Trunk Wiring Problems of Mini Cooper S

Vehicle fire 5/2/2012. Car parked for 4 hrs. Returned to car & drove it <50 yards for ~2 minutes (moved it from street to parking lot). Turned it off and went in store. Returned ~4 minutes later, noticed smoke/exhaust smell; presumed it was adjacent car. Unlocked car. Car would't start (no lights/electrical at all). I then noticed white smoke coming from hood. Opened hood then noticed flame/fire inside engine compartment. Went in store, got fire extinguisher and put fire out. Invoice was >$3500 from Mini dealer. The dealer's assessment: "verified power steering pump has overheated to the point where it has burned up internally as well as externally (melting all three connectors and the wiring leading to them). Inspected power steering cooling fan and verified cooling fan is seizing up which very likely led to the overheating and eventual failure of the power steering pump. Removed engine compartment fuse box to examine megafuse powering the power steering pump, fuse is intact and did not burn up. Inspected power steering pressure hose and it appears the rubber section of the power steering pressure line was subjected to the heat/melting of the main power connector (it's in very close proximity to the connector) and it appears the hose has taken a level of damage from the heat. Recommend replacement of power steering pump, the wiring section/connector pigtail from the fuse box (this is the main power connector), the engine wiring harness (contains two other electrical connectors to the pump which received extensive damage), the power steering fan (likely cause of failure), power steering pressure line (high pressure hydraulic line which has been exposed to the main connector melting and subsequent heat), and other miscellaneous items associated with those components (o-rings, crush rings, hose clamps ect. . . )".

See all problems of the 2005 Mini Cooper S 🔎.

A fire was caused by the failure of the power steering cooling fan. At some point the day of the incident the fan seized and the resulting electrical resistance in the main wiring harness caused the wiring harness to heat to a point of melting some of the plastic wire insulation allowing for direct wire to wire contact and resulted in an electrical fire between the engine and the passenger compartment. The resulting fire completely disabled the vehicle's electrical system and requires at Minimum the replacement of the entire main wiring harness. Event description after a short drive (less than 2 miles on a cold engine) the vehicle was parked. After the engine was turned off smoke was seen rising from the vehicle engine compartment. Upon raising the hood, flames were seen between the engine and the passenger compartment reflecting off both fire walls. 2 fire extinguishers were required to put out the flames after the battery was disconnected. Total loss of the vehicle to fire was prevented by the owners actions.

See all problems of the 2002 Mini Cooper S 🔎.