Power Steering Failed problems of the 2005 Mini Cooper S - part 2

2005 Mini Cooper S. Power steering failure: I was driving my car for about 10 minutes, when the power steering failed. I reached my destination (without power steering), the car sat for approx 3 hours, when I got back in the car, the power steering worked. The first occurrence was on Tuesday, June 14, 2011. On Wednesday, June 15, this occurred numerous times after driving the vehicle only for a few minutes. Again, after the car sat for a few hours, the power steering resumed working. My car has approx 56k miles on it, and I am the original owner of the vehicle. Updated 07/26/11 updated 3/16/12.

I have a 2005 Mini Cooper S. The power steering went out on me as I was driving on the bay bridge. Almost killed me and god only knows who else was on the bridge! how can the people at BMW sleep at night knowing there are Minis out there with this problem! do the research and you will see how many terrified Mini owners are out there! thank god I was in the far right lane so I could pull the car over and coast the rest of the way. The car was towed to Minisf, who told me the power steering pump failed. I replaced the pump, but for some reason the problem continues intermittently. The fan runs all the time, even when driven for a short time. The entire system needs to be replaced. And, what's worse is the thought of selling this car to someone who might experience the same terror I did. There were no injuries or crashes. Thank god for that.

2005 Mini cooper power steering failure.

Power steering has been failing to work intermittently over the last couple of years. It occurs mainly after starting the car and driving away from a stop. Stopping and restarting clears the problem. It did happen once at freeway speed on a left hand off ramp. It made the steering very heavy and hard to turn and could have lead to loss of control had the pavement been slippery. The power steering did return after slowing and completing the turn.

My 2005 Mini Cooper S has power steering wheel failure. It started happening after the car hit 50,000 miles which I think it's still too low for any cars. I first encountered the problem a couple weeks ago when I was trying to make a left turn on a main rd. The steering was so difficult to turn even with both hands that I had to come to halt in the middle of the road. The car would have hit the building if I kept on going at full speed which is 30 miles. So glad there was no car behind me. Encountered a few more times after this. My car is now parked at my condo lot as it cost over $1300 to get it fixed. It will be very dangerous is this happens on the freeway. A few of my friends have the same problem. Something needs to be done or life will be lost. BMW/Mini needs to do something about this.

The power steering has been failing on and off for the past 2 years. I first noticed it when I was trying to get out of a parallel parking spot. Upon turning off the car and restarting it, the power steering was restored. It most often happened when maneuvering out of parallel parked spots. Sometimes it would happen several times in one day and then not again for a few months. Several times when I was driving I felt the power steering lock up and have had to drive the car to safely and restart the steering. I took it in to the Mini dealership and described the problem. I was told it sounded like the power steering pump and given a quote of $895 to get it replaced.

We purchased our 2005 Mini cooper less than a week ago. It has 51,000 miles on it. I was traveling on the interstate for about an hour. I tried to take an off ramp to the right traveling about 60 mph and realized the power steering had failed. I applied the brake and brought the car to a stop. I slowly drove the car to a gas station where I turned the car off. The fan continued to run. I waited for about 10 minutes and restarted the car. The power steering was working again. 2 days later I was driving in town only 10 minutes and the power steering failed again. I was driving in freezing rain. . . Thank goodness I was in town. If the steering had failed on the interstate with these weather conditions there could have been a serious problem. I am taking my Mini into the dealership tomorrow. When we bought the Mini cooper we thought we were buying a safe and dependable car. . Now it looks like an unsafe money pit.

Power steering has failed twice. Once was in rush hour traffic and the other was in mid-day traffic. The vehicle became extremely hard to handle. The first time, I almost caused an accident. My car only has 53,000 miles and this should not be happening.

My 2005 Mini Cooper S had a sudden power steering failure while approaching a highway off ramp. I went to turn into it and the car had become a tank. After some panic braking and all the upper body strength I could muster on the steering wheel. . . I did not fly into the ditch, but had the road been wet or icy I have no doubt the results would have been different. Contacted the local dealership and was estimated $1200 for the repair of a known factory defect.

