Problems with 2005 MINI Cooper S STEERING

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.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. while driving various speeds, the contact experienced intermittent power steering failure. the contact associated the failure with nhtsa campaign number: 15v660000 (steering); however, mini of marin (5880 paradise dr, corte madera, ca 94925, (415) 887-2194) and the manufacturer were contacted and stated that the vehicle was not included in a recall. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was unknown.

Power steering no longer works.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. when the vehicle was started, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn and the service engine soon warning indicator illuminated. the contact stated that the steering failure worsened since december of 2017. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. the vehicle was not taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. the manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised that the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 15v660000 (steering). the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 63,000.

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

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 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.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. while driving 15 mph, the power steering failed without warning. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the power steering pump needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. mag mini dublin in columbus (5825 venture dr, dublin, oh 43017, (614) 389-6854) was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 15v660000 (steering). the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 103,000.

I am a proud owner of a 2005 mini cooper s with 108k miles. recently i experienced the infamous ehps pump failure that the pump will continue running after shutting off the car. it drains the battery completely so i hooked up my battery charger to it overnight. after performing some google researching on this subject matter, i realized mini had issued an extended warranty on the ehps system in 2013 and later superseded by the recall 15v-660. unfortunately my production date (august of 05) does not fall in the range of the recall. the recall covers production between september 2001 to february 2005. further reading on this issue, many owners expressed that they have success on cleaning the dust inside the pump to solve the shorting issue within the pump. so i disconnect the battery, removed the pump from the car and start taking the pump apart. after removing the cover, i realized the short had already melted down one of the brush (the gold color piece in img_9730) and some other components inside the pump. my research showed that this pump is the exact same one that was used as the recall one, bmw part number 6769961-02 (img_9733). later on the part number changed to 6769961-03. so i wondered why my car isn't part of the us recall. i also found that the transport canada recall #2012029 does provide extended warranty (12 years / 200k km) on the pump and pump cooling fan for all 2002-2005 cooper and cooper s in canada. i hope someone can further investigate this potential fire hazard issue for all affected production units that is outside of the recall. it is definitely a safety concern for all mini owners and passengers that utilize this ehps pump.

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. *tr

I have had the steering pump fail twice in my 2005 r53 mini, the 1st time the power steering would cut out at random while driving and the pump would continued to run after car was turned off (had to disconnect battery for it to stop). this was replaced in 2013 at a mini dealership under an "extended warranty" at the expense of mini. now 3 years later i am having the same symptoms, the power steering cut out on while changing lanes on the highway and then the pump continued to run when i arrived home and turned the car off (had to disconnect battery). the next day the steering pump actually burnt itself out (smoked) while the car was idling in the driveway. i understand mini has issued a more extensive recall however since mine was "fixed" already i am not covered - it seems as though the replacement parts are just as faulty as those they have replaced and will most likely experience the same dangerous failure. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. the contact stated that the power steering failed intermittently and the steering wheel became difficult to turn. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic diagnosis. it was unknown if the vehicle was repaired. the contact was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 15v660000 (steering). the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 178,000.

Complete power steering failure on my way to work this morning while turning a corner from the highway to city street. i found an open safety recall dec 2015 for 2005 model mini cooper s but my 2005 vin is not included. it seems a major safety concern like this would be taken care of by the oem.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. while driving 35 mph, the vehicle lost power steering ability without warning and became difficult to steer. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. the contact was informed that the power steering pump failed. the vehicle was not included in nhtsa campaign number: 15v660000 (steering). the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 131,000. updated 07/12/16*lj updated 07/14/16.*jb

Electro/hydraulic power steering unit failure @ 87,000 miles . unit will not shut off unless the battery cable is disconnected. mini usa refuses to cover the part under the current recall.

There is a power steering pump recall for this model (nhtsa campaign number: 15v660000) but the date cutoff is for cars produced by february of the 2005 model year. my car (2005 mini cooper s with 86,000 miles) has a production date of june 2005 and is not eligible for the recall. the power steering pump has failed making steering difficult and more erratic. steering now requires substantially more force, so my wife is currently unable to drive the car without concerns for her own safety. if the manufacturer feels that the part they used after february 2005 was not subject to this "glitch", then why is the part malfunctioning in the same manner as the admittedly faulty part?

The power steering has failed in this vehicle. mini cooper has a recall on this make, model and year but says my vin is not included. mechanic stated power steering unit needs to be replaced.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. while driving approximately 15 mph, the power steering failed and caused the steering wheel to become very difficult to turn. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the power steering pump was faulty and needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 115,000.

