Problems with 2005 MINI Cooper STEERING

2005 mini cooper has power steering problems on several occasions in the last few weeks. seemingly resolves spontaneously. *tr

The failure in my power steering pump occurred at 70,000 miles while driving on the interstate highway at 75 mph. the steering wheel locked as i was driving while changing lanes. i could not turn the wheel without excessive force. i have also found that a pump, in the process of failing, causes another problem; the pump might randomly start working again, and possibly in the process of a turn. this actually happened to me and caused an over compensation when turning a corner (on 2 occasions) and potentially endangered the other motorists on the road, as well as myself! i found that it will cost me $1000.00+ to have this repaired. i am currently unemployed and cannot afford this expense. in the mean time, my beloved mini sits in the garage until a recall or until i have enough money to pay for the repairs. *tr

About 2 months ago the steering started getting hard to steer as if the power steering was broken. took it to the mechanic and he could not find anything wrong. it was an intermittent problem. on 9/26/11 the steering became hard to steer all of the time and my wife almost got into a collision when she found it very hard to steer. took it to my mechanic and he discovered that the power steering pump had failed. in addition, he told me that there has been numerous reports of power steering unit failure with my 2005 mini cooper. i called my local mini cooper dealer and was told there was no recall at all in regards to the power steering unit. since my wife and i have to drive the car, i had the power steering pump repaired at a cost of $1055.00. *tr

Power steering has been going out intermittently while the car is being driven - usually after going over a pothole or bump in the road. *tr

Driving home from work at about 70 mph, the power steering failed. i was going around a bend in the road when suddenly the power steering failed that almost caused an accident. without notice the car reverted to "rack-and-pinion" mode. i was fortunate that time to gain control of the car and did not go over the side of the road or hit another car. i didn't drive the car for several months then took it to a few mechanics for an estimate. dealer says replace the steering pump at $1200 but they will not honor any assistance due to the premature failure of the steering pump or the electrical connection to the cooling fan failure. the power steering fan quits then the pump gets hot and shuts off. i called mini usa today and they said they will not assist me in paying for the manufacturing defect. my pump failure is intermittent suggesting that the problem is electrical and on point for a recall on 2004 mini coopers. my car has the same problem and was manufactured in 2004, but is the 1707 car outside their "official" recall range. mini/bmw sent a "mr. driver" letter out on 12/2004 for this "recall." my car had not been purchased yet. the dealer says that replacing the steering pump will solve all the problems including the electrical issue. apparently, the new steering pump has a design feature that eliminates the electrical failure problem (defect code: 0032630100 & labor code: 0055719). the more the pump overheats because of the fan non-operation problem, the pump will need to be replaced, it will be burnt out. one thing is sure, i have a premature failure of the steering pump making my car dangerous to drive. i can't afford to fix it. nor do i believe, i should be responsible for the manufactures design failure. the car is not fit to drive as intended. why is bmw getting away with this? many thousands and thousands of drivers have this same problem. *kb

While driving at 40 miles per hour the car lost all power steering. the loss of power steering made it extremely difficult to turn the car. the car was more difficult to turn than a car that has no power steering. the power steering went out without any warning. it was working one moment, then after a short driving for a short period it just ceased to work. checked power steering fluid and the fluid level was ok. after restarting, the power steering worked again. this has happened several times. the power steering will just quit working while driving. you are given no warning that it is no longer working, until you attempt to turn and the car does not respond. *js

The power steering just stopped working and became nearly impossible to steer. the lack of control nearly caused an accident. i pulled over and turned the car off. i restarted the car and it seems the power steering was okay. it keeps cutting out and i have to shut down the car and restart it in order to get it to work again. i have been told that eventually it will stop working completely. i took it to a local mechanic however they were unable to determine the problem. they recommended having the dealer run diagnostics. diagnostic at the dealer is expensive and is not credited towards the repairs so i have been unable to get the issue addressed by the mini dealer. *tr

Power steering failure while driving 2005 mini cooper. requires stopping vehicle and restarting engine. the frequency of failure or power assist increasing. *tr

I was leaving my house for work in the morning. as i was backing out of the driveway onto the street, i discovered that the steering wheel was really hard to turn. consequently i ended up all the way on the other side of the street, and it took great effort to get the car into the direction i intended. fortunately there wasn't oncoming traffic when i was on the wrong side of the street, otherwise it could be dangerous... i stopped on the side of the street, checked that everything else was ok except power steering. since i only needed to take local streets, i was able to drive to work - it just felt like my very first car that was manual and without power steering!

