Battery Problems of Mini Cooper S

Earlier in the day I took the car on a day trip to lake tahoe driving a combination of interstate and mountain pass road. 3 hours later, my wife had taken the car to run an errand and came home and parked the car in the garage completely off and locked. 10-15 minutes later we hear the car alarm going off. We opened the door to the garage and saw white smoke coming from the engine compartment. There was high pitched wining also. When I opened up the door the put in neutral, the lights on the instrument panels were all on with no keys in the ignition. Opened the garage and moved the car to the driveway and away from the house. Called the fire department and I used an extinguisher underneath where orange glow was visible. The glow of the flames were toward the back part of the engine compartment and low. Saw no visible flames in the main compartment when the hood was popped open when fire department showed up they used a garden hose to cool engine compartment and suggested to disconnect the battery which I did. I had the car towed to the Mini dealer in reno, nv. Updated 8/8/12 the consumer stated the parts that seemed to have caused and were damaged in the incident were the power steering pump, power steering cooling fan, and electrical harness all in the engine compartment of a 2005 Mini Cooper S. Updated 08/14/2012.

See all problems of the 2005 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

While exiting the freeway the steering suddenly and without warning became extremely heavy taking significantly more effort then normal to just move the wheel slightly. The next day the power steering worked normally but the fan on the power steering pump continued to run after the engine was turned off. After 5 minutes in a parking lot it had drained the battery to the point where it struggled to start the engine. When I returned home I was forced to disconnect the battery until I can get it serviced.

See all problems of the 2004 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

As I shut the engine off I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. Opened the hood to find a fire to the front of the engine coming from electrical wires. Was able to put out the fire with out too much damage and disconnected the battery to eliminate power to the troubled area. Car is being towed to Mini cooper of peabody massachusetts.

See all problems of the 2007 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

The contact owns a 2003 BMW Mini Cooper S. While driving, the vehicle shut off. The contact noticed smoke coming from underneath the hood. When the battery was disconnected she noticed that the wires were melting. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was inspected. The dealer informed the contact that the relay and power steering pump both failed and would need to be replaced. The manufacturer was aware of the failure. The current and failure mileages were 41,000. . Updated 09/19/11 the control harness and power supply harness connector melted on the power steering motor. The vehicle has since been repaired.

See all problems of the 2003 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

My car has had intermittent power failure since 2008, usually lasting a few days. More recently my power steering has been out for the past 2 months. Today it started working on my way home from work but the power steering fan remains on after I turn the car off. I had to disconnect the battery in order to keep the fan off. Consequences have resulted in near accidents on the highway and road when failure occurs (failures happened when I have gone into turns). Power steering pump and fan will need to be replaced.

Power steering pump fan seized. Per dealership and independent mechanic, most common Mini repair. Problem is that seized fan motor continues to draw power which drains battery. Had to have car jumped by aaa to get it started to bring in for repair. Now all the dashboard electrical functions are malfunctioning: no speedometer/tach/gas gage read out. In excess of $2k to fix plus already paid $400 for new power steering fan and battery, hoping that was all that was needed.

I purchased my '03 Mini copper s with 49k from a Honda in mechanicsburg, PA dealer in August. In December, I purchased tires and then went to a self-service carwash afterward. When I got home and before I put it in the garage, I took out the hose and washed off the wheels and under the car. During the process there was white smoke, which I thought was steam from the water hitting the manifold. I put the car in the garage and later when my wife came home she commented on the smoke and mist in the garage (it was quite cold that night. ) the next day when I pulled the car out, the steering was very stiff and I only drove it out the driveway and on the road before I realized the power steering was completely out. I drove it about 15 miles to the dealer after checking fuses and determining that the problem was beyond my mechanical skills. The power steering pump, fan and harness were replaced along with the battery (shorted out). Insurance adjusters from hondacare (extended warranty), state farm insurance company (my comprehensive insurance) and the dealership determined that the power steering pump had caught fire. Their conjecture was that I had put out the fire with the hose when I sprayed under the car. Honda care paid $1999 from extended warranty for the power steering pump, battery, power steering harness and fan. A total of $2700 additional from state farm comprehensive insurance (hondacare extended warranty would not cover harness, towing and diagnostic work from the Mini dealer in maryland, etc because they were the result of damage caused by the power steering pump fire); state farm insurance was exceptional and covered the difference with comprehensive covered. The parts are not available at this time but I was told that there are reports including pictures from adjusters at hondacare and from state farm insurance.

On 29sep2007, my 2006 Mini Cooper S was serviced to perform the low mileage service at 3,354 miles. The car was not driven on 30sep2007. On 01oct2007, the car was driven a distance of approximately one mile each way to a bus stop. The car was parked overnight in the garage beneath my townhouse. At 6:00 am on 02oct2007, when I want to the lower level of my townhouse and opened the door to the garage, I saw that the garage was filled a "foggy smoke" and there was a "burning odor". The police were called to investigate the cause of the smoke. As the smoke began to spread into the upper level of my home, the fire dept was called as back-up. The firemen located the source under the hood of my car and determined the smoke to be from a "burned power steering belton the vehicle in the garage". The firemen moved the car to the parking lot and disconnected the battery. I was instructed to have the car towed to the dealership. I told the dealership that this vehicle was defective and would no longer feel safe diving the car. They agreed to replace the car with a new 2007 Mini Cooper S ([xxx]). I was led to believe that mine was an "isolated incident" but have now become aware that others have had similar problems with Mini Cooper S from 2007-2009. When I contacted the dealer, I was advised to not park my car in the garage until the cause of the problem has been determined or if there is a recall. I now am not parking in the garage. I am submitting this report on the 2007 incident since it was never reported and I am afraid that the rate of occurrence may be under-reported. Thank you. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See all problems of the 2006 Mini Cooper S 🔎.