Mini Cooper Reviews

Don't even know where to start..On 6/30/06, I purchased a Mini Cooper-04. Within one week of having this vehicle I started having problems with only 45,000 miles on it..thought I did my homework..thought it's made by BMW, can't be anything big with only 45,000 miles. Eww I was sooo wrong. Airbag/battery light went on. Next the car kept stalling everywhere..in town, on the highway. I was mortified. The ** at the dealership insisted it was something I did..in a week..are you freaking kidding me?

I purchased a Mini Cooper on 09/22/02. Drove the car 43,000 mi. Regular maintenance, when called for, was done at Orlando Mini where purchased. Many expensive problems have occurred, but none like the latest. On 10/14/08, the trans (automatic TVC), went out. Replacement cost $8,600.00. I said, "What", and called Mini consumer affairs. They said they would negotiate with the dealer to reduce the cost. An obvious problem with the trans is known by them. The result was a reduction in labor cost of $1600.00 was apparently supposed to make me happy. I am 65 yrs old and cannot afford this cost. The car was not abused in any way.

My wife was driving her 2007 Mini Cooper. When she arrived at her destination, the car started smoking badly and appeared to be on fire. A strong odor of burnt rubber was present. The clutch no longer worked and the car would not move. The car was towed to Crevier Mini Cooper in Irvine where it was purchased. The service writer called and said that it was a burned out clutch and that it would cost $3,500 to repair it. This car only had 9,000 miles on it. He said that it was not covered by warranty and that this usually happened because of abuse. My wife and I have driven a clutch all of our lives (after 16 years of course) and never had one clutch burned, out much less at 9,000 miles. We have another vehicle with a clutch (Honda Civic) and our driving habits have not caused it to burn out.

I purchased 2002 Mini Cooper S in April of this year with around 56K on it from Amity Nissan. It was actually advertised with 51K but it was at a great price so I didn't let the extra mileage bother me.The car was beautiful so I made a trade and purchased the car. Here's where it gets ridiculous. I noticed some things within the first few days. 1) a clicking sound in the steering column. 2) water in the trunk. 3) a severe pull to the left, And lucky #4, NO HEAT!!!

Transmission died with no warning whatsoever at 58,000 miles. I had just left home to go to work. I was stopped at a red light,. The light turned green, I hit the gas, the car moved about six feet, the transmission seized and died in the middle of the intersection. The steering pump went out at 50,000 miles and cost about $1200 to replace. The feature which tells you how many miles you're getting per gallon, etc. never worked. It was replaced free of charge after I had owned the vehicle for a couple of years, and the new one never worked either. Mostly, I'm upset about the transmission. A five-year-old transmission with under 60k miles shouldn't just die, especially one that's engineered by BMW. I thought I was buying value five years ago. I'm bitterly disappointed.

I bought BRAND NEW mini cooper in March 2004. When my brother brought the car for me, I notice that back bumper have some rust. Since my nearest dealer is about 45 mins. - 1 hour drive(without traffic). I decided to just leave it like that. It wasn't a big deal. After driving for a month, the panel of the back of my seat fall off(both front seats). I called the dealer. It was a worst dealer, I have ever seen. At that time, you have to call a head to make appointment, which was about 1-3 week waiting list. And, they have only specific date and time available. I have a fix schedule, so I couldn't go.

I purchased a used 2003 Mini Cooper from a non-MINI dealer in the summer of 2005. I think it had around 20,000 miles on it. In September 2008 I brought my MINI to a MINI dealer because I was having trouble starting it and the power door lock on the driver's door no longer worked. While they were taking out the power steering unit to replace the starter the mechanic noticed that the power steering fan was completely seized up and needed to be replaced. A couple of days later, I was told the mechanic noticed a noise while driving the MINI, checked the transmission fluid, and the transmission and clutch needed to be replaced. The car only has 59,000 miles on it. It is the 4th manual transmission car I've owned. All the others had over 100,000 miles on them when I sold them and never had transmission problems. HOW CAN THIS NOT BE A RECALL ITEM with all these similar posts?????

2002 Mini Cooper S. Clutch and Transmission Failure at 85K. Dealership in Chicago offered to replace for $6800. I havent discussed with them but Im going to attempt to play hard ball and pay no more then half....we will see. I took good car of this car over the years so a total failure of clutch and trans is totally inexplicable. My hope is to have it repaired and then sell immediately. This car has been in the shop for repeatedly for many issues. I use to recommend the car to everyone but now after this Im going to be doing the exact opposite. Currently looking into a possible class action suit against BMW for faulty design or mechanics on the CVT. Ive read on other forums that this person is putting together a class action suit...might be worth looking into.

