2002 MINI Cooper: sudden loss of power

8 of the 187 complaints about the 2002 MINI Cooper describe sudden loss of power.

owner complaints: 8
of this car's complaints: 4%
typical mileage: 73,000
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 15 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Sudden loss of power by model year

2017
1
2014
1
2013
1
2012
2
2011
4
2010
3
2009
3
2008
4
2007
1
2006
6
2005
33
2004
24
2003
21
2002
8

What owners say

Filed Oct 17, 2014 · Transmission · 120,000 miles · MO

While driving my mini cooper on a major road in heavy traffic my mini cooper experienced a complete loss of power to the wheels (sudden transmission failure). My only option to avoid being rear-ended was to steer the car off the road ( with the remaining forward momentum into a fast food parking lot in order to avoid being involved in an accident. Description of failed component/affected part: mini cooper's CVT transmission have a known history of sudden failure at 80k-120k. Bmw the manufacturer of the mini has known about the defective transmission in their vehicle for years, and has never informed owners of their vehicles of the transmission problem or the potential risk for accidents, injury, or death that could result from the sudden failure of the mini's transmission and resulting total loss of power. Bmw has never issued a recall or offer to replace the defective transmission under the vehicle warranty. Additionally, bmw has issued service advisories to their service managers about the problems associated with their mini cooper's CVT transmission, but as mentioned has not communicated this problem to mini owners.

Filed Oct 16, 2012 · Electrical, Steering · 86,156 miles · CA

My power steering fan continues to run even after the care is turned off. It completely drained my battery so I replaced the battery. Two weeks later the same thing happened and I learned that my power steering pump and fan are defective. Also intermittent loss of power steering while driving and needless to say this can be very dangerous.

Filed Jul 1, 2012 · Driver assistance, Steering · 48,000 miles · PA

My wife has been complaining of intermittent loss of power assist. I drive her car very little however I recently had the problem happen to me. One of my hobbies is sport car racing (most recently at summit point raceway in wv) so I do expect the unexpected however it is so intermittent it is often forgotten. It will be fine for weeks then it happens again. Thousands of reports in the uk and canada issued a recall. You don't lose your steering just the assist. Next time you are alone on a back road with a curve turn your car off and you will see what the described problem feels like. Lets not have a serious incident before bmw resolves this issue. This has been going on for years.

Filed Feb 28, 2012 · Steering · 73,000 miles · MD

Complete loss of power steering while in oncoming traffic lane during overtaking on two lane road. Steering required an extreme amount of effort. Barely managed to move back to right hand land before getting dangerously close to oncoming traffic. Power steering did not recover for another 2.5 mins of driving. Pulled over to side of road, turned car off, on again, power steering returned. Electric power steering pump now runs continuously even when key is turned off. Indicative of electric power steering pump controller failure. I continue to have concerns that power steering may cut out at any time again, and that if the pump continues running constantly even when the key is removed it may start a fire at some point. I have to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery to prevent the pump from running continuously.

Filed Sep 29, 2010 · Steering · 98,500 miles · SC

Tl*the contact owns a 2002 mini cooper. While the contact was driving approximately 2 MPH, there was a loss of power steering which caused difficulty in turning the steering wheel. The engine was turned off and restarted. The vehicle was able to continue in operation. The failure occurred four different times. The contact stated the power steering fluid reading was at the correct capacity level. Also, he mentioned that the power steering fan motor could have possibly overheated, causing the failure. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 98,500.

Filed Jan 4, 2008 · Steering · 62,000 miles · CA

The power steering on my 2002 mini cooper s, 62,000 miles, fails intermittently and unexpectedly while driving, causing an instant and unexpected loss of power assisted steering. This is extremely dangerous and can cause injury or death should loss of power steering cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Further research of online forums (mini2.com, northamericanmotoring.com, roadfly.com) indicates that this is a known problem affecting many mini owners, and power steering pump failure has also been known to cause engine bay fires.

Filed Aug 19, 2003 · Acceleration · 10,280 miles · FL

Intermittent complete loss of power for 2-3 seconds when starting from standstill.occurs under various climatic conditions and either with cold or warm engine.extremely dangerous when merging into traffic from a side street or intersection.

Filed Aug 18, 2003 · Engine · 5,000 miles · FL

My 2002 mini cooper s has some engine management issues that have resulted in several close calls in traffic situations that I feel are unsafe, and have yet to be resolved or definitely addressed by the manufacturer. The most severe issue is a total loss of engine power after acceleration on clean dry pavement. Loss of power is usually in 1st gear an can last several seconds. I beleive this to be a problem not unique to my vehicle.