Front Suspension Control Arm problems of the 2003 Mini Cooper

The left rear control arm broke in half. I noticed my car was not reversing correctly as if the rear wheel was dragging. I exited the car and elevated it with a floor jack to find the rear control arm on the driver's side broken in half.

This Mini Cooper a 2003 w/130k miles driven by a young female. She had no idea her wheel was going to fall off the driver side front. She had called for a check engine light on and intermitten battery failure. It was ask that I drive the car and listen to a pop coming from the wheel section. The pop was the entire wheel assembly moving forwards and back bumping the wheel wells as the car went forward. Needless to say I did't drive far nor did I accelorate faster than 10 mph. I told the parent of the driver that the car was not drivable under any condition and that it needed immediate attention. The lower control arm bushing rubber was completely gone. I do not know if this is a defect. This part is a mount and it's holding many components of this car together. It is nothing like I have seen before used as a mount. I have seen the rubber worn from this type part but they were not being used as a mount. When the rubber on this part deteriorates it causes the mount to be unstable resulting in the whole wheel assembly moving like a swing forwards and backwards while driving. In a traffic situation this could be devestating to more than just the driver of this car but also to the cars driving near if the wheel were to come off in their traffic. Needless to say the Mini Cooper would immediately fail in traffic with the brake cylinders hitting the road causing flying sparks, if rear ended it would more than likely flip. Thiis is a dangerous senerio. This car was purchased second hand as are a lot of cars. This is not a part on anyone's check list and not one you consider to be one of this type of failure. I am filing this complaint but I am not the owner of this car. I am merely concerned at the implications of the deterioration of the rubber and what those implications mean to the other purpose this part is suppose to perform and can't when the rubber is gone.

My car's right rear control arm had broken in half. This arm prevents the tire from swinging sideways. Lucky for me, I was going slowly at the time. The control arm consists of two 1/4" pieces of metal with holes in them at evenly spaced points. Both of the metal arms were broken in line with the holes that were part of the manufactured design. I paid $1900 for an extended warranty through universal underwriters(now called zurich) at Mini of concord, California. Control arm replacement is listed as covered. Their reason for not covering it is because it has a slight bend in it (I don't see it) and it is because of that it eventually broke. The metal that makes up this arm is no more than 1/4" thick: poorly made, especially when coupled with these holes that are in it. This part should be made to withstand impact. To me it is obvious this is a manufacturing defect and I am appalled that neither the dealer or the insurance company that I bought my extended warranty from will pay for it. I could have been killed had I been on the freeway when this happened. I have gone from a Mini lover to one who will sell it after I'm able to afford to repair it. I am currently price comparing in private repair shops.