We have classified the 2 complaints from 2009 MINI Cooper about STRUCTURE into the following categories.
Took vehicle in for installation heat shield for turbo feed line. this is a recall and newly installed part to protect the turbo feed line due to overheating. to my surprise they install the heat shield only to tell me that the turbo line is failing and want to charge me $1000.00. the failure of the line is obviously due for the same reason they are installing a heat shield. thus item should be recalled and replaced. *tr
I stopped at a grocery store on the way home from work at approx. 6:30 pm on 11/17/11. i parked the car, turned off the ignition and locked it. when i exited the store approximately 13-15 minutes later, i found the car a smoldering shell surrounded by firefighters. it appeared to have spontaneously gone up in flames. firefighters could not determine a cause. there was no indication of any problems with the car prior to this incident (car performed "normally" and there were no alarm or flash indicators on the console suggesting a problem.) *jb
2009 mini cooper. driving on hwy.101 with flow of traffic (65-70 mph) with windows up. the road is clear and flat (i.e., no construction). the back sunroof just exploded, sending fragment shards of glass blowing into my car. drove to nearest gas station and covered the gaping hole in the sunroof. when i got home, i noticed that all edges of the broken glass point outward. i did not hit anything for this to have happened. the explosion was instantaneous and frightening. i don't know if any glass hit other cars. *tr