Loss of power steering while driving. car did not hit or come in contact with anything when power steering was lost. full power steering and fan had to be replaced as a result. *tr

My 2005 mini cooper steering is going out every time i try to turn i have to use both hands and all my power to turn it. i just dropped it off at the repair shop and will call him in the morning to let him know the problem so he can try and fix it. *tr

We have a 2005 mini cooper. on 16jun11, my wife was driving back from her shift at the hospital at around 9am when while taking a turn the steering wheel suddenly became very heavy. she had to make the car turn with a lot of force. the next day, 17jun11, when we tried to open the car, it didn't respond to the key remote, and we have to open it manually. the car didn't respond, and wouldn't start. today, 18jun11, we called aaa va our insurance, and they came over jump started the car. i took the car to the mini service center (new country bmw), and they said i would have to come back on monday, 20june. they did take a quick look under the hood, and even when the car is switched off, a cylinder behind the battery makes a continuous hissing sound. they said the problem would most certainly be related to the power steering pump/assembly. so, when in its turned off state, the pump somehow drains the battery. i will take my car to them in a few days again when they are free, but meanwhile, when i park, i park with the battery connections removed, so atleast i don't have to ask aaa to jump start it everytime. i am not sure if this is a manufacturing defect, and mini would be taking care of it. but i am worried about the costs! *tr

Mini cooper 05 power steering failure. *tr

I was driving 50 mph, outside air temp approx 65f. without warning the power steering failed. i pulled over and checked the tires and engine compartment to check for leaks or belt faults. nothing, so i continued 20 miles to my destination without the steering assist. after i turned the engine off, i restarted it and the power steering was back. it happened during a slow turn, fortunately. if i had been in any tighter of a turn, i probably would have driven off the road. *tr

Without warning, in march 2011, my power steering failed. service determined the cooling fan for the electrohydraulic steering pump motor in my 2005 mini cooper needed to be replaced--intake manifold and fan with protecting grille. no mention was made that a further failure, of the pump itself, could occur. in june 2011, the electrohydraulic steering pump motor failed whilst i was driving on the highway. service revealed the failure was due to an internal short circuit and said pump was replaced. *kb

Loss of power steering in 2005 mini cooper. 1. on 06 april 2011 at 11:00, i had an appointment at the grand rapids, mi mini cooper dealer for an oil change. during the routine inspection conducted along with the oil change, it was reported to me that my power steering fan had failed. fortunately, as reported at that point, my power steering pump looked fine. i paid to have the power steering fan replaced at that point. i experienced no issues with my vehicle's steering until 11 june 2011 at approximately 7:30pm when, while attempting to pull into a parking space in a parking garage, the power steering failed completely. the resulting loss of steering capability caused me to impact a movable parking sign in the adjacent parking space. hours later, after cooling down, the power steering continued to function, but has begun to fail at random intervals. i am currently awaiting an appointment to have it replaced for approximately $1500. 2. the consequences of the failure have been heightened concern while driving, and a dynamic cost of $1500 to replace the power steering pump. *tr

Power steering cooling fan failed. power steering pump got very hot and all the fluid boiled away. pump did not fail but is probably damaged and failure can be expected. *tr

I own a 2005 mini cooper. mileage is 43,070. my power steering pump recently malfunctioned. steering became uncontrollable and the power steering pump eventually would not turn off and continued running after i turned off my car. part had to be replaced. i understand that a class action was filed in october 2010 regarding this same problem. i am writing to let the nhtsa know that my power steering pump also malfunctioned. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper. while driving 30 mph, the contact stated that it became impossible to steer the vehicle. the dealer informed the contact that the power steering pump and fan failed. the manufacturer advised the contact that they would research the failure and the contact was awaiting a response. no repairs were performed. the current and failure mileages were approximately 68,000. the vin was unavailable.

