2005 MINI Cooper: whining or grinding noise

Filed Sep 22, 2021 · Steering · NM

2005 Mini Cooper S has power steering whine, hard to steer the wheel. Very unsafe.

Filed Dec 1, 2014 · Steering · 99,200 miles · AZ

Power steering whine

Filed Oct 2, 2014 · Steering · 118,000 miles · VA

Loud whine from power steering pump.

Filed Nov 23, 2012 · Transmission · 83,000 miles · TX

I had a little whining sound when I pushed on the clutch. Everything worked fine even with the whining sound. I started driving to the mechanics and my car completely shut down. The transmission came completely apart. All the teeth are gone from the second gear with no warning. I have already spent 2000.00, now I will have to either spend another 3000.00 for a new transmission, or trade in my car at a horrible loss and I will be upside down on the next car. I read that there were class action lawsuits against mini/bmw over the transmissions. I was hoping that I would find a recall on here.

Filed Aug 24, 2012 · Steering · 50,000 miles · IN

I cannot remember exact dates as this part has been bad for so long. The power steering pump whines very loudly. A couple times the power has gone out and the car became difficult to steer. The problem is very intermittent and only lasted a few seconds each time.

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 Dec 13, 2010 · Steering · 70,000 miles · CA

2005 mini cooper 2 door standard vehicle has a power steering failure. It started 2 months ago with an intermittent loss of the power steering at any given time of the vehicle in use. 60% of the time the power steering goes out. It is very difficult to steer or turn corners. It happens without warning and is very scary as the drive handling is immediately changed and the maneuvering to the end of the curve changes drastically. This problem has now increased as of late to the power steering not turning off, even after the key has been removed from the ignition. The power steering motor hums and whines loudly as the car sits parked and with no key inserted. I had to disconnect the battery to turn the car completely off. I called concord, ca. Mini (bmw), and after having explained to them the above mentioned problems, they state that there are no bulletin claims for this and my warranty has expired. They further state that to fix this problem will cost me at least $1200. I went online and found 225,000 other folks with this exact same problem. I am hoping that this forum and my added complaint will generate enough concern for driver safety and bring about a recall or some level of ownership on mini to rectify this situation. For now I will keep my mini cooper off the street and battery disconnected as it is a danger to the safety of my family and other drivers and pedestrians.