Tl* the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. The contact was driving approximately 55 MPH when the battery warning light illuminated and the steering wheel became stiff and failed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the technician stated that the power steering pump and harness was melted and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 98,000. Updated 5/24/11 *cn the power steering pump and wiring harness had to be replaced. Updated 06/10/11
2003 MINI Cooper steering complaints
Page 5 of 6: complaints 101 to 130 of 159, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Yesterday I was driving home normally. When I slowed to turn into the alley where I park my car my power steering failed. I missed slamming into the corner of the building by a couple inches and was able to park. I checked the fluid level and even put a little in. Since the then the power steering is almost completely gone, but "catches" every now and then. This makes it extremely hard to drive. After reading of numerous others having this issue, I called bmw today. They recorded my information and said I would be informed if there was a recall by the federal safety agency, but that nothing was being done at this time.
There were no warnings or events leading up to the power steering failure. Fortunately, in my case there were no accidents or injuries resulting from the failure. My wife was driving when the power steering failed as she was close to home. She does not have enough strength to make the turn without the power steering so had it occurred on her way to work around a curve, there would have been a crash for sure. A couple of turns she needs to make have steep drop offs and oncoming traffic that may have resulted in death. I don't know if any deaths have been reported due to this, but I can see where it could easily happen and not be pinpointed as the cause since the failure was immediate and while she was driving, not after being stopped.
Have had the car for 7 years and it has never done this before. I was taking a right turn into my work when my power steering failed with no warning. This caused me apply the brakes hard and turn the wheel with a good amount of force to make the turn. It was lucky there wasn't anything on the other side of the road or I would have hit them. It happened at the end of a 50 mile drive, no issues until then. I stopped the car and restarted it an hour later and I worked fine. I drove it back home the next morning 50 miles with no issues. My main concern is having had the car for this amount of time it caught me by surprise, and my worry now is when will it happen again.
Driving normaly power steering failed on freeway curve, had to fight to gain control.
When I bought the mini back in march the night I brought it home the steering suddenly got really stiff. Then went away for about 8 months working fine, then about 3 weeks ago got stiff again, went away and now is completely out.
2003 mini cooper. Power steering failed intermittently then completely. Steering failed but would restart after car was restarted. Steering shut off and came back on suddenly during a long sweeping curve causing a near loss of control. I think this is a very dangerous defect. Replace the pump with a rebuilt at my own expense since the car was bought used. Second pump has also failed after about a year.
My 2003 mini cooper power steering pump went out while rounding a corner. Barely gained control in time to stop. I when to the mini dealer and the mechanic said " this is a common flaw in minis from 2002-2005. I see it all the time". Then I find out there is a class action suit on the defect. Some cars have even caught on fire. Car only has 63k in it.
Power steering pump failed while car was driving. It fried one battery. Placed second brand new battery in to confirm the faulty power steering pump defect. Learned from class action lawsuit posted online that bmw knew of the defective problem. Bmw claimed they fixed the problem in 2007 to get nhsta to stop investigation. However, I was never contacted or informed of the problem by bmw between 2003 to 2010. Bmw customer service told me their investigation found nothing wrong with the power steering pump therefore no recall! They will not pay for any part of repair after they told me to tow my car to the dealer. If the car failed during high speed on freeway I would have been hurt. No warning of when the power steering pump will fail so consumers will have no warning of this problem until it happens. If I did not stop the car immediately, my engine would have been on fire.
Hi there is a problem with my mini cooper losing power steering , I have lost the power steering few times this week and when I took it to the bmw near my area they told me its a known problem with mini cars from 2001 to 2005 as the psp ( power steering pump ) on the models have a fault and you may lose the steering power at any time . I almost had 2 accidents because of this week and they are asking my to pay 550 for a new pump . If they have a faulty pump and they now it can risk lives they should recall it or offer to fix this for people who are affected .
