 4 weeks) to cover all costs of repair for this and asking that this be reported as a "known issue" on the tsb so other people do not have the same problem I am having!! I have attached the email I got from seattle mini for the diagnosis to give you an idea of what they see happened!

Filed Jun 26, 2015 · 55,000 miles · CA

I own a 2006 mini cooper s, which I purchased new in october 2006. About a year ago, I noticed that after slowing by stepping off / releasing the gas pedal, the car would jerk forward - at the time, I did not think it was serious because it happened a few time and it was not enough to cause an accident. After last mini service in march 2015 - lately, I noticed that in stop & go traffic, sometimes after braking or slowing, the car has a hard time getting up to speed - sometimes gradually stepping on gas pedal as usual to start off again, I hear the engine rev up pretty loud so I let up on the gas pedal, and then try to step on gradually again - sometimes, it would take a while for the car to get up to speed. Also, lately, after I brake and switch from drive to reverse to back into the driveway, the car jerks back when I am not stepping on the gas pedal at all. I told the mini dealer about this last week when the car was towed to the dealership because it would not start - the dealer found that the car did not start due to faulty circuitry in a fuse box, which was replaced with a new fuse box. The dealer said that what I described sounded like a transmission problem, and after the new fuse box was put in, the dealer took the car on a test drive to see if anything else was wrong. The dealers diagnosis was to replace the transmission at a cost of $9,000. My car has around 55,000 miles and has been maintained well. It is unreasonable for the transmission to require replacement at such low mileage and in such a short period of time - the car was barely used in the first year - it was driven mostly within the last 7-8 years. As a result of this incident, I have been made aware that many mini cooper owners have encountered this transmission issue, which has the potential to result in collisions since the car will not accelerate as expected.

Filed May 13, 2015 · Electrical · 82,200 miles · PA

Engine cranked but did not start. Aaa flatbed to mini of allentown. Received call from dealer possible water damage to electrical, continuing diagnosis. Vehicle frm failure.

Filed Mar 8, 2015 · Engine · 32,000 miles · PA

I stopped at a red light on a busy city street. The mini cooper s engine stopped running and would not start. That day was heavy snow and the roads were very difficult to drive on. I could not move the car. After sometime waiting on a tow truck the four way flashers quit working. Fortunately no one ran into the car. I disrupted traffic for about an hour until the police were able to push the car off the road. The car was towed to the mini dealer and it was determined the timing chain broke. The car only has 32,000 miles on it. Researching, I see that many mini owners have experienced the timing chain failing. My 17 year old daughter usually drives this car. I am glad I was driving it when this happened and fortunate the car was not moving when the engine failed.

Filed Sep 30, 2014 · Transmission · 111,000 miles · CA

Leading up to incident car wasn't shifting smoothly and would become stuck I third gear with yellow gear light with exclamation illuminated. If you stop and turn engine off then start again the light turns off and car drives normal. Yesterday the car slammed into park while driving 25mph. Gear selector was in drive the whole time. Yellow gear light came on with exclamation mark and trip computer said cruise control malfunction. Check engine light also came on. Car would not start. Had to be towed.