2002 MINI Cooper: loss of power steering

Filed Jul 28, 2015 · Steering · 126,000 miles · CA

Driving car normally when power steering went out causing a great deal of loss of vehicle control, making turning very difficult. Ended up swerving into other lane, fortunately no cars were in the lane at the time. Had to re-start vehicle to gain steering back. Has happened numerous times since this date. Mini USA keep dodging the issue for a full on recall, instead extending the warranty, but my vehicle missed the warranty by 3 months so they will not replace without a hefty amount of money involved.

Filed Apr 8, 2014 · Steering · 107,000 miles · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mini cooper. The contact stated that while driving 5 MPH, the power steering assist failed and caused the vehicle to become difficult to operate. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or an independent mechanic. The manufacturer was not notified about the failure. The failure and current mileage was 107,000.

Filed May 27, 2013 · Steering · 109,235 miles · CA

I was on the freeway when my power steering failed and I nearly crashed while trying to change lanes and exit the freeway.

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 31, 2012 · Steering · 66,000 miles · TX

Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mini cooper. The contact was traveling 20 MPH when the power steering assist failed. The vehicle was not taken to dealer for inspection and the manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileages were 66,000.

Filed May 23, 2012 · Steering · 88,670 miles · CA

While driving steering became stiff. Almost unable to turn wheel when I slowed to park. After turning car off and back on, problem resolved. Still happens at least once per day usually while slowing or downshifting. Always resolves after restarting car.

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 Jan 24, 2012 · Steering · 58,000 miles · IL

Power steering failed while car was being driven. Luckily the car was at low speed at the time and I was able to get to a safe stop by using brute force to steer the car. Power steering than reappeared intermittently over the next few days, finally failing completely. Mechanic says power steering pump failed and that it is a common problem with minis. Cost will be over $1200 to repair. It appears the issue is already being investigated by bmw, yet they have taken no action to recall or fix.

Filed Jan 23, 2012 · Steering · 61,000 miles · CA

I would like to report a power steering failure on my pregnant wife's 2002 mini cooper. The car only has 61k miles on it. She was driving last night, in the rain, and the power steering pump went our as she was on a freeway transition ramp at a speed of 40-50 MPH. She almost lost control of the vehicle and almost hit the side rails. Fortunately she was able to avoid crashing. The power steering pump started to work intermittently after the car was shut off and restarted. This is a huge safety problem and mini/bmw needs to address this problem before somebody gets seriously hurt or dies.

Filed Jan 2, 2012 · Driver assistance, Steering · 118,000 miles · UT

Power steering failure--the power steering in my mini cooper s 2002 began "cutting out" and became more frequent over a few days. The "cutting out" happens without warning and is potentially quite dangerous as the vehicle becomes almost unmanageable when making a turn. This makes driving the vehicle very unsafe. Upon researching this problem, this is a very common problem which will eventually occur with most mini coopers even through fairly recent years of manufacture and often at fairly low mileage accumulation.

Filed Nov 9, 2011 · Steering · 106,871 miles · WI

Power steering failure. This occurs intermittently. Most recently, last week, it was out for 3 days and then it started working again.

Filed Nov 9, 2011 · Steering · 45,000 miles · DC

The power steering failed when driving. It became impossible to steer. It was as though the car steering became locked. I was very lucky to have a police car stop to assist me to move me to a safe spot on the street.