After driving the car under normal circumstances a short distance and parking the car, a fire ignited in the engine bay. The fire extinguished itself prior to the fire truck arriving. Vehicle was towed to local dealer who, upon inspection, indicated the power steering pump and/or associated hardware had failed and caused the fire.
2003 MINI Cooper steering complaints
Page 3 of 6: complaints 41 to 70 of 159, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Sudden loss of power steering when approaching a busy intersection. I barely made it through a few curbs before entering a parking lot. I let the engine cool off for 30 minutes, then the power steering came back on. I decided to go straight to the dealership, about 3 miles highway, and about 1 mile from the dealership I lost the power steering again. Forcing the car through the last few turns, driving slowly, I made it to the dealership. The replacement pump & fan set me back about $1,500.
Power steering failed. Car was very difficult to steer. Almost caused an accident.
I was driving my car home from work on friday night, 2/22, when the steering wheel locked up on me and I had a hard time turning it. It then started working fine again after a few minutes. Then it locked up again while I was driving. Since it was on a highway I was doing over 60 m.p.h. It was terrifying not having complete control of my vehicle at that speed.
The power steering pump fan then pump failed resulting in a complete loss of power assisted steering. While the vehicle was steerable, the loss was surprise at slow speeds when turning off a road. It took a very significant force to control the vehicle and I almost hit a concrete abutment. I doubt that a young teen or any person who was not that strong, would have been able to control the vehicle. The dealer when presented with the repair knew of the issue and of many reports of a near accident like mine.
I parked my car in a parking garage after driving approximately 20 miles. I walked to a dentist down the street for an appointment. While at the dentist I get a call that went to my voicemail that my car (while parked with the engine off) was on fire and was filling the parking garage with smoke. Upon receiving the message I rushed home to find that the fire was already out, but the smell of smoke was still very strong. I noticed that the inside indicating lights of the car were on as if the key was in the ignition of the car. I immediately disconnected the battery and inspected the car to find the source of the fire. Upon inspection I found that the flames had come from behind and slightly below the motor. There was a metal shield that was blackened by the flames that I could not see around so I jacked up the car and removed the driver side wheel to further inspect the source of the fire. After doing so I could then clearly see that the source of the fire was the power steering pump due to the surrounding burn marks. The total amount of damage has yet to be assessed by my insurance company. They towed the car and are inspecting the car on dec 13, 2012.
One night I'm driving just normally on the highway, everything was fine, no signs of any other parts included and out of nowhere my power steering goes out. I almost got into an accident.
As I was pulling into my driveway I noticed that smoke was coming from my hood. I immediately stopped the car and popped the hood to find smoke and fire coming from my engine compartment. I was able to disconnect the battery and extinguish the fire before it did extensive damage. Cause of fire was failed power steering pump.
Power steering failure. Power steering failed while driving at approximately 35-40 MPH. Upon turning off and restarting vehicle power steering worked for a short period of time - followed by intermittent failures/normal operation.
I was driving down a small city street in my 2003 mini cooper s and went to make a left turn - as soon as I did, the steering became very heavy...and un-responsive. I was able to through muscle strength force the car through the turn but had there been anyone next to me this surely would have caused a collision as it was a very difficult turn. The disappearance of the power steering was sudden and was completely gone. The car is now parked.
Power steering function failed; steering is now non-powered.
On the morning of sunday may 13th 2012 (mothers day), I drove the vehicle approx 11 miles to my mother-in-law's home. During this 11 mile ride all seemed normal with the vehicle. After visiting for a few hours I drove it approx 5 more miles to a stop & shop, again all seemed fine with the vehicle. Within the 10-15minutes I was inside purchasing mothers day flowers, stop and shop employees had noticed a fire in the parking lot. I walked into the parking lot to find the police and fire fighters approaching my car. When I got to it there was no more fire but still plenty of smoke coming from under the hood and driver side wheel well. I took a look under the car to see that there was no more fire, so the fire department left. I was not able to start the car so I jacked up the front of the vehicle to see what had caught fire. The fire had originated from the electric/hydraulic power steering pump. The socket on the pump was still smoking a lot and very melted. The plug connector on the 12v/grounding cables feeding the pump was also very melted. Since this fire occurred on a 12v line it also shorted out the battery completely. I was able to jump the car started in order to drive it about 15-16 miles home. Since then the pump has been disassembled to find that the entire circuit board was compromised (burned/ashes). I decided to file this complaint after I had researched this issue extensively. Apparently this is a common problem. Most simply fail, either causing accidents or merely making it extremely hard do drive. Few other unlucky owners have there pumps burst into flames. Mini is aware of the issue but offers minimal to no compensation. In canada a recall has already been issued for these defective pumps. I can only hope and pray that the federal safety agency along with mini USA choose to issue a recall before this causes a very serious accident (if it hasn't already).
My power steering suddenly failed as I was driving on a windy back road, almost didn't make the turn, and since it has failed completely. When I called the local mini dealership (mini of fairfield county, ct) last week to finally get the part replaced (quoted $1700 at multiple locations) the customer service person replied with, "how did you know about the recall?" overjoyed I drove my mini in this morning at 7am only to be told that there is no official recall and I am still on the hook for the $1700. Not pleased. Calling mini today.
Drove 2003 mini to work 11.5 miles. As I was making a turn into the parking garage the steering went out and became very difficult to maneuver. There was no warning or previous indication that there might be a problem with the steering.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the contact noticed a chattering noise and suddenly the vehicle would not accelerate. The contact also stated that he was a mechanic. After inspecting the vehicle, he noticed that the transmission would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Prior to the transmission failure, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. After inspecting the vehicle, the contact noticed that the power steering pump and cooling fan would have to also be replaced. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000.
