The power steering unit in my 2004 mini cooper has been acting strange for several months. It would sporadically cut off making the car difficult to steer. This has happened several times while the car was in motion. Luckily, all of the incidents happened when the car was moving slow. Now the car has no power steering at all. It completely failed today. Our mini cooper only has 43,000 miles on it. Imagine if I was driving over 30 miles and hour and the power steering cut off! I feel like the car is very dangerous to drive. I am very nervous about parking the car since the power steering is intermittent, I hope that it doesn't cut out when I turn into a parking space, which would increase the chance of hitting a parked car. I have contacted the dealership and got a quote for $1200 in parts alone. Adding the labor will bring the grand total to $1400.
2004 MINI Cooper steering complaints
Page 7 of 9: complaints 161 to 190 of 238, newest first, as owners wrote them.
2004 mini cooper power steering randomly stops working making the vehicle extremely hard to steer. Emergency maneuvers would be impossible. Must shut the vehicle off and restart to get steering back, which is not easy to do in many situations. Will work most of the time but fail once per day or so. My mechanic has ordered a new power steering pump and fan from bmw which he says is the fix for this well documented problem. If a light person was driving the car when this happens I seriously doubt they could keep the car on the road due to the arm strength required to continue steering the car. Problem could happen at any speed.
My car keeps having intermittent power steering failure. There have been no events leading up to the failure, it has been quite spontaneous, always while I am driving. *tr I have had more than 10 instances, some extremely dangerous as I am in the middle of making a turn when the failure occurs. Nothing has been done to correct the failure as of yet; I am planning to take my car to the dealership once I have the money to do so.
After starting the mini, which is parked in a parking garage, I noticed the steering wheel was very difficult to turn, as if the power steering wasn't working. This had happened once before, but that time the problem went away after a few minutes. It was approximately 70 outside, and the power steering fluid was full. I drove the car to do errands, approx 10 miles round trip, and the problem persisted even after turning off the car and letting it sit for a few minutes while I went to the store. The steering functioned when I used a lot of force to turn the wheel, but I was worried about safety if I had to swerve or turn the wheel quickly for any reason; I would be unable to do so.
Power steering in 2004 mini cooper almost completely locks up with no warning whatsoever. No warning lights or other visual indicators depict the status of the power steering fluid or overall steering system. Ability to steer car changes instantaneously from full "normal" control to nearly impossible to parallel park (at extremely slow speed) or make a basic 90 degree turn (at any relevant speed). Makes the car dangerous and stressful to drive.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. The contact stated that power steering failed intermittently. The failure occurred without any warning. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who stated that they could not find the cause of the problem. The vehicle was still being inspected. The current and failure mileages were 130,000.
Purchased a used 2004 mini cooper from a dealership. 7 weeks after purchase the steering became increasingly difficult at times in the last 24 hours. Taking it on monday but the "steering" isn't covered under their 9 month, 9000 mile warranty. Taking it in to the dealership on monday for their service dept to take a look at it. Hoping it's covered but I doubt it.
Suddenly lost power steering while driving and had substantial difficulty turning to get out of traffic. It happened a few times, then took it for repairs. Was told that the pump and fan were bad and that this was a known problem with 2004 minis.
Last night while driving on a busy street in one of the largest cities in the u.s., I experienced complete power steering failure - which became evident to me only when I attempted to make a right turn and found that the steering wheel was nearly impossible to turn. Before this happened, no warning lights became illuminated on the dash & nothing about the car's performance suggested a problem with the vehicle - there was simply no warning of any kind. At the time this occurred I had been driving for less than 15 minutes @ approx. 35 MPH & I had made several turns (right & left) during the course of this trip without any problems - the last of which had been only 2 or 3 minutes prior to this event. Though I was ultimately able to complete the turn without leaving the road by using all of my strength to slowly turn the wheel, my car traveled for approx. 1/2 block in the opposing lane of traffic before I was able to steer the car back into my lane. If there had been oncoming traffic on the street I turned onto I would have been completely unable to avoid a collision. Despite being restarted several times since this event, the vehicle's power steering has not returned or improved. At this time it appears that the power steering pump is the cause of the problem. This experience was extremely terrifying & could have easily resulted in the serious injury or death of myself and/or others.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. While driving less than 20 MPH, the contact lost power steering with no prior warning. The steering wheel became extremely difficult to turn. The vehicle was driven to the side of the road. The engine was turned off; and after restarting the vehicle the power steering began to function normally. The similar failure recurred on a different occasion. The dealer was notified and an appointment was scheduled for a diagnostic test. The failure mileage was 55,000.
Intermittent power steering failure. Continues to occur almost daily. To date, I have not had trouble driving the car, but the power steering goes on and off with no apparent reason.
My power steering failed in the middle left turn causing me to wreck right into a signal light. I have a 2004 mini cooper 5spd transmission non-s.
Power steering in my 2004 mini cooper went out while going around a turn and caused me to swerve off the road.