On 2/11/2016 i got home from work and i parked my 2005 mini cooper s (53,000 miles) on the driveway, turn off car and stayed with my kids & wife since they were waiting for me outside, my wife notice a sound & smoke coming from the car, the smoke were coming from the engine, i immediately open the hood & there was more smoke coming out, the headlights & all the lights turned on & stared flickering, also the wipers turned on, couple of seconds later the botom of the engine was engulfed in flames. my wife ran to get the water hose & i were able to put the fire out, we were lucky that i didn't walk inside the house like i always do, it could have been a horrible tragedy for me, my family and even our neighbors. the next day i had the car towed to my mechanic who after an inspection found out if was the power steering pump that got on fire and damaged all the wires around it, since he is a mini specialist he told us about a recall for that specific part, but to our disappointment he ran our vin # and found that our car is excluded from that recall since its a late 2005 production. that exactly same thing happend to us with the actuators, one day while my wife was shopping with my kids, they just got locked inside the vehicle with the windows rolled up, it was a summer day and luckily she was able to get out through the back trunk, we contacted mini because there is also a recall for the actuators and they also excluded our car saying that it was a late 2005 production and were not able to get the recall. the way we see it mini is not taking responsibility for their defective components, it is not fair since i have no way to find out if my car was build with not defective parts, obviously it was. i am terrified by the idea this could have been worst since we r always driving with our kids. u need to do something about this & make mini liable for these safety issues.

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.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper s. while in park, the contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the front of the vehicle after the vehicle was turned off. the contact had to disconnect the battery cable to get the noise to stop. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering assist pump needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 103,000. ...updated 02/19/16 *bf... updated 05/03/18*jb

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

Power steering failed. extremely difficult to steer without it. after the car as turned off and then cooled: 30 minutes later the power steering worked again. this has now happened on 3 occasions over the last 2 weeks: all on days with the temperature in the 90s. i called the mini service but they said that they won't fix it under the extended warranty on the power steering pumps (150k miles, 13 years) unless its failed while they have it. very dangerous to drive this way with unexpected failures: especially for my wife who would not be able to force it through turns without power steering. i don't understand why there has not been a recall on this power steering system.

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.

Power steering pump failed, and there is a recall for 2002-2005 coopers, but for some reason our vin is not covered, why? obviously the recall came long after the cars were delivered, does our really have a different part number of pump? why isn't our covered by the recall? *tr

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. *tr

Power steering pump failed to turn off with vehicle. resulted in battery being drained and ultimately loss of power steering. power steering pump, fan, and fluid had to be replaced as a result of fan becoming seized, pump overheating and failing. *tr

Power steering abruptly stopped working while cornering causing driver to use heavy manual force to corner the vehicle thru a tricky viaduct train bridge passageway. while midway into the turn, the power steering abruptly "kicked back on" causing the steering wheel to turn violently across lane and nearly into corner of cement wall holding up overhead train bridge. other cars were missed, and driver stopped car with front bumper slightly touching viaduct cement wall. wife and 7 year old child were on the impact side of vehicle. vehicle was checked by an independent mechanic which noted the ehps power steering pump is failing. he cleaned the power steering pump and installed a new cooling fan on the power steering pump. the pump was overheated and packed with metal debris. independent mechanic advised me to return to mini as potential recall issue which has been widely reported but refuted by mini. power steering pump still has significant noise and is scheduled for review by a mini dealer. *tr

Power steering system fire. *tr

At the beginning, the steering pump makes some noises and a few weeks later, my power steering completely went out, really heard to steer especially at the lower speed and at the corner. *tr

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

Power steering pump making noise when car is off, draining battery. eminent failure. *tr

Failure to powersteering started acting up in january of 2014 after i got my o2 senor replaced. was told to continued to drive car because the o2 sensor needed to recalibrate itself. so now in april 9th 2014, while getting ready to take off for work,i could not steer the car, called aaa to have car towed to dealership. this is when i was informed it was in fact the power steering pump, and that it would cost me 1700 to replace, im outraged. *js

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. *tr

The power steering pump stopped working the first time when i stopped to get a sandwich. when i restarted the car to drive off the steering was very heavy. i shut the engine off once again so i could look under the hood to check things out but everything looked fine so i restarted the engine to try to drive off again and the steering still was very heavy. no power assist. this has happened four times since, one time while i was driving. *tr