Power steering failure on my 05 Mini cooper-s. Power steering just stopped working while driving the car on the road in regular traffic, was turning left into a parking lot from a 5 lane road when it quit working, was barely able to turn the wheel enough to safely make it into the parking lot and avoid a crash. Apparently as of now if I turn the car off and then back on the power steering might come back on; terribly dangerous problem to have on a part on a car that should last the life of the car. Repair estimates are around $800-1300, and is apparently a common problem w/ these cars.

Power steering fails intermittently. Failure has occurred numerous times while parking and twice unexpectedly while driving and making a right turn. Makes car hard to maneuver and unsafe because of the unpredictable nature of the failure.

My 2005 Mini Cooper S had the power steering fail while I was driving. This car only has 56,000 miles. I took the car into the dealer to have maintenance done on it last week and was told the power steering pump was "seeping" but was not of immediate concern and I could wait on fixing/replacing it. Today there is almost no fluid in the reservoir and I am unable to purchase at any local auto part store as no one carries (chs 11s) apparently a type of mineral spirit. In researching the issue, I found this to be a very common complaint and discovered that the national highway safety administration is investigating the issue so I wanted to add my voice. I was traveling at a low rate of speed in a slight corner at the time and yet still had a very hard time maintaining control of the car. Please look into this issue, this could really lead to a tragedy.

I have a 2005 Mini Cooper S with mileage of about 72k. The power steering failed on and off for a week and was completely gone on Mar 5. Updated 07/26/11 the dealer replaced the power steering pump. Updated 08/19/11.

Power steering assist failed to operate without warning while I was parking the car, Mini Cooper S 2005 model year. There was no service light or any other warning before the failure occurred.

Noticed a whirring noise from the engine compartment. Then suddenly the steering became difficult likely due to power steering pump failure. Looked up possible issues on line and noticed that other folks had very similar experiences.

I have a January 2005 built Mini Cooper S (r53) with approximately 21,000 miles on it. On February 12, 2011 I was driving the car on a winding road in southern California when the power steering pump catastrophically failed without any warning in the middle of a high speed turn. The unexpected power steering pump failure made the steering completely unresponsive causing the car to spin out of control and nearly hit a tree (I was very lucky that I wasn't killed!). After doing some research, it appears that unwarranted power steering pump failures are quite common with the earlier Mini cooper models. I feel that this is a huge safety concern that should be addressed by the manufacture via a mandatory safety recall. After the initial catastrophic failure of the power steering pump, the pump would work intermittently in that it would run fine for a while and then fail again without warning a short time later making the car extremely dangerous to drive. At times, the electric power steering pump would not switch off after turning off the car¿s ignition and the car¿s battery would ultimately go flat leaving us stranded. We took the car into the Mini dealership on 2/17//2011 and they diagnosed the car as having a bad battery (claiming that the battery was so low that the car was actually shutting down the power steering in order to stay running). They charged us $160 for the diagnostics. We then replaced the battery with an oem batter from the dealership ($130) and it didn¿t make any difference. We also contacted the manufacturer (Mini USA) directly and they were unwilling to help claiming that the car was no longer under the manufacturer¿s warranty. Ultimately, on July 26, 2011 (at 21,385 miles) we replaced the failed power steering pump (part # 32-41-6-778-425) at a cost of $735. 29 (plus labor). The Mini dealership wanted well over $1,000 to perform the work and so we purchase a remplacement pump from the Mini dealership and had it installed ourselves.

