2005 MINI Cooper: engine overheating

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 Apr 2, 2013 · Steering · 74,000 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper. The contact stated that while driving approximately 18 MPH, the steering wheel became extremely difficult to maneuver without warning. The vehicle also overheated and a loud noise was heard coming from the front end of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic where the technician advised that the power steering fluid needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 74,000.

Filed Oct 6, 2012 · Steering · 87,500 miles · TX

In 2009, the power steering would intermittently work, usually restarting resolved the problem. Increasingly worsened. P pulling out from the business to a residential street, very busy afternoon traffic. I hurriedly turned right onto the street, then left at the traffic signal. While making the left my power steering decided to stop coming too close to running straight into a light standard on the opposite corner. Hitting the curb very hard and steering with no power, I corrected my direction to avoid hitting other vehicles, hit the curb again, found the first possible parking lot and pulled off and thank god I didn't hit anyone. May 2012 no pow steering wed, october 3, 2012 @ 117k mileage, belt broke, battery light came on, overheated. Miniusa takes pride in being responsible and caring about their customers. Their jovial, freethinking, cleaver banter is so falsely represented since I can't even get some one at mini to talk to me. Now, I'm waiting on finding the right repair shop that won't cost me my retirement. In 2007, I locked my glove compartment since I had just picked up the $2500 engagement ring my son had been paying on so he could propose to his girlfriend. When I got home the glove box wouldn't come unlocked, other than forcing it and risk breaking something I took it to the dealership where I purchased, the car, hoping they might have a known ways, secret solution. Unfortunately, a $80 service fee from just driving onto the lot, plus $350 for a new glove box! Just because I locked it for the first time for safety . Now undrivable, I shudder a the thought of repair bills for everything that's failing now, I am obviously not the only one. Not so funny now mini cooper!

Filed Jan 17, 2012 · Steering · 108,967 miles · NJ

After running errands in the morning I parked my car in my spot in front of my house. When I walked away the car was silent. Two hours later my neighbor knocked on my door to let me know that my car (which had been off and parked for two hours) was making a loud whining noise. I went outside to check it out, and determined that the noise was coming from my car while it was off. I immediately took the car, which was driving well at the time, to my local mechanic who could not determine the cause of the problem and recommend that I should take it immediately to the mini dealership. When I arrived at the mini dealership they immediately took my car back. I was told that my power steering pump was failing and overheating, which caused the power steering fan to keep running while the car was off. The service representative said that this happens time to time, and if I had continued driving the car it may of caught on fire. The technical words on the work order from the mini mechanic were, "scanned car for faults, after checking cars fault memory it was found that there was a current fault for an open circuit on the electric power steering pump." both the power steering pump and fan had to be replaced.

Filed Nov 29, 2011 · Electrical, Steering · 61,000 miles · CA

Driving home from work at about 70 MPH, the power steering failed. I was going around a bend in the road when suddenly the power steering failed that almost caused an accident. Without notice the car reverted to "rack-and-pinion" mode. I was fortunate that time to gain control of the car and did not go over the side of the road or hit another car. I didn't drive the car for several months then took it to a few mechanics for an estimate. Dealer says replace the steering pump at $1200 but they will not honor any assistance due to the premature failure of the steering pump or the electrical connection to the cooling fan failure. The power steering fan quits then the pump gets hot and shuts off. I called mini USA today and they said they will not assist me in paying for the manufacturing defect. My pump failure is intermittent suggesting that the problem is electrical and on point for a recall on 2004 mini coopers. My car has the same problem and was manufactured in 2004, but is the 1707 car outside their "official" recall range. Mini/bmw sent a "mr. Driver" letter out on 12/2004 for this "recall." my car had not been purchased yet. The dealer says that replacing the steering pump will solve all the problems including the electrical issue. Apparently, the new steering pump has a design feature that eliminates the electrical failure problem (defect code: 0032630100 & labor code: 0055719). The more the pump overheats because of the fan non-operation problem, the pump will need to be replaced, it will be burnt out. One thing is sure, I have a premature failure of the steering pump making my car dangerous to drive. I can't afford to fix it. Nor do I believe, I should be responsible for the manufactures design failure. The car is not fit to drive as intended. Why is bmw getting away with this? Many thousands and thousands of drivers have this same problem.

Filed Dec 16, 2010 · Steering · 59,000 miles · WA

2005 mini cooper sudden loss of power steering. Due to defect in design power steering cooling fan fails, causing pump to overheat and relay gets fried. Mini refuses to acknowledge problem, and fix. Cost for replacement of pump, fan, labor is $1300-$1400. Vehicle has 59000 miles. Curiously they have redesigned fan with cover to protect it and pump has also been redesigned. Why hasn't there been a recall.

Filed Apr 16, 2010 · Steering · 42,000 miles · RI

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper. While driving at approximately 20 MPH, the power steering failed without warning; the steering wheel became extremely difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealership where the contact was informed that the steering assembly overheated which caused the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired at the time of the complaint. The contact planned to call the manufacturer. The current and failure mileages were approximately 42,000. Updated 11/05/10. *lj updated 12/7/10