The power steering pump on my 2005 mini cooper s failed, making it extremely difficult to maneuver the car safely in traffic. i was able to get the car to a service shop and later discovered that this is a very common problem. i called mini, and they told me that the vin number for my car was not one covered by the extended warranty for this problem, even though my car is a model year 2005. they offered no financial assistance whatsoever to help me replace the part. a new part was quoted as 1300 dollars, and that was aside from the labor. for cost reasons, it looks like i will have to install a refurbished part instead, which gives me concerns about future failures. *tr

I was on my way back to work from lunch in my 2005 mini cooper s and my power steering suddenly and without warning failed in the middle of a curve! i fortunately managed to regain control of the vehicle and limp to the parking lot to pull over. then, i turned the car off to get out, and discovered my power steering pump was still running even with the car completely off!? i was afraid that this would cause a meltdown or fire, so i quickly called a mini dealer to ask how to shut the pump off. i was told that the battery had to be disconnected! the battery had to remain disconnected while the car was off or the pump would run continuously. i did not feel the car was safe to drive at this point. my power steering was now unpredictably intermittent when the car was running. the power steering would suddenly fail and then suddenly come back on, causing a jerk-and-swerve reaction in the steering wheel for me while driving. so i called mini usa to report the problem, and i towed the vehicle to a mini dealer. the mini dealer diagnosed the problem to be the known power steering failure covered by the extended warranty on the power steering pump and associated pump cooling fan for model years 2002-2005 for up to 13 years/150,000 miles. but mini usa denied coverage despite my car only having approx 70,000 miles, claiming that they stopped coverage after feb 2005 because the newly designed replacement parts were installed after feb 2005. my car was built in may 2005 and was proven by the mini dealer to have the original faulty power steering parts, not the newly designed parts. i am reporting this as a known potentially dangerous safety issue that should instead be a safety recall, rather than this extended warranty that mini usa does not properly advertise or honor, so that all mini owners will get their steering checked before anything bad happens. *tr

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. *js

Temporary loss of power steering. *tr

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. *tr

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. *tr

While driving on a 2 lane 2 way (1 per direction) rural road very windy on my daily commute into my office i lost power steering. i was on a straightaway and luckily not in a curve because the steering instantly became tight and at low speeds is almost unable to steer. i say almost because i i am able to drive with great effort and attention however any evasive movement for an emergency may cause me to be involved in an accident. i have seen mimi had a recall for the exact issue in canada but has not had a recall in the usa while we are having the exact problems. mini also changed the steering pump/fan/wiring in the 2006 models which is the last year of production on the exact model i own. obviously they (mini) is aware and tried to fix the issue on their end without a recall.

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. *tr

the power steering pump on my 2005 mini cooper s failed, making it extremely difficult to drive the car. a service shop indicated this is a common problem for the mini's. my is out of the warantee, howvere it only has 45k miles. when i called bmw/ mini north america to discuss a remedy but they told me the vin number for my car was not one covered by the extended warranty for this problem, while my car is a 2005 with very low milage they will not offer any assistance whatsoever to help me replace the part as my cars production date is june 2005, which is past the production date for cars getting the extended warantee on p/s pumps. it seams unscroplous to hide from responsability of faulty parts, also potential safty issue. while my car may be produced a few monhs after the production date from the cars they are willing to warantee, it apperars i am suffering from same issues as the otheres they are waranteeing. verry discuraging bmw/mini. *tr

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? *tr

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. *tr

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. *tr

While driving my mini cooper s '05, i suddenly lost power steering, which made it extremely difficult to steer. i feel threatened driving my car. *tr

The mini cooper was sitting in the garage. my family noticed a distinct burning smell. we did not know where is was coming from. the burning smell was traced to the garage, but still did not identify the source. the next day when the vehicle was driven, there was no power steering. upon inspection and removal of the power steering pump, all the electrical connections to the unit were melted. the power steering unit and the wiring harness leading to the unit are damaged and must be replaced. in conclusion the unit drew power while the car was off and fried the electrical connections. *tr

Tl* 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 and offered no assistance. the failure and current mileages were 59,895. updated 1/29/13 *cn updated 2/7/2013 *js

The power steering in my car has failed continuously. we had the entire rack replaced in 2011 - the steering fluid constantly leaks, or burns dry - for the last few months, the power steering pump does not stop running when the vehicle is parked - requiring for the battery to be disconnected at every stop, or risk a dead battery. *tr