After receiving roadside assistance for a battery issue i was driving home at highway speeds at night when the interior lighting of my dashboard went out and my instrument cluster, turn signals, fog lights, high beams, and windows ceased to function. when i made it home i scanned my vehicle via obd2 and a plethora of codes had appeared almost all related to safety features such as lighting, airbags,dynamic stability control, suspension, abs, and speed sensing devices. after several hours of research and diagnostic work i determined the problem to be the driver side footwell module which has long been known to be a defective item to mini/bmw so much so that it's been given a warranty extension of 10 years/ 156,000 miles that remains active, but only to eligible vehicle warranty holders. after my experience of losing practically all vehicle lighting which included both turn and hazard signaling ability while driving at night and at highway speeds i implore the nhtsa to issue a safety recall on these faulty footwell modules given the ease and suddenness at which they cease to function for reasons that range from moisture intolerance, routine maintenance practices, and emergency roadside assistance as was my particular case. the problem has already been acknowledged by the manufacturer and i feel it is now time that the government address this known safety issue in order to protect america's roads and highways as well as the citizenry at large.
While on a recent road trip, passenger airbag warning lamps began to come on intermittently while the seat was occupied. at first, the system seemed to reset when the engine was switched off, but over the course of 2 days, it stopped resetting and the warning lights, as well as the warning tones, would just go on and off spontaneously with the seat occupied. now the "passenger airbag off" indicator lamp above the rearview mirror, warning lamp near tachometer (area 1 as indicated by mini owner's manual), and airbag system failure lamp (area 2) are continuously lit when passenger seat is unoccupied. i have not had the system checked by a mechanic yet; currently, the nearest mini dealership/service center is 202 miles from me. i have noticed that this is very common issue reported here and on several online forums. the timing chain tensioner also failed and had to be replaced in spring of 2015.
I was driving the car for a 300 miles trip, never had an issue before. after stopping in san antonio the fans kept running for at least 15min. stopped at a conveinience store and topped off coolant which wasnt missing any and checked the oil level and added one quart of oil. taking on the trip to austin tx, the car was running fine at 70mph when my low oil light came on. ten seconds later pulled to the side and smoke started coming from the engine. less than a minute later on the side of the road and fire started blazing throughout the car burning all our belongings.
Our 2010 mini cooper drivers side door lock actuator has malfunctioned making it impossible to open the door. this is the second time this has happened to this car (previous was the passenger side). it seems to be a common occurrence in mini's. this is an extremely serious possibly deadly condition if we were in an accident as rescue/medical personnel could not get us out of the door. something needs to be done to have bmw/mini own up to the problem and have a second, mechanical, way to open the door.
Radio not working, first the cd player stopped working approximately one month previously. then the radio started to go in and out of service. sometimes working and then not working. it has a mind of its own, the replacement cost is 1000.00. when the incident first started was at about 41,000 miles and when i took it in was 45,000 miles. *tr
Mini cooper 2010. starting/stalling issues. car doesn't start. it happened a couple of months ago as well. car has been towed 1 and brought to prestige mini in nj (car dealer) for service 3 times. after replacing battery and an engine sensor, the problem persist. the car will be towed again today (jan 30, 2014) for further costly repairs. i have extended warranty and maintenance on this car but even with that, the cost of repairs and towing are not covered. this is a very poor, unreliable car (mini cooper 2010). responsiveness from prestige mini is also very poor. service manager doesn't respond to calls or return voice mails. very poor service. *tr