general problems of the 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible

The contact owns a 2005 Mini cooper. The contact stated that she noticed a leak on her vehicle. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with a power of steering hose leakage. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number- 15v660000 (steering) . The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 94,000.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15v660000 (steering). The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering assist failed. The dealer was made aware of the recall but informed the contact that they do not service recall repairs. The nearest dealer that was able to service the recall repair was located 177 miles away. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unavailable.

My son drives this car and the power steering went out twice on him while driving. I need to get the pump replaced via the recall, but the nearest location is 200 miles from me. It is not safe to drive this car that far and I would have to drop it off and make another trip to pick it up. Towing that far would cost a small fortune. I called every number and was transferred to several people to help with this issue. They say they can not and won't help me till I get the car to a dealership to fix it. One person from Mini told me I might be able to go to a certified mechanic but when I asked the next person they said it had to be a dealership. I spent two days on the phone with several people from Mini and no one was willing to offer a solution. I drive this car to get the recall fixed and something happens and the car wrecks, or worse someone is killed, who would it be on then? no happy about this at all.

The car stopped steering correctly. It is very difficult to turn the wheels. The power steering is gone. I started noticing the difference in the steering and then the steering progressively got worse. I called the service department of the dealership to ask if there should be a concern because the steering started after I had the recall service on the seat warmmer.

My vehicle caught fire while parked directly after driving it six miles, saved by fire extinguisher and fire department. Cause determined to be faulty power steering module.

My son was driving the Mini cooper and the steering stopped working, he had called Mini when he got it in Nov 2015 about recalls and they said that the Mini was recalled for the steering and the passenger seat air bag. When we called the local Mini dealer they said only the air bag. I just got off the phone with a cassandra from Mini and she said there is a recall for the steering for Minis made between March 2005 and February 2005 and his car was on the tail end of it and they would not warranty it to be fixed. I believe that these car dealers know about safety problems but don't want to fix them properly. My son could have been killed if not for the fact that it came back long enough for him to get the car stopped. I hope that you can get this resolved so they will take care of this safety issue.

Was driving at 45mph and all of sudden could tell something was different with the steering. Slowed down and turned at the next intersection and it was like driving a tank. Could have been really bad if I had been driving faster.

I was driving on a local curvy highway at approx 35mph when my power steering gave out going around a curve. I almost drove into the side of a mountain.

Power steering, periodically stops working. It usually does not work when the car starts up and will then start working. It has now stops working at unexpected times and seems to come back on after a period of time.

After I turned my car off, a noise like a fan kept running. It drained the battery causing me to get my car jumped. Then power steering went out, and when I arrived home after struggling to turn vehicle and operate safely, the fan did it again, after 5 minutes battery was dead. This is a major issue with this year of Mini I have found after researching tonight, and I am very displeased to see that canada has recalled this issue and the USA has not! people could get seriously injured. There is no rhyme or reason as to why, or when this will happen. This needs to be addressed as BMW is not taking responsibility in us as they have been forced to in canada!!! I am a young, female college student and it was very scary being stuck and then not to have steering either.

Driving about 10 mph on a one lane street, I tried to negotiate a right hand turn and the steering wheel became very difficult to turn. The car ran off the roadway and collided with some shrubbery.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 76,000.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, she noticed smoke emitting from under the hood. In addition, there was a strong burning odor inside of the vehicle with a sudden loss of power steering. There were no warning indicators illuminated at the time of the malfunction. The vehicle taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis. The failure was contributed to the faulty cooling fan, which caused the power steering system to overheat and expose melted wires. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 70,057.

Last Thursday may 10, 2012 I was driving home and suddenly and without any warning, I lost the steering power function; the steering wheel got totally rigid and almost impossible to manipulate; with a huge effort and very carefully, I could arrive at home. I am lucky that I am an experienced driver. After switching off and on the car the power steering was working fine again. The problem has been intermittent since then; we are dealing with Mini cooper and its authorized dealer right now to get the car repaired but so far the experience with them has been traumatizing. I researched in internet and I found multiple complaints about this issue for the Mini cooper models between 2002-2007; I contacted Mini cooper and my husband took the car to the authorized dealer this morning but they do not want to assist us with this life- threatening issue; the customer service has been awful here and unconsidered.

Power steering went out while driving, has not come back.

I was turning the corner to pull into my street and the power steering went out. I barely managed to turn the vehicle into my driveway and then turned it off. When I went to try it again a few days later, I could not turn the steering wheel.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the power steering system malfunctioned and the steering wheel became very stiff. The contact took the vehicle to a local mechanic where the mechanic stated to the contact that the entire power steering system needed to be replaced. The contact did not take the vehicle to the dealer or call the manufacturer. The failure mileage was 75,000.