I have a 2003 Mini Cooper I bought used with 23,000 miles. I have had the car for a year and 3 months, Since then a this is what has gone bad: a strut, power steering fan, coolant fan, power windows, and door locks. To fix the strut, power steering fan and coolant fan has already cost 3,000. I'm still not done with the repairs. Mini coopers are a rip off. Components are always going out. My Girl friend had a 2006 330i and her car has had the same problems. Don't buy a mini cooper.

I have a 2003 Mini Cooper I bought used with 23,000 miles. I have had the car for a year and 3 months, Since then a this is what g=has gone bad: a strut, power steering fan, coolant fan, power windows, and door locks. To fix the strut, power steering fan and coolant fan has already cost 3,000. I still not done with the repairs, Mini coopers are a rip off. They are just like a BMW, components are always going out. My Girl friend had a 2006 330i and her car has had the same problems. Don't buy a mini cooper.

My 07 Mini Cooper was recently bought back using CA's Lemon Law. When I drove the vehicle off the lot, the clutch ground from 1st to 2nd gear. I took the car back 3 days later to Irvine Mini....they could not replicate it. I took it again about a week later to Brecht and they (and I) could not replicate the grinding. During this time I wrote MiniUSA to tell them of these issues. Upon the third time of going to the dealer (Brecht again) I got a call from their service supervisor who told me that my synchros were destroyed and that EVEN THOUGH the problem was my fault, they were going to replace the transmission (I suspect the only reason the grinding was confirmed was because of my letters to corporate).

2003 Mini Cooper, want to let people know what a piece of junk they are. The moonroof has leaked since day one (bought it in 2006) and obviously can't be fixed. The air conditioner has never worked. Replaced the brakes at the cost of 1,000.00 around 50,000 miles. New muffler system around 55,000 miles for a cost of 1,000.00 New tires at an exorbitant price of 1,000.00.

August: contacted dealer, Service Engine Soon light was on, 2004 Mini w/ 45,000 miles running rough, feels like it will stall out, bucking. Dealer said it was due for service anyway. Brought it in first thing in the am, husband went to pick it up, they didn't look at it all day, because they said they didn't know what our complaint was. Instead, they washed it, locked key inside while it was running, said there was a problem w/ the driver's side lock. Said to leave it overnite, they would look at it the next day. Said light was on because gas cap was not tight. Husband exasperated, took it home.

Okay where to start? I bought my 2003 Mini cooper in June 2007 from a local well known dodge dealer. My car was traded in at the dealer I bought it from with 50,000 miles when I drove off the lot. Great deal right? WRONG! Shortly after the 1 month warranty expired my power steering pump went! Okay sh*t happens I spent 1300 for the repair. Then I noticed this weird sounding noise when the car was in gear, it sounded like a fan with somthing stuck in it. Almost like a grinding sound if you can imagin. I took the car to my local mechanic where I had my frequent oil changes done. My mechanic was in as much shock as I was when he looked me dead in the eye and told me, Mike your transmision is SHOT! This was approximatly 7 months after I had purchased my 17000 car! I called the dealer where I purchased the Mini from and of course they couldn't help (not to my surprise however). I called MINI USA and spoke with a rep. Who told me to take the car to a local Mini dealer for a proper diagnosis and see if they could help out. The rep. Explained that the service manager at the dealer would contact them (mini usa) for possible assistance. At the time the car had 62000 miles on it, just 12000 more then when I purchased it! Just my luck! The service manager seemed very helpful at first and PROCEEDED TO TELL ME THAT THE ORIGINAL OWNER already had a new transmission put in while under warranty through the local mini dealer at 26000 miles!!! The service manager expresses it most likly wasn't the tranny. Thank god right? WRONG! After having the car for over 7 days he called me to let me know I can pick up my car. He continued to tell me that the transmission (the second one placed in the vehicle by mini) was no good! He told me he had eagerly expressed to MINI USA that the transmisson had been replace prior through the dealer under the original warranty. He explained that mini felt that because it was traded into another local deal they weren't shore if the car had properly been serviced after the trade in. I explained the car was traded in with 49500 miles, just 500 less then when I bought it! I explained that the 12000 miles I drove could all be accounted for with receipts. The service manger seemed VERY concernd, but said sorry there is nothing I can do. It turns out mini has MAJOR problems with their 2001 to 2006 transmissions! Hundreds, maybe thousands of other hard working people have the same tranny proplems. There are cival suits in the process throughout the country. If anyone would like to check the many dishearted people, just google mini transmission and you can see. I understand my circumstances and my obligations to my car. My concern is if mini replaced the transmission originaly and are VERY WELL aware of all the problems they are having with the CVT transmissions shouldn't they at least help? Can anyone help?