I own a 2004 mini cooper. I've had a couple incidents with the power steering system. While driving the vehicle, the power steering will cease to operate. The result is a steering system that is extremely difficult to maneuver. This is a safety hazard that needs to be addressed by bmw. I've read a few online articles on this matter and now realize that my power steering pump is going bad. It needs to be replaced and I plan to do so. I was surprised however by the number of online articles I found on this topic. Operating a vehicle with a randomly faulty power steering system is extremely dangerous. I can only imagine the worst should the power steering fail on my mini cooper on a winding road with oncoming traffic. It is a completely random failure of the power steering system under all driving conditions. The problem first occurred a couple months ago and went away. Recently it happened multiple times on the same day. So far my solution has been to turn the car off and restart it. Based on internet research I know now that I need to replace the power steering pump.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. The driver was driving at an unknown speed when the steering wheel became very stiff and difficult to turn. The vehicle was parked and shut off. Upon restart the steering wheel remained difficult to turn. The failure and current mileages were 60,000. The power steering pump failed internally. The power return line was leaking. Also, both struts were leaking. Updated evoq 02/02/11
The power steering pump failed on my mini cooper at high speed, curvy road at night without warning. I had to replace the pump and the cooling fan to the tune of $900. This happened just outside of warranty at 60k miles. Mechanic said that he replaces about 10 a month...all mini's pumps fail under 80k miles.
Power steering intermittently loses power making it difficult to control the car. The power steering pump was replaced due to an internal failure. Invoice received. Updated 08/11/11.*jb updated 08/15/11 *bf updated 08/24/11
The power steering on my 2004 mini cooper intermittently fails. To date, 5 failures have happened lasting from 10 to 30 minutes in duration. Last failure was december 3, 2010.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 bmw mini cooper. The contact was driving approximately 35 MPH when the power steering pump failed, making it extremely difficult to maneuver the steering wheel. The dealer was contacted who was unaware of the problem. The contact did not inform the manufacture nor was the vehicle repaired. The current and failure mileages was approximately 58,900. The VIN was unavailable.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mini copper. While traveling 25 MPH the power steering failed which made the steering wheel difficult to turn. The failure only lasted for a short time and began to function normally. The failure and current mileages were 44600.
Started to have intermittent power steering failure in january 2010, then it finally stopped working in july 2010, haven't had power steering since.
The steering is so hard and it is difficult to move while driving, I had this problem for last few month but every time when I turn off/on, the problem goes away for a day or two. Since last week, it become permanent. I surf on internet and call mini customer services, they told me that this issue is under investigation and if I fixed the problem and if there will be a recall, they will cover only parts not labor. This is very serious and unsafe while driving.
While parking and while driving, steering function has been lost. The steering wheel gets heavy, seeming to be stuck and unable to turn. This happened twice, and I was able to stop the car or pull off to the side and stop without injury. The steering fluid was fine, an although the steering pump doesn't make noise or continue to run after the car is shut off, it is assumed the steering pump needs to be replaced (a common faulty part in mini coopers). There is concern for safety over when and where I might lose steering again and whether this will cause an incident alone or with another car. I have read that my car might start on fire in connection with the steering pump, even with a replacement of the pump.
The power steering assist on my 2004 mini cooper started failing very sporadically over one year ago becoming more and more frequent until finally I experienced complete failure of the power assist. Sometimes this would occur when I was first starting the car but then as the frequency increase, it would also just stop working while I was driving, sometimes going as fast as 50-60 miles per hour, making the vehicle very difficult to steer. I had the power steering pump replaced with a brand new one, which seems to have corrected the problem. The car only had 83,000 miles on it at the time the power steering pump had to be replaced, which, I believe, is unacceptable.
Normal driving conditions. 2004 mini cooper power steering failed. No leaking fluids, no warning lights or abnormal sounds to hint that this was an impending issue. Car was very difficult to maneuver. We are concerned that this is a safety issue in parking lots, with pedestrians or at speed around other vehicles.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. The contact was driving 35 MPH when the power steering failed. The contact steered the vehicle to a parking lot where he was able to turn the engine off. Once the vehicle was restarted, the steering resumed normal operation. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnosis or repairs. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 72,000. Updated 01/13/11 *bf updated 01/24/11
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the power steering suddenly malfunctioned; the failure lasted anywhere from a few minutes to 45 minutes. The failure occurred six times intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where different steering parts were replaced (the contact was unsure of which parts). The failure continued. The failure mileage was approximately 72,000 and the current mileage was approximately 74,000. Updated 2/17/11
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. The contact stated that the power steering intermittently malfunctioned causing a loss of power steering assist capabilities. On one occasion, the contact stated that the power steering cooling fan remained on after the vehicle was shut off and drained the battery. The vehicle was towed to a local repair facility where the contact was awaiting repairs. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 58,000 and the current mileage was approximately 58,325.
1. Power steering started failing 2. Occurs randomly throughout my driving ~ daily 3. Repair/replace power steering pump.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. While driving 5 MPH, the contact stated that the steering failed when he tried to make a right turn. The contact was able to keep the vehicle under control and pulled over. The contact turned off and restarted it; the steering seemed to reset itself. The failure seemed to occur when the engine was hot. The dealer stated that the power steering pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were 63,140.
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