2005 MINI Cooper engine problems

Filed May 30, 2023 · Engine · 160,000 miles · MD · fire

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Coop S Hardtop. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and unoccupied, the vehicle alarm activated inadvertently and the contact noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood. The contact stated that he lifted the hood open and noticed fire coming from underneath the engine. The contact extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher. There were no injuries sustained. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

Filed Sep 8, 2021 · Body, Electrical · CA · fire

Driving at approximately 10-15 miles an hour entering a parking lot when I noticed flames coming out of the hood scoop of my 2005 Mini Cooper S. After brief inspection from my mechanic, it is believed to have been caused by the wiring harness for ABS or possibly the power steering unit since the fire originated from the rear/right hand side of the engine and those two components. I have a claim opened with USAA but during simple research, I have found tens, if not close to a hundred issues with similar characteristics. I know I am not the first R53 Mini Cooper (2002-2006 run) with this problem and this should be considered a hazard and public safety issue. I have included the link to many of the cases captured by the North American Motoring Association (a primarily North American Mini car association) which details 24 pages of these issues. https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/stock-problems-issues/73527-spontaneous-engine-bay-fires.html?ispreloading=1

Filed Jun 22, 2015 · Electrical, Engine · NJ

2005 mini cooper. Consumer writes in regards to engine electronic failure. Consumer has another vehicle complaint listed in artemis. *smd the consumer stated the problem he experienced with his vehicle was a computer test called comprehensive component kept reading incomplete. The dealer found an internal short inside the engine basic control computer. The consumer stated the cost to replace the electronic hardware was $1968 which was excessive.

Filed Jul 28, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 60,246 miles · CA

In september 2012 I noticed a loud fan noise that wouldn't turn off. The car was also overheating. I noticed that it was very hard to steer the car, but I thought that was due to the overheating. Mechanic determined failed cylinder head gasket in 11/2012. The radiator was replaced and the thermostat was replaced. In 11/2012 the water pump was also replaced. In 12/2012 the battery had to be replaced. In 06/2013 the heater core was replaced. I believe that these issues are directly related to the loss of power steering and the associated fan failing, which caused the car to overheat and the battery to fail. Please see the federal safety agency complaints 10453158, 10444328, 10379750, 10442431,10379459 for similar cases of these same issues related to the failure of power steering and the associated pump.

Filed Mar 27, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 82,300 miles · CO

When accelerating from 30 to 40 miles an hour/shifting from 3rd to 4th gear, my transmission would rev up the rpms and my car no longer accelerates. It went from about 2 to 5.5 rpms, even after I took my foot off the gas pedal. Once it finally does shift, it lurches the car forward violently. It takes a while for the transmission to start acting up, but once the car is fully warmed up, it seems nearly impossible to have it not happen. It's even more frustrating and frightening because I do all city driving, where I slow down and speed up so I am constantly having to get within the 30mph range. My car stops accelerating so I am afraid of my transmission dying in the middle of traffic or slowing down so much that is causes an accident. Bottom line: my car does not function properly and potentially endangers me, so I am afraid to drive my car.

Filed Dec 3, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 41,230 miles · FL

At low miles the transmission has to be replaced. No fore warning just gone. I'm trying to drive and at 10 MPH I'm revving at up to 3000 RPM's. This should def not be happening! I'm fuming being that I have to now replace the transmission when I have not beaten on it or anything to make this happen. So far my experience with bmw has not been good. I would have been better buying anything else.

Filed Sep 1, 2012 · Engine, Steering · 97,610 miles · VA

Generally, I love the mini cooper having purchased it in the after market. However, not long after the warranty ran out, I had problems for several weeks with my steering wheel seizing up but an incident in february 2012 sticks out most in my mind since I was on I-95 in the rain and could not adequately steer the car to take an exit. My 11 yr old daughter was with me at the time. I pulled to the shoulder and shut the car off and was able to restart and resume driving. Financially, I could not afford to take the car into the dealer but the condition and work around continued intermittently for a few weeks when I could afford the repair. In early may 2012, I took the car to the dealer for repair and it cost over $1300 to replace the power steering pump. At the time of the repair, it was noted that the cooling fan also needed repair for another $720 -- I just didn't have it. Today, my 2-yr old battery failed apparently due to draining from the fan. For now, I replaced the battery for $249. I will be incrementally getting repairs done, however, in reading some people's experience with the steering pump, I understand that there may be some relevance between the pump going bad and an impact on the fan. I'd appreciate any insights you may have on that possibility. I am reporting this not only for myself but for others who also may be impacted by the pump defect that I am learning is somewhat common. I look forward to the outcome of your engineering analysis. Thank you.

Filed Sep 28, 2010 · Engine, Steering · 110,000 miles · NM

Electric fan that cools the power steering pump on our 2005 mini cooper failed. Our mechanic says had we driven very far, our power steering pump would have failed. He tells us this is a common problem with minis, and a full 50% of his mini customers have experience fan failure, pump failure, or both.

Filed Aug 2, 2010 · Engine · 61,000 miles · MD · fire

2005 mini copper caught on fire. The fire resulted in a total loss of the automobile.

Filed Apr 16, 2009 · Engine · 48,737 miles · CA · fire

On march 12, 2009 at approximately 9:00 pm my wife and I were driving back from dinner in northridge, california when I made a stop at the local post office. I was driving my 2005 mini cooper hatchback and did not notice any warning lights or errant behavior with the car. I stopped at the post office to mail a package, parked the car, turned the engine off, locked the car with my wife inside the auto, and went in. When I returned approximately two minutes later I found my wife in the car in a great state of panic with smoke pouring out from under the hood of the car. I immediately unlocked the doors with my car key, made sure that my wife was out of the car, and we called the fire department. We both witnessed a small fire burning underneath the engine block. The fire department quickly arrived, opened the hood and put out the fire. I contacted a representative from mini on the 13th who informed me that someone from bmw would be contacting me regarding the car. I towed the car back to my house and towed it to bob smith bmw in calabasas on saturday the 14th. Bob smith bmw has provided me with a rental car in the interim. I then received a phone call from bmw from a steve kossar on march 17th, who requested the details of the incident. When I spoke with susan at bob smith bmw later that week I was informed that the steering pump was replaced along with a couple of additional parts. No explanation was given as to the cause of the fire. I was also informed that bmw north america would be assigning an engineer write a report on the status of the mini and that bob smith bmw would not release the car to me until they received word from bmw north america that the car was sound. Since then I have placed two phone calls to mr. Kossar at bmw on april 1 and april 7 and left messages asking for a status report on the car. To date I have not received a reply and no word on the cause of the fire.