My 2003 mini cooper which only has 47,000 would hardly start and would hardly run and made a lot of noise. I had it towed to a repair shop who said it blew a rod and that may not be all. I was told that it basically needed a new or rebuilt engine at a cost of $6000 - $10,000. They also said this should never happen and that the manufacturer should be liable. They took it upon themselves to call the manufacturer since when I tried they would not let me talk to anyone. Their phone call resulted in a too bad, the warranty is up and it must be user abuse. Well that is impossible, I have never even had a speeding ticket. Apparently mini cooper's popularity supersedes their willingness to back their product. That is such a crime.

Transmission slipped on 2003 MiniCooper/car died

My '04 Mini automatic trans has had two blown transmissions under 45,000 miles. First was replaced under warranty, second transmission they are trying to fault an autobody shop without any proof that the autoshop did anything wrong, but are they are using that as an excuse to say it's not under warranty.

Purchased a used Mini Cooper S type, Sept. 07 and the car broke down soon after purchase Dec. 07/Feb 08/Apr.08/Jul 08/Aug.08. My car was serviced 5 times by Lauderdale Mini and was never "fully" repaired. Now I requesting a full refund which Laurderdale Mini does not want to agree too since they want to charge for miles. I don't think is fair and I think they ALWAYS knew the Mini sold to me was a FAULTY vehicle and proceeded with sale. Pain/Suffering/Lost of wages/spouse disappointment/endangering my children & me. Extremely violated as a consumer.

I purchased a brand new Mini Cooper convertible in 2004. 2 days after my first service, my Mini was towed back to the BMW dealership and a pump was replaced. My clutch was also replaced on my first service which they stated was not covered under my warranty. About a year later, I had to get my alternator replaced which took about a month. Now that my warranty has expired just 6 months ago, I almost crashed when my power steering didn't work. What next?

Exploding sunroof. After 1,300 miles, driving along freeway, closed sunroof just exploded all over me. No rock, no collision, no obsticle. Liekly, over stressed during manufacture.

2007 Mini Cooper S In early 2008, I purchased a used 2007 Mini Cooper S with just a little over 8,000 miles on it -- practically a new car. At an odometer reading of a little over 16,000 miles, after putting 8,000 miles on the car myself, the clutch and flywheel were shot and had to be replaced. I have driven manual transmission cars for over 35 years, and I have never in my life had a clutch fail on a car that has fewer than 75,000 miles on it, and I have never had to replace a flywheel. This car was practically new; it only had 16,000 miles on it when this happened! I was flabbergasted to say the least. I had to have the car towed from the freeway at 2:00 a.m. on a Sunday to a closed dealership. To make matters worse, the dealer, Mini of Murray, in Salt Lake City, Utah, said it was caused by the car being driven too hard. What a bunch of crap! To have this happen to a car so new is upsetting, but the situation went from bad to worse when the dealer said it would not be covered under warranty. I cannot understand this at all. Of what value is the warranty if it doesn't cover this kind of malfunction on a car with only 16,000 miles? It's absolutely worthless, that's what it is. I am outraged. I get blamed by the dealer for causing the problem, and then I have to pay almost $3,000 to get it fixed. If my driving caused the clutch and flywheel to fail at 16,000 miles, then all I have to say is that Mini Coopers are pieces of crap, and no one should ever consider buying one. I will NEVER purchase a Mini again, and I will warn everyone I know of the poor product, worthless warranty, and the fact that the dealership does not back its product. Then, on top of the whole clutch fiasco, the smart key failed and had to be replaced at a cost of $350. Of course, you guessed it, it was my fault -- I must have dropped it! I asked the service rep at the dealership why this would happen because absolutely EVERYONE drops their keys from time to time. I just got the same run around I got on the clutch/flywheel situation -- I must have caused the problem. Again, if simply dropping a key causes it to stop working and have to be replaced at the cost of $350, it must be a worthless piece of crap, just like the car itself and the warranty. I can only say to anyone considering purchasing a Mini . . . Caveat Emptor.

