Power Steering Failed Problems of Mini Cooper S - part 2

I was traveling through city traffic and the power steering ceased to operate. Steering became immediately very heavy. Pulled into parking lot, looked under hood, looked under car for fluids, belts, etc. , and found nothing visible. Got back into car, started it up and it began to work again, as normal. Two weeks later while driving 65 mph, power steering again failed abruptly. Power steering pump is scheduled to be checked/replaced today at dealership today. This could be a very serious safety issue. Had I been in a curve at this speed, I'm not sure I could have maintained control of the car.

See all problems of the 2002 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Power steering pump failed while driving. It is a combination electro/hydraulic pump. Electrical burn smell was evident. I almost got in an accident, and luckily there was no car in the other lane or I would have hit them. Canada has made BMW Mini recall these as it is a common problem.

See all problems of the 2005 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

My power steering pump is failing. Very loud and whiny. Ready to fail at any second.

See all problems of the 2006 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Power steering failure while driving. Steering became very difficult. Persisted until car was turned off for several minutes. Happened sporadically afterward, then disappeared for a couple months. Issue returned and now affects the car most of the time while driving. Will happen upon starting the car, or while driving.

Power steering failed in the middle of driving nearly hit the outer barrier because of the amount of force required to move the steering wheel. I feel if my wife had been driving it would have been a major wreck. I did some research and found that this is a very prevalent problem with the Mini cooper. From my understanding canada has issued a recall on the power steering pumps. Would like to log a complaint to see if we can get Mini USA to take some action.

Power steering pump failure and drained battery (recently replaced). Car will not start, and can not access passenger or trunk door due to electrical failure.

The power steering pump suddenly went out on my 2005 Mini Cooper S. Fortunately for me (although this easily could have been tragically unfortunate for someone else) this happened in a school zone, which means I was driving very slowly. But with little children around this could have been extremely dangerous. In doing some research I find this sudden power steering failure is a common problem on early Mini coopers. The pump has been recalled in canada, but why not in the u. S. A? can you tell me why this is not a recall item here?.

Power steering failed as I was making a right hand turn from one street to another. While 1/2 way into the turn the steering no longer responded and started to go straight into oncoming opposing traffic. It took quite a bit of effort to yank the steering wheel and avoid a crash (much more effort than steering my 54 chevy pick up truck). Had car towed to BMW/Mini dealer - diagnosed as "power steering pump shorting". Cost of repairs to replace power steering pump (including new p/s hoses): $1977. 62.

My power steering is failing. It causes myself or when my wife drives (with both my young children in the car) to come and go intermittently. At times in parking lots or even at highway speeds it will go from normal usage and ease of use to heavy manual steering. This needs to be addressed more then just "being looked into. " this is very dangerous and could/will cause loss of life if not resolved per BMW/Mini cooper and it's ownership. I listed it as "crash" in the yes form. So far it has only been into the curb a few times at typical parking speeds. So far is the statement here. This will become an issue if not resolved and I hope that it is just a curb and not another car/family that are affected due to this "known" issue.

See all problems of the 2004 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Power steering failed at freeway speed. Driver narrowly escaped accident at freeway speed. Power steering pump total failure. Someone will die unless this issue is addressed.

First incident: vehicle mileage 37004 (12/31/2009): 2004 Mini Cooper S was being driven on surface streets and power steering was lost without warning making the vehicle exquisitely difficult to turn. Upon arrival at a mechanic power steering pump was determined to be faulty and both the pump and fan were replaced. There were no accidents or injuries associated with this injury. Second incident: vehicle mileage ~55,000 (1/19/2013): same vehicle as above was being driven onto a sharp right banking on ramp to the I-10e freeway when the power steering suddenly failed without warning. The car was occupied by a driver and a passenger. Despite the driver's quick reactions, the car hit the curves outer concrete retaining wall nearly head on. The wall could not be avoided because of the lack of warning of the power steering failure, as well as the Minimal space on the shoulder of the outside of the curve, estimated by the driver as less than a car width wide. The driver was estimated by a police officer to be driving below the speed limit. The driver received chemical burns to his upper extremity from the airbag, the passenger was hospitalized for three days with a pneumothorax and required a chest tube to be placed. An extended warranty will not prevent people from being injured, but a recall will. Updated 06/12/lj.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that while attempting to turn, the steering wheel failed to respond. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic were it was found that the power steering pump failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted about the issue. The failure and current mileages were 59,895.

Power steering wheel suddenly failed and became stiff while getting off freeway. Took great force to turn steering wheel to steer car. Luckily able to stop car safely.

Driving home from work getting off the turnpike to take my exit right, my 2003 Mini cooper kept going straight. Very frightening experience as I could not turn the wheel coming off highway speeds. There is no warning at all when this happens, you just cannot turn the wheel to negotiate your turn. I've driven cars without power steering, but when you have an electric power steering failure it is impossible to steer this car. BMW must take responsibility for this well documented dangerous failure and do the right thing or someone is going to get seriously hurt and/or hurt someone else. Cost to fix the steering pump failure - $1200. 00.

