While traveling on a highway at @ 55mph, the coolant temperature warning light illuminated yellow and then red on my 2009 mini cooper. I stopped the vehicle and observed that the clips which secured the lower radiator hose in place had broken and the radiator hose was hanging horizonally across the front of the vehicle, dragging along the ground. A hole had been worn through the hose and the coolant had leaked out. After having the vehicle towed home ($285), I purchased a new radiator hose and clips from the mini dealership ($160) and had it installed by my mechanic ($100). I also lost a 1/2 day of work. A total loss of over $600. Because of poor design and/or inferior materials internet research shows that this is a common mini cooper problem. I did not hit anything which would cause this issue, despite mini cooper's attempts to place blame on the driver's who experience this issue. If mini cooper would properly address this issue and remedy the situation, it would spare countless driver's from being stranded on the side and the expense of fixing what should have been remedied by a service bulletin or recall.
2009 MINI Cooper engine complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 50 of 50, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I had my oil changed and automatic shifter replaced under warranty rite around 49500 on odometer. I have a 100k maintenance care plan that covers all engine oil changes, brakes and rotors. But right around 53000 I kept getting the service in 1700 miles light when ever I start the car and goes away. The miles started reducing sooner than the actual miles driven. I went to mini showroom to check what was going on and they said I need a oil change according to key fob (they changed my engine oil just 3k miles back) . I got the call that afternoon saying my timing chain tensor was bad and leaking oil. It's a car less than 4 years old with 50k miles, this shouldn't happen. They said it can grenade the car if I driving without fixing. The parts was $33 but labor was $400. Wth mini. People are not buying warranty for this. In the morning I was proud of having a mini that covered engine oil change under my 100k warranty. But evening $450 ripped off my bank account. Can't take this anymore. Happy I did not grenade my engine. But not happy taking the $450 charge. Some people here get the same problem even after fixing this issue in 20k miles and mini doesn't seem to keep up their word on there 2 year warranty on their repairs. I think I'm going to change my car in a year. I like the drive but can't take this repair bills.
Timing chain tensioner failure. No warning whatsoever. Timing chain broke, causing complete engine failure. Out of warranty so mini won't touch it. Will cost $7500+.
The timing tensioner on my mini cooper s backed out, resulting in a massive oil loss while at highway speeds. This is apparently a known issue by mini, but no known recall has been issued at this point.
I was traveling on nj turnpike and my vehicle blew up. Catastrophic engine failure. Water pump also broke.
During my commute to work on 9/27/12, my car completely died while I was driving in the middle lane of the freeway. The car was towed to a garage, where it was found to be leaking an excessive amount of oil. During inspection, it was assessed that the timing chain "jumped" and caused a catastrophic engine failure. At the time of this incident the car had 54k miles on it and there were absolutely no warning signs prior to the failure (I.e. Leaking oil, engine rattle, etc...). Furthermore, since I purchased the car in february 2012, I have performed regular maintenance on this car (new brakes, tires, alignment, regular synthetic oil changes) to ensure it stays in good driving condition. Apparently, this has been a frequently reported issue with mini cooper and the problem could have easily resulted in a fatal car accident while I was driving on the freeway! The estimated repair cost (with labor) for this failure is approx 10k!!! Mini should be held responsible for this faulty craftsmanship. A 3 yr car with 54k miles should absolutely not need to have a new engine replaced!!!
On july 25th, aprox 9:00pm. My daughter (driver) have just arrived from college internship and arrived boyfriend family home (12-15mi trip). Upon turning off the engine and getting out of the car she smell burnt and saw sparks and fire through the car front grill. Boyfriend came and open the hood and noticed the fire. The boyfriend's father came and used dry chemical extinguisher to put fire out. Report was made to mini cooper. I came later and notice several wires burnt. The car was towed (7/25, 7/26 early morning) and is today (8/7/2012) at montgomery county mini cooper rockville, md, awaiting inspection by bmw engineering. The car still pending repair. I took pictures last saturday (8/4). These pictures are available upon request.
2009 mini cooper. Consumer writes in regards to recall concerning electric auxiliary water pump *tgw the consumer has not been able to get the recall fixed, because it would require him to ship the vehicle, as there are no local dealers where the consumer resides. The consumer stated he can not afford to ship the vehicle.
Engine light on loosing power engine smoking.
2009 mini cooper. Consumer states that clutch was compromised and the vehicle needed to be towed. She would like this issue to be looked into. She paid to have the flywheel replaced. *kb the flywheel was replaced twice within three months. The second time the flywheel was replaced, the consumer was informed it was burnt and not covered under warranty.
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