general problems of the 2005 Mini Cooper S - part 1

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated while driving 25 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. The contact stated that the vehicle had lost power steering assist. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that a software update was performed on the back over prevention camera. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The contact related the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 15v660000 (steering); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 175,830.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper S. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 15v660000 (steering) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact also stated that he was advised by the dealer that he had to pay out of pocket for a diagnostic test. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

Battery light flashing, power steering cutting out intermittently while driving. Alternator and serpintine belt replaced but problem continues. Electric power steering seems to be draining electrical system.

The car was in motion when suddenly the steering wheel became very hard and the driver lost control, almost causing an accident. There has been a recall for Mini Cooper S vehicles (15v-xxx safety recall) involving the electric-hydraulic power steering system. The recall includes 2002-2005 models, and extends the warranty up to 13 years or up to 150,000 miles. Our vehicle falls under those requirements, and is a 2005 model and has 69,751 miles, yet we were told that there are no existing recalls for our vehicle, even though we suspect that the incident we had involves the hydraulic steering system.

Power steering no longer works.

Went to dinner and came out and started my car and it was super hard to steer.

Tl the contact owns a 2005 BMW Mini Cooper S. The contact received a recall notice for NHTSA campaign number: 15v660000 (steering). The contact took the vehicle to the dealer (irvine Mini, 9829 research dr, irvine, CA 92618, (888) 238-7585), but they refused to repair the power steering due to a discrepancy in the part numbers. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that they would call the contact back. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 170,000. Parts distribution disconnect.

About a month ago vehicle steering became very difficult. Vehicle has 117,650 miles on it. Driving is very difficult as steering is very heavy.

I have a 2005 Mini Cooper S with less than 85k miles it. The power steering has completely gone out. Before it went out completely, it would stop occasionally with out warning while driving the vehicle. The primary impact is as low speeds, parking or turning for example. This vehicle has run flat tires making steering an even bigger challenge. It is a safety hazard and due to the high cost to replace this function and safety hazard it imposes,, the car has been sitting for over a year. There has been a recall on this specific year & model of vehicle for the exact same issue- however it did not include my particular VIN. I believe this to be an issue of epidemic proportions and would ask that this be looked into if possible. The Mini Cooper S is a great little car, however steering is a vital and a required safety measure that I feel Mini/BMW should gladly cover in all VIN's during this time frame.

Over the past 9 months my power steering will stop working, I will usually notice this when I start my car and go to move I am able to drive my car but it is very difficult to steer, if I turn off my car and turn it back on occasionally it will start my power steering back up this is not a constant thing but is happening more frequently. I have found that there is a recall on the power steering for the Mini cooper but my VIN number isnt included in this recall I am very concerned that I have the same problem I need help please.

I have a safety recall (no. 25v-205), an air bag problem, issued last June and have now received another recall ((15v-660). The first recall has yet to be repaired. The air bag "off" light is on all the time. I have contacted Mini and the dealer twice and they tell me there is not a fix yet. I think 6 months is long enough for an air bag problem. I have not had a problem with the second recall, a steering problem, but I assume it could happen. I am concerned that the combination of these two creates an extra dangerous condition. I asked Mini if they would pay for a rental when I needed to have a passenger. They refused. This is my only vehicle and I have no other choice.

About two weeks prior to the fire, my back bumper was hit by someone,nothing too serious just the tail light broken. Their insurance had my car fixed at world Toyota collision center in atlanta georgia. On Saturday morning, I picked up my car. I noticed clicking noise coming out from inside the car and the steering wheel becoming rigid as soon as I started driving. I pulled to the closest gas station (was in need of gas as well). White smoke came out from the front right after I parked. My husband lifted up the hood trying to see where the smoke is from. Not even two minutes later, there was flame, yes, actual fire underneath the engine compartment. Fortunately, there were two officers next to us at that time so they used fire extinguisher to take the fire down. I'm extremely frightened and disappointed at Mini cooper. Very dangerous car.

Power steering system fire.

Steering effort increased tremendously during low speed driving and at any speed during turning. Power steering appears to be inoperative.