Power steering failed. Car is rack and pinion steering and can be driven without the pump but had I been going around a curve when it failed, the increased wheel effort required could have resulted in a serious accident!
Power steering occasionally fails during low speed turns, e.g. U-turn or driving in parking lots.
While I was driving mini 2003 (odo: 74k) on I-90 highway at 70mph, suddenly the power steering wheel stopped working on june 28, 2012. I barely made to exit from the highway, and got home. Next day, the car was sent to the bmw-mini dealership, and assessed the failure of power steering pump. They know this happens frequently with mini, but it was not covered by manufacturers. The only option was to replace the part. The part was replaced and the cost was $1,200.
On 6/12/12 I was driving my car towards my small neighborhood at speed of 10-15 miles an hour. For no apparent reason the steering wheel felt as if it was locked in place. With all my force I had to pull over to the side. I had the car checked and confirmed that the hydraulic power steering pump has failed. There was no service engine light on or any warnings what so ever, the power steering pump failed without any notice. If I were driving at high speeds of 70 miles an hour on the freeway I could have seriously been hurt.this is unacceptable.
At approximately 35mph the power steering of my 2003 mini cooper erratically engaged and disengaged several times. I responded by slowing down and trying to maintain control of the vehicle. Once stopped, I turned the car off completely. Once out of the vehicle I heard an electric motor running. I opened the hood to investigate and noted a small amount of smoke rising from the aft portion of the engine compartment. I went back to the ignition switch to confirm it was off and removed the keys. The electric motor continued to run and as I went back to the open hood the smoke volume had increased dramatically. The smoke had a very clear electrical smell and color. I immediately began trying to disconnect the battery. While obtaining tools from the hatch of the car, the electric power steering pump assembly erupted in flames. I obtained my fire extinguisher and directed it at the aft portion of the engine compartment. This produced no results and the flames returned quickly. I then got the tools from the hatch of the car and cut the battery cables. This caused the fire to subside immediately. At the repair facility the power steering pump assembly (electric) was removed and determined to be the cause of the fire. The fact that I had tools and 25 years mechanical experience prevented this car from burning to the ground. In my opinion this is a major safety issue on two levels. First: loss of directional control. Second: fire hazard, electrical component that cannot be turned off with the ignition switch. This must be investigated and the manufacture directed to apply a fix to all affected vehicles.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. While driving approximately 55 MPH, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The vehicle suddenly regained power steering. The failure recurred intermittently. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics or repairs. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
The power steering failed and stooped working as I was driving through boston. Now, the power steering pump stays on even when the key is taken out of the ignition.
Vehicle lost power steering. I had the power steering assist cooling fan replaced twice and the relay switch for the cooling fan. It worked fine for a time. Now (10,000 miles later) is intermittent.
Power assist for steering failed completely while driving normally. Subsequent brief (< 1 minute) function after restarting engine also ends up in failure. Behavior is consistent with failure that caused canada to issue recall for same model vehicle for same issue (transport canada recall # 2003055).
The power steering system failed. It comes from the power steering pump failure and also made the alternator and battery go bad. It becames very difficult to turn the wheel.
My 2003 mini cooper (r50), with manual shift and 83,567 miles, was parked on a city street when a passerby noticed smoke and fire coming out of the engine area. The fire department was called to put the fire out. The time from the car being parked until the flames were extinguished is estimated at 10 to 20 minutes. The car was towed the following morning to a mini dealer service center for diagnosis. The diagnosis was that the auxiliary power steering cooling fan had failed. The other items that are estimated to need replacement are the power steering pump, engine wiring harness, auxiliary wiring harness, power steering pump reservoir hose and power steering return hose. At the time I was on a trip out-of-town 600 miles away from home and the car is still at the out-of-town dealer. Prior to the incident no signs of anything suspect with the car were noticed. Approximately 1 hour prior to the incident the bonnet of the car was opened at a military entrance gate vehicle inspection and no signs of any issues were noticed at that time. To my knowledge there is no aftermarket equipment in the affected area. I am the 2nd owner of the car having purchased it at 35,086 miles mid-2007 from a long-time friend who was the first owner. I maintain the car and keep all maintenance records. I believe the manufacturer should be responsible for all repairs and the return of the car to my home. I have read about recalls by transport canada for 2002-2005 mini steering pumps which would indicate this issue is worthy of investigation for recall. This is a dangerous vehicle defect. Please formally investigate this incident.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. The contact stated that the power steering assist failed without warning while driving approximately 30 MPH. The power steering warning light illuminated after the failure occurred. The steering wheel had to be turned with extreme force as smoke emitted from under the hood. The contact was able to extinguish the fire. The fire initiated in the steering pump compartment. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 80,000.
Went down a dirt rode to meet a client. Powersteering was working. Met with client, got back in the car, and the powersteering was no longer working. It is very difficult and dangerous to drive this car when there is no powersteering.
The steering pump failed on the freeway.
While driving at high way speed car lost steering assist, intermittently came bad then failed, I then slowed down steering did not came back, once stopped large amount of smoke coming from under hood the smell of electrical burning, even with key off I could hear electric power steering pump still trying to run, the fire was from the heavy battery feed wires into the power steering pump the composite end of pump melted, once I disconnected the battery the source of fire was removed, I have spent the last 4 years working in a gm dealer ship, master ase tech, I feel if I was a typical consumer and had not known to pull battery power the out come could had been worse.
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