One problem related to gas recirculation valve (egr valve) has been reported for the 2009 Mini Cooper. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
My vehicle experienced sudden loss of power without warning while on the interstate at full speed and was unable to be restarted. Luckily traffic was very light and I was able to guide my vehicle safely to the shoulder but the vehicle would not start. The temperature outside was around 15 degrees fahrenheit. It took over 2 hours for a two truck to arrive and my wife and I were lucky enough to have an emergency kit in the vehicle and were able to use the included space blanket to survive the freezing temperatures. Based on what happened I am certain that my vehicles timing chain had broken resulting in the loss of power and inability to start. This particular vehicle model has a known issue with this. My vehicle has had this issue before and was serviced by the dealer since it was recognized before any dangerous situations arose but this time I was not so lucky. The manufacturer is aware of this design flaw but refuses to accept any responsibility or properly fix it. My wife and I would have called emergency services but were told by the tow service that we would be helped sooner than what actually happened. I feel that this known manufacturers defect put me and my wife's lives at risk.