My 2005 mini cooper vin # [xxx] just lost power steering while driving on the side street, tried to shut off the engine and restart, it works but decided to just park in the garage since i was afraid to get involve in a accident. then suddenly, a weird sound coming from the engine compartment, left it overnight , next thing my car battery died and could not start the car. jumped start it let my husband drove it around the block and exactly the same problem occurred. the power steering became stiff and very hard to maneuver even just making a 45 degrees angle and returned to a driving position. i just decided to just park it and wait until a possible recall. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

The steering wheel on my mini cooper has become hard to steer on and off for the last couple of days. at the onset, i was going at about 15 to 20mph and turning right. the steering got hard to turn and i was having difficulty staying out of on coming traffic. i pulled off to the side of the road, turned off the car and hood under the hood to see if there was anything to explain what was going on. i was not able to identify anything to explain this occurrence, so i restarted the car and it was back to normal. since then it has done this on and off several other times. i call the mechanic and was told these vehicles have lots of problems with the steering pump, cooling fan and rely switch.

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper. the contact stated the power steering failed, without warning, while driving approximately 55 mph. the vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road and shut off. he inspected the vehicle and was unable to detect a failure. the contact restarted the vehicle and resumed operation with the steering failure. the contact planned to take the vehicle to the dealer for diagnosis. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 57,000. updated 06/03/11 *bf the consumer was informed by the dealer that the power steering pump failed. updated 06/13/11

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper. the contact stated that while driving 40 mph, the power steering failed without warning. the contact mentioned that she was unable to maneuver the vehicle without applying an excessive amount of force to the steering wheel. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure but replaced the power steering fan as a temporary remedy. the remedy failed to repair the failure. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure and the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 80,000 and the current mileage was 84,000.

For the past week, the power steering on my car has failed twice. when it fails, i will suddenly be unable to steer the car. this has occurred while driving the vehicle, e.g. while making at turn while driving on local streets, on an on-ramp to a freeway, and also while parking, maybe it impossible to pull into a parking space within reasonable time. while driving local street, i have had to slow down (for fear of not being able to make the turn trying to steer the vehicle with my own arms) and nearly got into an accident. updated 08/17/11*bf *tr updated 02/02/2012 *ln *tr

2005 mini cooper power steering failure. having problems with the power steering intermittently failing. have been told by mini cooper dealership that this is not a "problem", but will probably need to replace the power steering pump. after reading multiple posts, and the investigation that your organization has started...this is looking more like a coverup on mini's part instead of an acceptance of responsibility. this is my wife's car, and it has put her safety at risk twice now when it failed while making a turn. *tr

When backing out of garage noticed that steering felt "heavy", then as i proceeded forward, all power steering assist ceased. this has occurred two or three times (with no warning) in the past, and on the highway. the power steering outage may last a few minutes, or a few days. the outage reported here lasted 10 days. the car can be steered, but only with great effort.. very dangerous.

While driving at speeds of 45 to 55 mph, the power steering of the vehicle fails, causing the car to swerve dangerously into other lanes, as it requires a lot of strength to keep the car in its lane when this happens on a bend in the road. this occurs approximately once a month. at other times, the power steering pump does not even turn on when the vehicle is started. the steering wheel is nearly impossible to turn like this. when this occurs, the steering pump or fan can be heard clearly struggling. the car must be turned off and restarted several times to correct the issue. this occurs usually once weekly. i have heard this was a common problem with the mini cooper and not isolated to me and to file a complaint. nothing has yet been done to correct the issue. *tr