My power steering just totally went out in the middle of a corner and I came within inches of plowing through oncoming traffic. I took it to the shop and they said that there might be a recall on this soon. Powers steering will now come on intermittent.

While I was driving, my power steering suddenly cut off completely. Luckily, I was close to home, but it was almost impossible to parallel park my car. The next day, the power steering worked again.

Temporary loss of power steering.

Problem of power assist failing causing steering to become difficult. Only happens after been on highway for more than 15 minutes. Very similar to other reports on 2004-2005 Mini Cooper S's reporting this problem.

I made a left turn at a light and the power steering quit working in the middle of the turn. The steering became very heavy and I thought I had a flat tire. I pulled over and checked the fluid and the level was correct. I continued driving and the steering was fine.

The power steering went out and was virtually impossible to steer.

I was driving down the freeway attempting to change lanes when I noticed that my steering wheel suddenly became very difficult to turn and maneuver, as if the power steering feature had been disabled. Initially, I thought it was just the surface of the road making handling of the car difficult, but the problem continued to persist even after I exited the freeway. While performing left-turns and right-turns on the side streets, I had to exert tremendous labor to complete the turn, and on a couple of occasions I almost hit adjacent cars on the road because I couldn't forcibly turn the steering wheel enough. When I arrived at my destination, I turned off my engine, re-started it, and to my relief and amazement, the steering wheel became easy to maneuver again, without a trace of the steering problems that had just occurred.

My power steering went out while I was making a left turn in front of oncoming traffic. I managed to avoid hitting the curb and pulled over after completing the turn. It felt like driving with four flat tires. After restarting, the power steering worked again. The same thing happened again two days later. In both cases, this happened shortly after starting up.

The passenger air bag weight sensor stop working. As a result my vehicle displays a warning that the passenger side air bags are off. My driver side fog light housing melted and crack apart. I used stock 55w halogen bulbs. My passenger side fog light housing has also begun to melt. My power steering is not leaking now. But it has been replaced 3 times.

The power steering went out while driving the vehicle. It has occurred intermittently since then.

The first time my power steering went out I was at a stop sign. I was making a right turn and had difficulty making the turn. The power steering went out again another time when I was in the middle of a turn, making it difficult to turn. I was fortunate there were no other cars around. Today, 8/20/2012 is the most recent day that it went out. I was driving at approximately 35 mph and making a left turn when I noticed it was out. I have figured out that if I turn off my car it comes back on. Luckily I had to stop before getting onto the freeway so I was able to control my car at high speeds.

I started the car cold before heading out and the power steering was completely out. After several minutes it started working again, although not with the full assist. Since this time, every time I start up the car, I have a varying degree of assist for the first couple minutes of driving it.

The car has been having issues with the power steering assist. The power steering assist goes out intermittently making it dangerous to drive in the transition from power steering assist to manual steering. I hope this assists the investigation into this issue.

Vehicle darting around on road like steering stops then starts back up,acceleration darts left , deceleration darts right.

At highway speed, the power steering suddenly lost power (no noise or other indications). The wheel became extraordinarily difficult to turn. I managed to get the car off the road, but the steering would not have responded to a smaller/weaker driver.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper S convertible . The contact stated while driving at the speeds of 30 mph, without any warning the power steering malfunctioned. The vehicle was turned off and then on when the power steering began to function properly. The failure occurred four times. The failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 75,000 and the current mileage was 75,020.

Power steering cuts out intermittently. Power steering comes back after restarting vehicle. Then fails later again.

The power steering goes out intermittently.

When turning into our neighborhood at 10-15mph, there was a sudden loss in power and the steering became stiff. I did not think anything of till I pulled the vehicle into our garage and turned it off. At this time the cooling fan and power steering remained active, creating loud whining noises. I let it run for 30 minutes but the issue remained. Only thing that resolved the issue was disconnecting the battery. Even reconnecting the battery the powersteering fan re-engaged.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper S. While driving approximately 30 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to steer and seized without warning. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence and was not taken to the dealer for diagnostics or repairs. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 118,000.

Power steering stopped working near the end of a 15 mile drive to work. Power steering functioned normally on the drive home 9 hours later.