See all problems of the 2003 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

Right after exiting the highway, the steering wheel became suddenly very stiff as I was making a standard 90° turn. I almost hit the car next to me but didn't as I managed to hit the brakes. I finished the curve on the very last lane on the right. If a car had been on my way, it would have been a crash, fortunately there was none. Mini diagnosed a power steering pump failure. Browsing on the web, I came across pages of people having had the same issue for this year's model (Mini Cooper S 2005). Canadian authorities even ordered a recall for this exact same failure. I have also read that NHTSA is currently studying this issue; could you please confirm this is true any idea how long is the process to decide whether or not a recall will be decided if a recall was decided, would we get reimburse not matter the repair was done in a Mini dealer or an independent garage ? thank you.

Complete power steering failure. Faulty/failed pump internal control circuitry.

The contact owns a 2004 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated the power steering failed without warning. The failure only occurred once. The vehicle was not inspected for the failure nor repaired. The failure and the current mileages were 110,000.

Driving at around 40 mph and the power steering pump failed. The steering was extremely difficult.

The contact owns a 2005 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that power steering failed. In addition, the vehicle was unable to be started. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who advised that the failure caused damage to the electrical system, which had become inoperable. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 105,916 and the current mileage was 105,960.

Power steering pump failed while driving on highway without notice. Never got a warning light before during or after failure. Narrowly avoided an accident since I was not prepared for steering to be so difficult to turn the wheel. I was able to pull over into a parking lot where I turned the car off, let it sit for a while and then turned it back on and the steering was ok again. Since the steering is back and no warning lights, I assume everything is going to work ok from now on.

The power steering pump fails causing a loss of power steering in my vehicle while driving. This sporatically occurs while driving causing a safety hazard as it becomes very difficult to steer the vehicle.

I was going around a 90 degree corner at about 15 mph when the steering seemed to lock up. I quickly realized that the power steering had failed, and I wrestled the steering wheel to complete the turn. Since then, the power steering has not worked 90% of the time.

My Mini cooper intermittently, without warning becomes very difficult to steer. Power steering failed rounding a corner on the freeway, nearly resulting in a high speed crash.

Electric power steering pump failed while I was in a turn at 30 mph. Steering became very heavy and nearly caused the car to leave the road due to greatly increased required steering effort. Shut car off and checked fluid level. Fluid level found to be full. Researched the problem when I got home and found that this is a known safety issue with Mini's. Additionally, transport canada has issued a recall already on these power steering pumps due to continued failures.

I was merging onto highway I-25, taking a sharp turn at 50 mph when the power steering suddenly failed. I nearly missed the turn and almost crash down the on-ramp, which would've placed me heading perpendicular straight into highway traffic.

Since I had the car in 2009 I had this problem with the power steering that it has a failure. BMW no response for this its a pump that its not design correctly. Lost of Minis has this problems. Hard to steer and almost got into a crash.

Power steering failed as I was driving, unable to steer car. After some time, power resumed intermittently.

Power steering failed completely upon warm engine re-start. The smell of overheating components is in the passenger cabin.

Purchased 2006 Mini Cooper S brand new at a Mini dealer in boston. The vehicle has 108k highway miles. I had serviced the vehicle at the dealer until warranty ran out and transitioned to a national car care chain. I began to notice the vehicle slipping between second and third gear when traveling in stop and go traffic. I brought the car to my regular mechanic and they indicated that I should bring it to a transmission shop. Delivered the car to the shop and have been informed that my cvt transmission had failed and would need to be re-manufactured. I was also informed that my power steering pump is leaking and failing. The power steering fan had seized and was likely the cause of the power steering failure. The Mini dealership quoted me over 10k for the transmission replacement only did not inquire about power steering and there were no programs for customers in this situation. This cost is more than the car is worth. The transmission shop will do the repairs for 6k.

On date of incident, was attempting to park when the steering wheel locked up (became very difficult to move). I managed to get the car into a spot and called for tow assistance. The repair shop diagnosed as a power steering pump failure and had to replace that and other affiliated components (cooling fan, etc. ). Approximately 4 days before the failure, the power steering fan was uncharacteristically whiny, but went away after a few minutes and was not heard again before the failure.

Exiting on an off-ramp from the freeway the power steering pump failed and steering became rock hard and it took considerable strength to keep the car from going straight and running into the guard rail around the turn. Very scary experience and if I had decreased muscle strength the car would have veered straight for the guard rail and at high freeway exit speeds.

While driving on an interstate highway, the power steering completely failed, resulting in a near-loss of control and crash due to the sudden dramatic increase in physical effort required to control the car. The failure was determined to be related to the power steering pump no longer functioning. There was no loss of fluid or breach in the hydraulic system. This is apparently a very common problem among this model of car.

Power steering fails when engine is turned on. Also occurs while driving. Mechanic stated that the power steering pump failed.

Occasional power steering failure. At first it occurred mostly at start up for less than a minute. After calling the dealer for info, I added fluid, turned the wheel to lock in both directions and that seemed to help for a couple weeks. The issue has since returend, about 1 occurrence per week. Most recently I had no power steering for the entirety of a ~30 minute drive. I'm concerned that the steering will fail mid-turn, particularly while driving dangerous mountain roads. Does the pump need to be replaced or is this an electrical issue as desciped in existing complaints?.

Hydraulic power steering assist system failed while on the road 3 times causing a crash hazard. The power steering would return intermittently until it completely stopped working.