general problems of the 2004 Mini Cooper S - part 1

Was driving car on 18 July 2020 and power steering quit working and made steering difficult, also coolant fan,low speed and high speed stopped working same time as power steering quit. The asc light came on and it will not turn off. No blown fuses in engine compartment or by drivers kick panel. I was driving the car on a state road when this occurred.

The power steering is very stiff to drive and cannot drive my cooper because I can no longer steer the vehicle.

When you turn wheel left or right it makes a noise and it's very hard to turn. So I think it's the steering: electric power assist system. Recall id # 240625.

The vehicle was hard to steer and smoke was coming from the engine. Took the car home, did not see flames, parked car in the driveway switched cars and left. Received a call from the fire department that my Mini was on fire and I needed to return to my house.

The power steering in my 2004 Mini Cooper S failed last month, prompting me to research ways to fix the vehicle online. I found that Mini USA had issued a recall on my car, but was informed by the dealership and then Mini that my VIN number did not fall among those vehicles recalled. I'm wondering whether Mini appropriately limited their recall considering my vehicle has the same problem that prompted the recall, and falls within the same model and year range. I think the department should investigate whether to expanding the recall.

Tl- the contact owns a 2004 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that there was a progressing condition in which the steering wheel was making an abnormal noise and was tight upon turning left or right. The contact was included in NHTSA campaign number: 15v660000 (steering), the vehicle was to be taken to the dealer for inspection and diagnosis to determine the failure and to receive the recall repair remedy. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available. Dyd.

I experienced a sudden loss of power steering on my vehicle. Fortunately this did not result in a crash but it sure scared me. I am concerned about my safety driving this vehicle and may consider getting rid of it. I am disappointed in Mini's unresponsiveness to this issue.

3 months ago I became aware of a fault in my Mini cooper 2004 regarding the power steering cooling fan. Steering had become overly difficult, and after taking the vehicle to my usual mechanic and then BMW, this was found to be defective. I then discovered the issue had been the subject of an unofficial recall by Mini USA (BMW), and took the car to the nearest dealership, in beverly, MA, a round trip of 200 miles, to have the item fixed. After this, the car became hard to control on curves. It appears the failure of the power steering cooling fan put undue strain on the steering knuckle, and at 80,000 this has become prematurely worn. Consequently, the vehicle is very hard to handle properly on turns, and is becoming a safety issue. For three months my mechanic has been trying to secure this part from Mini USA to no avail. Meanwhile my car is becoming more undrivable by the day. This part is an essential component of the safety of the vehicle. I have petitioned BMW for an answer, and after two weeks of people avoiding the issue, it seems the part remains unavailable. Mini USA(BMW)'s best response was to ask me to drive back to MA to have the car looked at, at which point they may offer me a loaner. But this is beside the point: aside from not providing an essential component that affects the safety of the vehicle, they want me to waste a day driving to MA, then pay the dealer's over-inflated service charges, because they made it clear on the phone they will not sell this part to non-Mini repair facilities when it finally does arrive (there is still no date for this, by the way). Essentially they are covering up an issue by keeping the matter in-house, failing to provide a component, and forcing customers to drive hundreds of miles and use only their facilities. Clearly this is outrageous and illegal. Any assistance from your office would be appreciated.

While driving around town the power steering quit working making the car very hard to turn. It was not noticeable driving straight, but when taking a left or right turn you almost cannot make the turn unless you really crank on the steering wheel. This problem has been happening intermittently without no warning. In order to get the power steering back, the ignition has to be completely shut off, and then restarted.

I was on an exit ramp from the highway and around the curve I felt the steering stiffen. When I had to turn right I had to swing very wide into the other lane because I had no power steering. Thank god no one was there! it returned after I shut my car off after pulling into a parking lot. Then the next day it did it again. Today it went out and hasn't returned yet. My husband checked to make sure the fan worked and it does. This is a known to BMW problem and no recall in the USA. Canada has a recall. Tell me please, why we do not?.

I bought my used Mini Cooper S (64,686 miles) from Honda dealership - serramonte (daly city, CA) on March 13, 2012. I'm the second owner of this vehicle. The steering problem first occurred on June 2012, but it was temporary. While driving the steering wheel became hard to maneuver from left to right. I had to pull over and stopped the car to see what's wrong. It came back to normal after I turned on the engine. The steering problem would happen occasionally, I would do the same procedures and the steering would go back to normal again. Today (3/27/13), while I was driving at 35 mph in the residential area, I noticed my steering wheel stiffen like last time. I stopped and turned off the engine and fired it back up. This time, it stayed stiff permanently. I had to drive the car back home during rush hours. Luckily I managed to get home without getting involved in an accident. I checked the steering fluid level under the hood and found out that it was full. I googled the steering problem on the 2004 Mini Cooper S, I came to find out the same problems were experienced by many Mini owners. I need your advice as soon as possible on how I can get my car repaired before it cause a major accident on the road. This is the only vehicle I have to make a living. Because of these common steering problems, I hope Mini would take full responsibility for this.

Sudden loss of power steering, couldn't turn wheel ,hit curb.