Although it did not seem noticeable on the highway, when the power steering pump started to fail i was using extra pressure to stay in my lane. the pump would then work again and the car would lurch off to the side i was favoring and i almost went into a guard rail. when coming off the highway and not knowing the pump was quitting again, i would have to jump into emergency mode to negotiate the turn. *tr

The power steering pump failed intermittently while performing turns or actions which could have resulted in over/under steering. the failure could have easily resulted in an accident. *tr

Power steering very suddenly failed! nearly caused a serous accident when negociating a roundabout. the car is next to impossible to manoeuver, especially at a dead stop, or rounding corners. steering is very hard to return to "middle" position. *tr

I was driving on straight road then into curve...noticed the steering was hard to turn....went in & out for a day then totally out...no power steering...have replaced this and now it's out again!!!! *tr

Intermittent loss of power steering of a 2005 mini cooper. it occurred at least twice (3/14/2011 and 4/8/2011). *tr

Lost power steering while driving. significant force was needed to turn the vehicle. the problem lasted for one day. the power steering returned the following day, but the motor stayed on after the car was turned off. the dealership has to replace the motor and the fan. *tr

I was on my way to work and as i made a right hand turn,i almost lost control of the vehicle. the power steering had failed and i had to find the strength to turn the steering wheel before i ran into the building on the navy base where i work. i had a power steering pump put on. it hasn't even been a year and already i am having the same problems with the power steering. i do not think i should have to buy a new power steering pump every year. *tr

Power steering pump on 2005 mini failed. *tr

The power steering pump in my 2005 mini cooper intermittently stops working while driving. this makes turning extremely difficult and hazardous and happens at what seems to be 'random' times. i took it to the mini dealer and they charged me $125 to tell me that my power steering pump was fine, but shorted out a couple of times causing the difficulty in steering. they were going to charge $1060 for the replacement. from what i'm understanding this is a problem that effects 223,000 mini drivers and yet there is no recall yet. *tr

Power steering began intermittently failing on our 2005 mini cooper at approx. 88,000 miles. steering would become very stiff making maneuvering the car quite difficult. usually would go out after traveling some distance on the highway. very noticeable once stopped at intersection and trying to turn to new direction. does not feel safe to drive. has occurred about 10 times now in the past 3 weeks. failed on way to mini dealer today. mini dealer has indicated the failure of the module in the powersteering pump. will replace pump for $1,100.00 plus. having this repair done as i write. no offer to discount even though nhtsa is investigating the failure of this part. *tr

There was a strange noise (like a fan running) coming from my 2005 mini cooper when the engine was turned off. it continued to make the noise until eventually the car battery died. i do not want to drive my car in fear of losing the power steering while driving. i took my car to the dealership's service department to evaluate the problem. i was told that it was the power steering pump and that it needed to be replaced. i am not sure why a 6 year old car with 36,600 miles would need the power steering pump replaced or why it is broken in the first place. the cost of the repair with parts and labor was estimated to be $1400. i had concerns regarding the repair and decided to return home with my car. i have done some research and have found that i am not the only one that has had the same problem. there are hundreds of complaints about the power steering pump failing on mini coopers. i have requested assistance from the dealership and ultimately mini usa for the repair as i believe it is a safety issue that needs to be addressed. *tr

We bought this car 1 month ago for our 16 year old twins to learn to drive on. twice while driving the steering has locked up to the point they are stranded in the middle of the road. both times they called me from their cell phones and i instructed them to turn on the emergency flashers and try and get to a safe place. they could not move the car from side to side so i instructed them to stop putthe car in park and shut it off and try to re-start. each times this seemed to help but when we have the car looked at there seems to be no problems. the car had only 27,982 miles a month ago when we bought it. *ln

I just bought a 2005 mini cooper and the power steering failed this morning. after researching this issue, i have found that this is a common complaint and that the nhtsa was looking into these issues already. since i have had the vehicle one day, i do not have any other information about whether the power steering failure comes and goes or when it is most likely to occur. this morning it was not functioning properly. *tr