My 2003 mini cooper has almost caught on fire several times, replaced transmission, electrical harness, power steering pump, A/C hoses and A/C service, wheel bearings, injection plugs etc....... I still cannot find the real problem why is causing a short, it has almost caught on fire several times, this car has been the most dangerous car I have ever own, I have never spend so much money on trying to fix any vehicle, right now I'm about $11,500 in costs of repairs, this is a crime to the consumer, I have been reading about a class action lawsuit that is in progress, I hope and pray that we get justice from the maker of mini.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. While driving approximately 45 MPH, the power steering failed. The driver was operating the vehicle when this failure occurred and had to control the steering wheel with both hands. There were no warning lights prior to the failure. The vehicle was taken to a repair shop where the contact was informed that the power steering pump and fan were defective. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact called the manufacturer who offered no assistance. The current and failure mileages were 74,651.
On sep 5, 2010 around 2:40pm, I parked my 2003 mini cooper in front of the lowe's store in san bruno, ca and went inside for shopping with my wife. After 20 minutes later we heard a store employee called 911 for the smoke/fire came out from my car. I went out the store immediately and saw the firefighters were about to put out the smoke. The firefighters opened the hood and heard the noise under the car. Next, they disconnected the car battery and the noise was gone. The mini cooper was towed to the auto repair shop for the diagnostics. Here is the diagnostics result: "inspected vehicle and found the power steering inoperative. Inspected power steering pump and wiring. Found wiring melted and the power steering pump failed. Found over current damage due to power steering pump failure causing battery light to illuminate. Replaced the power steering pump, wiring harness, power steering pump fan, and alternator." I believe this is a mini cooper design failure according to bbc special reports in 2009. Link 1: mini power steering failures http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/02/mini_steering_system_failures.html link 2: minis that could catch fire http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/04/mini_update.html.
Driving home from dropping my children off from school and the steering was very hard to turn the wheel. This was as I was going around a corner. It was very difficult to turn the wheel. I was fortunate that I was driving the car and not my teenage son or daughter as they would not have had the strength to avoid an accident. I have done some online research on mini cooper forums and discovered that this is a common problem due to failure of a electrical power steering pump. I contacted the local dealer mini of murray utah to see if there was a safety recall in force and was told there was none. I was also told that this is a well know mini cooper issue. The service rep said that he had the same problem with his own vehicle. This a safety hazard and could have cost my the life of my children. This must be recalled.
Power steering pump failure that ended up in fire. Power steering failed and the battery icon light went on, afterwards it began to smell like burnt, I stopped the car immediately and open the bonnet, everything was covered on an ashes layer. The pump wires and connections were all melted along the pump.
2003 mini cooper had power steering failure while being driven.
I have a 2003 mini copper. I am experiencing the power steering shutting off. This has happened a few times usually when starting or stopping the car. And during hot weather in the summer. I also had the power steering fan replaced because it was bad.
While driving, I noticed how difficult it had become to turn the wheel of the car when completing a turn. This occurred three times in succession at which point I was able to park the car safely out of traffic in a private parking lot. After opening the hood and not being able to see anything visually wrong, I.e., nothing broken, leaking, empty, etc. I called my husband who came to drive the car home. No warning lights appeared on the dashboard at any time when either of us drove the car. My husband did not experience any difficulty in turning the wheel when driving the car home. However, my husband then drove the car the same day a few hours later and encountered the same problem that I had. It was hard to turn the wheel - there was no power steering. This difficulty in turning the wheel happened in drive as well as reverse, whether turning right or left. Very scary!
Intermittent power steering (ps) failure. Approximately 20 minutes into a drive, power steering would fail (at any speed), making car extremely difficult and unsafe to drive. Took all my strength to turn the wheel; a frail person could kill someone. Turning the ignition off and on again would reset power steering assist. Had to replace ps pump fan and ps pump (damaged by overheating), at great expense (>$1100), to drive safely again.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. While driving approximately 20 MPH he attempted to make a left turn and the steering wheel became very stiff. The vehicle was driven onto the emergency lane and turned off. Upon restarting the vehicle, the steering wheel remained very stiff. The vehicle was parked and shut off. An authorized dealer informed the contact that they needed to replace the control module on the power steering pump. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileages were 80,000.