I have a 2005 Mini Cooper S with 51,000 miles on it. I recently had to replace the lower control arm bushings and have had a creak in my steering column that is getting worse. Last month, I first experienced complete lack of power steering. The car corrected itself and worked properly until a few intermittent occasions this week. Turning off the car and turning it back on seem to temporarily correct the lack of power steering. However, it is very temporary. While driving, I can feel the steering response change on/off due to lack of power steering control. When the power steering fails, the wheel is very difficult to turn. It feels like a 1961 chevy truck with a 350 v8. It is nearly impossible to steer the car from a dead stop making parking extremely difficult. I am being forced to drive below the speed limit to limit my liability in corners and turns, especially on the interstate. I am setting up an appointment with my local Mini dealer to address and correct the failure. I understand this is under investigation by NHTSA, but I cannot wait to have the repair. I am bewildered as to why there hasn't been a recall yet. It is unacceptable that a vehicle's steering system can fail after very little miles. Mini needs to be held accountable for this problem.

Power steering suddenly failed while driving and the vehicle became very difficult to steer at all speeds. Updated VIN. 02/22/11.

The vehicle has loss the power steering assist due to power steering pump failure. Thus requiring increased force to steer and control the vehicle. Steering has becomes extremely difficult and has made manoeuvring this car far harder and dangerous. The car has spotty electrical failures; example the window just doesn't want to roll up; no, wait, it does. No, wait, it doesn't. The stereo just gives up; no sound anymore,then it plays again. The same with the drivers side door you could here it unlock and re-lock, but the door would not open and then it would. Also both of my keys to open the door both turned off at the same time and I had to have the keys re-calibrated at a Mini dealership to reopen the vehicle.

2005 Mini Cooper S power steering pump failure. This is the second time within a two year period that I had to replace the pump. The result is a sudden loss of steering control and degradation of the battery.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper S. While driving 30 mph, the power steering failed. The failure was intermittent. At times, the power steering would reset itself after being turned off and restarted. The vehicle had not been inspected or repaired. The manufacturer had not been notified. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was approximately 63,000.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that the steering wheel was difficult to control and the steering pump stayed on while the vehicle was turned off causing the battery to fail. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated that the power steering pump failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 74,000.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini coopers s. While driving 30 mph, the power steering begin to fail and the vehicle became uncontrollable. The contact shut off the vehicle and when restarting, the power steering resumed normal operation. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where a diagnostic test was performed. The dealer informed the contact that the power steering pump would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified who advised the contact that there were no recalls on the vehicle and offered no further assistance. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 93,000.

Power steering completely fails.

Complaint in association with NHTSA action number: pe10038 2005 Mini Cooper S - power steering failure while driving. I own a 2005 Mini Cooper S with approximately 60,000 miles on the clock. Recently while driving home from work, in the process of turning a corner, the steering on the car became instantly heavy causing me to temporarily veer in to the oncoming traffic lane. Fortunately at the time there were no other cars coming in the opposite direction and I was able to compensate for the loss of steering control and correct the direction of the car. The situation remained for the duration of my journey, but I was able to safely navigate the car home. I restarted the engine and this appeared to correct the problem. However, during the next 2 car trips similar failures occurred (fortunately I was prepared for the possibility and so did not end up in the opposing traffic lane). The Mini dealership diagnosed this as a failure of the power steering pump, a problem which I understand to be the subject of a recently opened NHTSA investigation (pe 10038). Personally I believe this situation to be potentially extremely dangerous. There was no warning that the power steering was going to fail, and when it did, the impact was immediate and caused me to steer in to the oncoming traffic (as a result of not being able to turn the corner at the required angle). Due to the immediate nature of the failure I was not able to correct the problem safely in time. I am writing this report to be added to the existing NHTSA investigation (pe 10038).

Steering on my Mini cooper 2005 failed this morning, resulting in a near accident in a parking garage. It felt like the power steering was failing. It came back briefly on the way to the repair shop, but the tech confirmed that there is a problem. It is currently being diagnosed, but it is likely the power steering pump.

2005 Mini Cooper S. Complete power steering failure. Shutting off engine and restarting corrected problem for a short time, then problem resumed. Happened numerous times over the course of the next two weeks.