I have a 2005 mini cooper i just hit 55k miles and my power steering pump has failed. my battery is now dead, alternator is fried. it was running fine one day and the next it turned on and i couldn't get it out of my garage and then the battery completely died. this is dangerous and an expensive cost that is the fault of the manufacturer. this is unacceptable that in the uk they are paying for parts but in the us it is a minor issue. *tr

2005 mini cooper power steering failure. the power steering has failed several times in my mini cooper. the car becomes extremely hard to drive when it fails (much harder than an old car without power steering-its nearly impossible to steer when the power steering fails). several times it has happened in the middle of the road while making a turn. if i turn off the car and restart it the power steering will come back for a while. very dangerous situation! *tr

Power steering pump failure while driving vehicle. while driving, my wife had to exert strength to drive vehicle to safe place when the power steering failed. prior to this incident (reporting this as we are not sure if it is related) our 2005 mini required replacement of the power steering pump fan (at cost of $245.60) on 8/21/2009, to fix a loud noise. on 1/12/2011 we had to replace the power steering pump due to power steering failure. mini agreed to charge me only 1/2 the warranty part cost and reduced labor (total job cost me $443 versus almost $1200 until i complained). given the number of incidents (and i read of similar concerns in britain), there should be a recall of this system and i should get a refund of what i paid for the pump and the fan i had replaced in 2009. i also had to have replaced front lower control arm bushings at a labor and parts cost of $767.24. again, not sure if this is related to the power steering pump failure. our car only has 46,500 miles, so these failures seem unusual for a car with such low mileage. we are original owners. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. while driving at any speed, the contact noticed that the vehicle would lose all power steering intermittently without warning. the vehicle was taken to the dealer who performed a diagnostic test which concluded that the power steering pump needed to be replaced and completed the repairs. the contact did not inform the manufacturer. the current mileage was 108,648 and the failure mileage was unknown.

Tl*the contact owns a 2005 mini cooper. the contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the steering wheel locked up suddenly. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the power steering pump and gasket were replaced. the current and failure mileages were 56,954. updated 3/7/11 *cn updated 03/14/11

After starting up my car i attempted to drive out of my driveway, but the power steering wasn't working. i restarted the car and tried driving again. it still didn't work. after about 15 minutes of trying this it finally started to work again. the next day this happened again both in the morning and again after the car had been sitting for 3+ hours. later that night when i drove my car it worked fine. this has happened randomly approximately 8 times in the last 2 years, but the mechanic can never duplicate the incident nor find anything wrong with the power steering. *tr

While driving my 2005 mini cooper (approx 48,000 miles) our power steering intermittently seemed to cut out making the steering extremely heavy and unresponsive. while on the highway it made driving difficult, but not impossible. however, on arriving in town we were unable to make a turn without ending up in the lane of on-coming traffic! luckily there was little traffic around when we arrived at our destination. turning the car off and back on again while stopped at a traffic light seemed to restore our power steering long enough to get to our final destination. *tr

My daughter is 18 years old she was driving home from work 2am raining out side when all of a sudden she started having steering problems real bad thank god her brakes worked. come to find out her power steering box went out and her fan she has a 2005 mini cooper. *tr

Loss of power steering. and regarding this: nhtsa campaign id number :15v660 manufacturer :bmw of north america, llc make / model years :mini / 2002-2005 subject : electro-hydraulic power steering loss i can tell you the problem was because the location of the cooling fan causes it to be continually bombarded with road salt and debris, so it fails, then the pump burns out.

For the second time in two months, i lost power steering in my 2005 mini cooper. the second time happened as i was driving on interstate-84,outside hartford, in connecticut. very scary and dangerous! my mechanic says i have a leak in my power steering electric pump, and it needs to be replaced for almost $600 for a pump. he says the mini coopers he's worked on all have needed this repair. how can a common power steering problem not be dangerous and warrant a recall? *trw