When I got in my 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible to come to work today, I found that I didn't have power steering. I drove approximately 20 miles to a gas station and filled up the tank. When I started the car again, the power steering worked perfectly. After I got to work, I looked on the internet to see if anyone else had experienced this and there were many different people who had dealt with this and according to a few news sources, this could be close to a recall situation. The fix for this is extremely expensive according to the sites that I visited, but the safety of the situation is the over riding factor. If this would have happened with my mother or with my wife driving, I'm not sure if they would have been able to control the car.

Power steering stopped working. Power steering replacement, trunk repair and driver's side door repair. Updated 07/26/11.

Intermittent loss of power steering, usually when making a turn - extremely dangerous in middle of intersection - have almost had two accidents when steering went out. It became progressively worse and as of may, 2011 the power steering was completely "out" - however as of August 22, 2011 it returned to full working order - and lasted for approx. 9 days and then started to pop in and out intermittently after starting and turning off the vehicle. As of approx. Sept. 8, 2011 the power steering is completely out.

The power steering has been going out for some time. Often it will reset if I turn the vehicle off for a few seconds and restart, but recently it hasn't been resetting right away and often will be out for quite some time before resetting. There have also been strange creaking/groaning sounds every time I turn the wheel recently, as well as a whirring sound that goes on and off while the car is parked and turned off. The steering will go out when I start the car or when I'm driving. It's worrying to drive a vehicle where you can never be sure if a light turn of the wheel will do the trick to avoid another vehicle or if it will require all the strength I have--if I misjudge this by either applying too much force or too little, an accident is very likely.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini cooper. While driving approximately 35 mph and attempting to make a right hand turn, the steering being difficult to control. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who contacted the manufacturer on her behalf. The manufacturer was notified who informed the contact that they would speak with the regional manager on her behalf and the contact was awaiting a response. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were unknown.

Mini cooper 2005 California USA. Loss of power steering problem - currently, intermittent loss of power steering, either from cold-start, or while driving on short or long distances. Can happen for only a few seconds or remain for minutes. Once the power loss is realized, it is possible to switch engine off then on again to regain power - sometimes - but problem can return after minutes or hours. It is very scary to be driving on busy roads when cornering is required, lacking faith whether one will be able to steer the vehicle out of the path of other road-users. . . Internet searches show other people experiencing similar problems but dealers and manufacturers are ignoring or side-stepping this serious safety issue.

Loss of power steering and power brakes in a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible. No warning and intermittent occurrence. Sometimes would happen while driving and some times would be immediately after turning car on. Took car to mechanic and he could not find cause. No computer damage, no codes present to indicate that any thing unusual had occurred. I traded the car in for a different maker and model.

Mini cooper , power steering froze up and came back while driving at highway speed.

Power steering in my 2005 Mini cooper with 28,000 miles sometimes functions and other times does not-mostly though it does not function. This issue has been ongoing since March, 2010. On rare occasions, I will start the car and the power steering will function as normal.

Nothing specific to lead up to failure power steering will intermittently fail, and occasionally be restored nothing has been done to correct the failure.

I have a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible - r52. The power steering does not work well. It started being problematic about a year ago right after I purchased the car. While driving the powersteering goes very stiff. It is difficult to turn and sometimes when turning off a highway while the power steering is not working, it comes back on, and I end up oversteering off the road and then back on to the road. This has been happening with increasing frequency during the time I have owned this car. I was told by Mini that this is not a common problem, but my research seems to indicate that there are 10's of thousands of Mini owners from 2002 to 2006 who have this problem. Ottos Mini in west chester PA quoted me over $1000 do repair it. . . And they do not seem to see the scope of the problem. I am considering buying the new parts (fan, motor and circuit board) and installing my self. I just cannot spend 1000-1500 bucks to fix this. The parts are about $500 bucks and the install hopefully is pretty easy from what I have read. I hope that your testing does prove this problem needs to be resolved by a recall. It appears that they made a design change that has eliminated the problem in the 2006 or 7 model year. That alone is enough for me to believe that, while I love my Mini, I am driving a time bomb, that will cause and accident due to poor engineering. Please help me. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

I was driving down the street at about 40 mph and my steering became extremely hard and almost refused to completely work as I was rounding a bend! I had to slam on my brakes to avoid an accident and slowly inch to a safe parking spot. After being scared out of my wits, I calmed down and parked my car. I let the car sit overnight and checked power steering fluid and it was full. I then looked online and found many Mini owners with the same problem. Mini says they will not fix it.