While driving a 2003 mini cooper vehicle steering malfunctioned while driving on highway. Auto barely made it to dealership. Determined to be a faulty power steering pump with adjoining parts. Vehicle had 46,594 miles and mini would not cover defect even though other owners complained of problem. Repair to me was $979.01 + 6% connecticut sales tax!
When it first happened I was approaching a corner for a turn and without warning the power steering went out. Another car was at the corner and I almost hit it because I wasn't expecting to have to manually force the steering wheel to turn the car. There is no set time or length of drive for the power steering to just quit. Now even going straight down the road I can sometimes feel the steering stiffen up so I will make a turn to check and sure enough no power steering. Sometimes while in the middle of a turn the car will feel like it jumps a little sideways and I'm not sure if its the power steering trying to engage or what. I haven't done anything to replace the pump yet but I try not to drive it as often to decrease the chances of hitting something or the power steering pump going out all of the way.
Driving 55mph on highway. Car starts pulling left and right as if caught in a groove. Pull off next exit and notice I have no power steering as almost impossible to steer as car comes to a stop.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. While making a right turn at 10 MPH, the power steering suddenly failed. The steering wheel became difficult to turn. The contact pulled over and turned off the vehicle. He waited 20 minutes and restarted the vehicle which performed normal. The vehicle was taken to three loca lmechanic. One mechanic stated that the power steering harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was also taken to an auto parts store where the contact was informed that the power steering pump needed to be replaced. Another mechanic verified that the power steering pump had to be replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 114,000 and the current mileage was approximately 114,300.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. While the contact was driving approximately 30 MPH, there was a loss of power steering without warning. The vehicle was driven to the side of the road. The engine was turned off and restarted. The vehicle resumed normally for two miles, and then the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the power steering pump was replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 77,000. The VIN was unavailable.
Loss of power steering while driving.
2003 mini cooper power steering failure. While driving at normal speeds the power steering suddenly quits working intermittently. It will work on and off.
My 20 year old daughter has a 2003 mini cooper with approximately 47,000 miles. The vehicle has been maintained very well, including oil changes, a 100 point inspection at 25,000 miles, coolant flush, brake system flush, etc. She was driving it home from work on a county road. As she rounded a curve the power steering went out. The failure had never occurred before this time. She could barely turn the wheel, according to her description and narrowly missed hitting an oncoming car. She drove it to the nearest parking lot and called me at work. I left work and exchanged cars with her. The problem was intermittent for about a week and then the power steering went completely out. I called the mini dealer, which is about 50 miles away and they claimed the problem was not very common but to drive the vehicle until the problem persisted. They suggested this because they wanted to be able to track active fault codes. No injuries were sustained as a result of the failure but it was a close call. I searched the internet, only to find out that bmw was well aware of the issue. I also found extensive documentation from other mini owners who shared similar experiences. Someone should not have to be injured of killed before bmw is forced to step up and do the right thing by addressing this significant, known, safety issue. Oh and by the way, I just picked my daughter's mini up from dreyer and reinbold bmw in indianapolis. The bill was $1200. Ironic that bmw can afford to invest millions of dollars in indy car sponsorship but they are not willing to step up and take responsibility for a safety issue.
Mini cooper power steering failure. Need to maneuver vehicle to avoid a collision with another and on coming vehicle. Steering wheel locked-up and driver was distracted. This power steering failure was a result of failed power steering pump. This failure was corrected by a repair. Costing 850.00 us dollars. Old part is available
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. When the contact drove the vehicle at any various speeds she noticed that the power steering would suddenly begin to malfunction without warning. The steering wheel became difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that the power steering pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired when the complaint was filed. The failure mileage was 60,000 and the current mileage was 63,000.
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