2005 mini cooper s with 42k miles. driver side door fails to open from the inside. i can only exit the car by using the outside door handle which requires opening the window. if an emergency occurs which requires rapid exit from the car and there was a failure of the electrical system i would not be able to exit vehicle. 42k miles is fairly low and the car has not been abused. mini cooper claims this is 'normal' wear. it is not 'normal' wear and is indeed a manufacturers defect which apparently happens to many mini coopers. *tr
Strut towers deformed. this is a result of standard equipment run flat tires hitting pot holes. the fix is a reinforcing plate attached to the top of the strut tower. either the run flats should not have been available or the strut towers should have been of sufficient strength. *tr
Both door handles are inoperative from the inside. dealer per phone call diagnosed "common problem" as the ballard cable disconnecting from the latch. after removing the door panel it was found to be intact. problem is yet to be diagnosed. it is my assumption that there is a problem with the security system since the doors do not unlock when the ignition is turned off and the doors do not appear to try and lock when the vehicle reaches the set speed of 15 mph. this is a defect of grave concern since the occupants of the vehicle cannot immediately exit the vehicle in the event of a crash or fire and would be totally unable to exit in the event of an electrical failure. *tr
(1) i recently traded my 2003 mini cooper in for a 2005 mini cooper s at a private dealership. (2) upon inspecting the 2005 cooper s, i noticed that the strut towers were deformed, but since this was not a mini dealership, nothing could be done by them. i bought the car thinking this could be fixed under warranty. after calling the closest mini dealership which is 200+ miles away, i was informed that this was considered abuse to the car and it would not be covered under warranty. the previous owner must have hit a pothole. the problem i have with this situation is there is a serious design flaw in the mini cooper's shock towers. this is the first time i have seen this happen to a car. i have owned many cars in my lifetime, and never have seen this happen. i am not the only owner to experience this and it is a pretty common occurrence in mini coopers. i'm concerned because this situation causes the car to wander on the road. after doing research, i'm getting feedback from other owners. some say their dealership is fixing the deformation, others, like myself are denied. i'm a little frightened at what could happen to the car over time from this. will the sheet metal get even weaker as time goes on? i believe bmw should address this issue. (3) i have not fixed this problem on my car yet, but the fix is to either pay money to have the shock towers cut out and have new ones welded in, or pound down the old ones until they are flat, then buy reinforcement plates from a vendor to keep the already stressed metal from bending again. *jb