I own a 2005 Mini Cooper S 2 door hard top with currently 90,000 miles. Just recently a semi loud whirring sound started from underneath the hood as soon as the engine is started. Immediately I can notice that the pitch of the noise subtly changes when you go to turn the steering wheel in either direction. I had a certified mechanic look at the car and he confirmed to me that the power steering pump is failing. When I am driving the Mini cooper the steering will intermittently begin to get a little harder to steer. The pump is on the way to complete failure and hard steering will end up being the result. I have been researching this issue via the web and have discovered that the failing power steering unit in Mini coopers has been a known issue with BMW but I have yet to find any information as to what they are doing about it. Aside from speed, steering a motor vehicle is one of the most important safety concerns when in operation.

2005 Mini Cooper S (BMW) power steering unit failure - vehicle has less than 50,000 miles.

I noticed a strange noise coming from the passenger side wheel area. Took the car to the dealer and power steering pump failure was diagnosed.

I started my car after it had been sitting parked for a few days, to find that my power steering had completely failed. The car was next to impossible to drive - but I had to move it to avoid it being towed. While able to maneuver the car with great difficulty, this unpredictable failure could have been catastrophic had I been driving on the highway, or in a densely populated area requiring quick steering reactions. This seems to be an endemic problem. . Read more...

Dear sir/madam, today (9/29/2010) I saw a news item, "(cnnmoney. Com) -- the national highway traffic safety administration has opened an investigation into possible power steering failures in Mini cooper cars" and felt compelled to add to the existing complains regarding the dangerously defective power steering electrohydraulic pump in my 2005 Mini Cooper S. While driving in the city, average speed of 25 to 35 mph, the power assistance provided by the power steering went down to zero, totally unassisted, without any previous warning whatsoever, making the steering of the vehicle extremely difficult, almost impossible, while going around a roundabout (traffic circle) at no more than 25 mph. Consequentially I was unable to steer first right and the left around the circle, my passenger side front wheel striking the right side curb at the point that I needed to turn left, damaging both the wheel and the tire, and possibly the suspension (macpherson strut). And I ask you, what if I had to steer to avoid a mother pushing a baby stroller, or even an errant dog or cat at the moment the power steering assistance decided to quit? what if the failure occurred at a higher speed while merging on a freeway? I consider BMW/Mini to be totally responsible for any deaths or injuries and property damages related to their negligent failure to engineer a properly working power steering pump (an known problem as the newer models have done away with the electrohydraulic pump in favor of a totally electrical assisted steering). I also urge you to look into the failure rate of the power steering fan due to its absurd location (under the car unprotected from the dirt, water, stones,etc. 5-6 inches from the road) an afterthought of a solution that BMW/Mini used to resolve the previously known to them power steering pump failure. My car has 27,000 miles, and is dealer maintained since new. I urge you to take action regarding this problem before something more tragic happens. Thank you.

Pulled into a bookstore came back 30min later, tried to pull out of the parking lot and there was no power steering. My wife isn't quite strong enough - so I had to drive it the rest of the way home. Very sudden and without warning, could have been much worse. Power steering pump failure.

The power steering on my 2005 Mini Cooper S began malfunctioning on 8-9-2010. While going left on a mixmaster, the power steering failed and I thought I was going to hit the side of the bridge and perhaps drive off of the side of the bridge. The passenger in my car helped me steer (with force) to the left and drive to the straightaway. The power steering is intermittent, working five percent of the time. My car was serviced in June of 2010 due to a problem with the tension belt, which caused the car to have a burning smell and no air conditioning. The "service engine" light is on ten percent of the time and the "check tire pressure" light is on often, though I no longer have run-flat tires. My car is difficult to drive due to the lack of power steering. At the time of the first incident, my car had approximately 75,000 miles.

Power steering assist fails repeatedly. Solution has been to stop car and restarted engine; seems to reset pump electronics. This intermittent power steering failure has happened dozens of times in the 3 years we've owned the car and can be very dangerous if driver is not aware of the change in steering ability. We're going to have to replace the pump I believe and with all the other complaints about this problem I feel Mini/BMW should view this as a manufacturer defect and cover under warranty -- it is clearly a dangerous part and poor design.