I stopped my car in a parking lot to run some errands. When I returned to my car and got it started, I realized that the power steering of my car became really stiff. It was really hard for me to steer my car left and right. The power steering of my car no longer function as before and it was really difficult for me to drive on the road, especially when I have to turn left or right at a road junction.

Power steering assist intermittently failed multiple times today at various speeds. Turning the car off and back on again seems to temporarily fix the problem but after some time, the power assist will fail again. Car is very difficult to steer without power assist.

Left home with no power steering issues. Half way to work, driving on the highway and began to take a right hand curve in the road and out of no where there is no power steering. No warning or indication that anything was wrong prior to this. Luckily I reacted quickly and the curve was not too sharp because I was in the right hand lane with cars to the left of me and behind me. Would have been bad news had the curve been a little sharper. I checked the power steering fluid level and it was full. When I turned the car off and back on again, the power steering was working again. Drove the car again later in the day, when I started the car everything was working perfectly and then part way to my destination the power steering went out again.

While taking a corning my power steer abruplty vanished almost causing me to crash. Very dangerous. Have heard of this happening with many other Minis around the same age.

Driving down the road and the steering got hard. After almost wrecking and making it home , turned car off and 10 minutes later it worked again.

Steering suddenly became very difficult and stayed that way. It was fine the next day, but as the car was being driven a while the problem came back.

Power steering is loss is random, once steering is lost after turning off and car cools it works again. Leading me to believe that the cause of the problem is in the unit's design. Hesitant to spend upwards of $800 (in parts) to replace when it may not solve the problem. Manufacturer should investigate and issue recall due to tremendous complaints on similar failures and not solution is available.

The power steering stopped operating as we were making a 90 degree turn at an intersection. We were able to pull over and turn off the engine. We checked the power steering fluid level, and found it was in the proper range. After a short wait we restarted the can and the power steering seemed to be operating.

I was driving through atlantic city, and when I tried to make a left turn, the power steering assist on my Minicooper failed. The steering wheel was rigid and needed to be forcibly turned using a great deal of strength. I almost ran into a fence surrounding a parking lot, but was able to apply the brakes, wrestle with the wheel , and edge into the parking lot.

Power steering intermittently goes out and steering becomes very difficult (I. E. Hard to control the car). This problem has occurred several times without warning and after restart goes away. In February of 2012 there was a recall for this specific problem in canada. This is a safety issue, please rectify it.

The contact owns a 2004 Mini Cooper S. While driving approximately 65 mph the steering wheel locked and became difficult to maneuver. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 128,000.

My Mini was parked for about 2 hours. When I went to leave in it, I could not steer it. The power steering was completely unresponsive. I was able to drive it home (about 5 miles) but it was very difficult to steer and unsafe to drive.

I was unable to get my vehicle smogged. The obd was not communicating with smog machine. Took it to dealer and found the power steering electrical was causing a short circuit in the system.

I had driven the vehicle to work without incident. Started vehicle after work and immediately noticed that the power steering was not working. Drove the vehicle 34 miles and parked it for 30 minutes. When I restarted the vehicle the power steering was again working.

Power steering stopped working---while driving on curve---impacted car control. Regained power steering. This happened two more times. Very dangerous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

As I was driving on local road I noticed a car double parked I tried to pass the vehicle when I noticed my steering wheel was stiff it was very hard to turn it at all I almost slammed into double parked car that I could not pass and had no control of my vehicle. Its very uncomfortable to drive a vehicle that way so its parked for now if I knew that it would be that dangerous to drive this vehicle I would never bought it.

The steering wheel went almost completely rigid and the wheel required a great deal of effort to turn. Turning the wheel was far more difficult than in any vehicle I have driven without power steering, and there was a pulse of differing pressure against the turns at times. After shutting off the car and starting again, the steering was back to normal.

Experienced power steering loss driving along a suburban road. After stopping and restarting the car the power steering returned.

The contact owns a 2004 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, the power steering would seize. This failure recurred on an intermittent basis. The vehicle was not inspected nor repaired for the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000. The VIN was unavailable.

Intermittent loss of power steering. Occurs whether vehicle is hot or cold. Can occur after vehicle has sat overnight. Will start working again after shutting down and restarting the vehicle.

Failure of power steering system in 2004 Mini Cooper S. Vehicle performed fine the night before, then the power steering wasn't working the next morning. This is the third instance of the problem I have encountered. The dealer said it was an electrical problem, and the best thing to do was restart the car and maybe the computer would reset itself. That worked the previous 2 times, but not this time. Now I'm out of the warranty period. . .

May 17th while turning left at an intersection was taken by surprise at the effort suddenly needed to turn my vehicle, causing me to go wider than needed. Nearly hit another motorist turning left in other direction. Stopped to check for low fluid level and found no deficiencies. Was able to make it home where I will park the car indefinitely.

The power steering in my 2004 Mini Cooper S failed, leading to extremely difficult operation of the vehicle. At speed the car is ok, if a bit cumbersome. At low speeds or in a parking lot, a tremendous amount of effort is required to be able to control the car. At first, the problem was intermittent - restarting the car sometimes restored control. However, for the past few weeks the power steering is completely dead.