general problems of the 2006 Mini Cooper S

Tl- the contact owns a 2006 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that while attempting to make a tight turn, the steering lost power. The seat belt and check-engine lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the brown motor works (803-551-0991, located at 4041 broad river rd, columbia, SC 29210) and it was diagnosed that the power steering was about to go out. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall. The failure recurred several times. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 160. 000. Fe.

Power steering is malfunctioning. It come and goes for a couple of days while in a winding road. Took it to the dealer and they replace some lines. A few moths later it started having issues with at the beginning of the driving after the car has been idle for more than 2 hours. Now the power steering is totally not working at all.

Tl- the contact owns a 2006 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that while driving at 55 mph, the vehicles steering became very hard to maneuver with out warning. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 40,700. Wh.

I heard a loud humming/squealing type sound--unable to turn the car's steering without great effort while driving down a side street and pulling into a parking spot. I had wondered where the sound was coming from and having to make it home I struggled to keep the car in my lane and make left turns at intersections--making it home I noticed a dark stain where my car was parked and checked the steering fluid which was bone-dry. I have children--after reading these posts I am afraid to drive them and am afraid to be on the road even after putting more fluid in the receptacle am finding it on my driveway. I just purchased the car in November with 50,000 miles on it.

The power steering when out on the car. This makes it difficult to steer. Also, because of the failure, the steering/car will not straighten itself out after making a turn. One has to make an extra effort to straighten the wheel out. I almost hit a parked car because of that problem. I see canada made Mini do a recall on this issue. Is it going to take an injury or worse before the USA makes Mini recall the cars ?.

In April 2013 I was merging onto highway i20 with my children in the back of my Mini Cooper S 2006. As I was speeding up to merge onto the highway the car completely cut off. I veered over into a median in the middle of six lanes of high-speed traffic. The car had completely shut off, even the hazard lights. I was very lucky that the median was there and that I had not yet entered the main stream of traffic. The police came, then a friend. After about a half hour it restarted without power steering and he was able to slowly drive it, and he fixed a belt that he said had looked like it had blown out. About four times in the year prior to this the car had cut off, but not while I was driving; it shut down as I was pulling out of a parking spot but then immediately restarted. No one could explain it. After the April incident I went to the Mini cooper dealer and spent close to $3000 to ensure that the car was safe for my children. However, yesterday, 11/5/13, I was backing out of a parking spot and the car completely shut down. I called the dealership for assistance and they said they had never heard of this kind of problem and couldn't help; fortunately the car restarted about ten minutes later. However, I am extremely concerned that this car is unsafe and I have heard from an acquaintance who also has a Mini Cooper S 2006 who said this has happened to her, that something random happened with her car and it completely shut down while she was driving. She told me that there was a recall, but I called Mini corporate today, and was told there was no recall and referred me to NHTSA.

Power steering went out making vehicle very difficult to control. Was told by Mini dealer $1500 to replace.

While driving the vehicle, at any speed, the automatic power train does not shift gears properly. It will shift up, and down, and not engage the proper gear. The vehicle transmission will "wind-up", then jump into a gear. At times, the vehicle will not shift out of first gear.

I was slowing down to make a left hand turn and all of the sudden the power steering went out on it. Being a front wheel drive car made it extremely difficult to turn. Had someone with less arm strength been in the driver's seat they could have hit oncoming traffic head on and killed someone.

I purchased this vehicle about a month ago in a private sale. A few weeks ago, the Mini developed a strong power steering whine. This is not the electrical buzzing noise typical of these models but a noise heard above the engine at all speeds or in neutral regardless of whether you turn the wheel. Several days ago, the steering began to stiffen up especially when parking. Yesterday, it failed entirely and this was while driving! now, I'm a 6' 180 lb male and was able to react and wrestle it safely but I'm thankful that my 5' 100lb wife was not behind the wheel. Make no mistake this is a safety issue that the manufacturer refuses to address!! just research the problem and you will see hundreds (probably thousands) of complaints across the globe about the same thing and it appears to be primarily 2001-2007 models. Other countries have mandated a recall but not the safety conscious u. S. Which surprises me greatly. When other major manufacturers have listed recalls for things like seat belt anchors "that could crack" or air bag switches "that could corrode" why the heck isn't a Mini cooper recall done for power steering systems "that are failing"? if you value your family's safety, do yourself a favor and steer (no pun intended) clear of this vehicle. I will be dumping this t urd as soon as possible. My family is too important to waste on a fad car.

Executing a left turn and all of a sudden the power steering went out. Was unable to control the car due to the fact that I was not expecting this issue. Damage front right side of car against curb. I have learned that this is a serious problem. This issue needs to be addressed on a recall!.

Exiting the freeway engine lights started flashing and I immediately lost steering. Took all my strength to steer it to safety. Some smoke coming underneath. Local mechanic reported that the cooling fan for the hydraulic power steering had stopped and everything had over heated. Multiple wires and components completed melted. Local mechanic declined to fix and told us to take it to BMW/Mini to fix. They refused to acknowledge defect and we are still trying to get it repaired.

2006 Mini Cooper S jcw gp first time in 2008 just noticed fan would come on more often and power steering whined louder. Dealer at main line Mini replaced. Second time in 2010 steering wheel felt like it lost power but regained during occasional turns. Dealer claimed it was due to aftermarket parts (camber plates) but then replaced it anyways cause main mechanic drove it and noticed play in steering.

The contact owns a 2006 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving 5 mph. Upon restart, the vehicle would operate as normal. The contact also stated that the steering wheel would intermittently seize. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 19,650. Updated 03/05/lj the consumer stated the vehicle was ultimately taken to the dealer for a diagnosis. However, they were unable to determine the cause of the stalling. Updated 03/06/12.