I purchased a used 2003 Mini Cooper S from my local dealer (non-mini) with 56,000 miles one it in December of 2007. In addition I purchased a $3,000 extended service contract. Days after I purchased the car I noticed a loud noise coming from the passenger side rear of the car. Turns out that in a matter of days I had warped my rotor. I took it back to the dealership and had to complain quite a bit to get them to replace just a single rotor, although I've been told you're supposed to do it in pairs. The following months I was hit with all sorts of different issues. First the driver's side windows stopped functioning. Shortly after I noticed that the passenger side door stopped locking and unlocking. You had to pull the inside handle to unlock it and push the lock down manually to lock it. The very next day I was backing out of my driveway to go to work, and as I am turning the steering wheel in the street,which by the way I had some fairly fast moving vehicles coming at me, the power steering quits. So I pulled back into the driveway and shut the car off. I waited for a few minutes and attempted to start the car again. It turned over for quite a few seconds and started up then it spit and sputtered and finally died. I had to turn it over upwards of 10 seconds to get it to start after that. Everything seemed to be in working order now, so I started on my way to work again. As I'm pulling into the parking lot, the power steering dies again. I nearly lost control and drove up on a sidewalk. I took the car back into the dealership to have them look it over. Later that afternoon they called and said that they had the Mini tech look over the car. He had determined that the power steering pump was completely electric...I could have told him that and I am no car mechanic. He said that he didn't know enough about the car to fix any of my issues. Then they tried to get me to pay the cost to put it on a truck and send the car to Denver (7 hours away and the closest Mini dealership). Well I just went ahead and took it there myself. It ended up costing $1100 for the power steering pump, $300 for an actuator arm for my power lock, and $300 for an emissions chip that had gone bad. Then they told me that there was nothing wrong with the drivers side window. The window had been stuck in the up position for upwards of a month at this point. He gave me these instructions should the window ever get stuck again. If either window should get stuck, aim right between the lower speaker and the door trim and give it a good hit. These things lock up all the time, no sense replacing it until it burns out. Well obviously they see that quite a bit if they know that the motor seizes up and you just have to hit the door right over the spot where the motor is to get it to work again. After having all these problems, and then later reading that many people have the exact same ones some even more severe, I WANT TO GET RID OF THE MINI. I don't want to hang on to it long enough to have my clutch go out or even worse a transmission. As a result of all my problems, I ended up paying 1700 dollars to have everything replaced out of pocket. My warranty didn't cover any of it. There has to be a way to get them recall some of these things. How many people need to have problems to order to make them recall a bad part??

The 2006 and beyond seem to have apparently been much more reliable. The convertible has been re-engineered for 2009, the troublesome 5 speed and CVT transmissions have been discontinued. Failure for reimbursement of items covered under the "full warranty" should not be tolerated and should be met with legal action to reclaim any inappropriate expenses- winning a case where they refuse to replace a clutch or transmission isn't difficult, even if forced to use mediation/arbitration.

My 2002 MINI Cooper automatic transmission went out at 48,000. This happened on a winding coastal road (very dangerous!). BMW of San Francisco quoted $8500 to put in a rebuilt transmission with a 2 year warranty and independent shops in the city didn't quote anything price or warranty-wise that I was willing to pay for, either. My beloved MINI is dead.

After researching on line and seeing lots of lots of other Mini owners with the same complaint at low mileage like mine, I have decided to pursue a different avenue. It is outrageous and rediculous that Auto Safety or Comsumer Affairs have not let people know of this very dangerous and or costly widespread problem. I have filed a complaint with the Auto Saftey commision as well as to you with hopes that people can hear of the dangers with this car so that unknowing owners like myself can make a better decision about purchasing one of these cars.

My 2003 Mini with 58,000 miles needs a replacement automatic CVT, like so many others. There seems to be a high fault rate with these automatic CVT mini transmissions. I was quote $8000 to replace or $4000 to rebuild by the MINI dealer. I am picking the $4000 option.

I purchased a used 03 mini cooper in February 08, for my 16 year old daughter. Then found out a week later when the airbag light came on that I would have to take it to a mini dealer to get any work done on it which is an hour away from my home in the five months I have owned this car the car has been in the shop more than we have been able to drive it they do not fix the problems it goes in for and within a week there has always been more.

I just had my transmission go out on my 2003 mini cooper, I took real good care of my car by constantly getting my oil changed and tune ups. I had 78k miles on it, without any warning I had no drive, no reverse only park just as I got of the freeway. I called for roadside assistance and had it towed to Universal City Mini. The service person said they would look into the problem and would call me back to let me know what the problem was even though he knew what it was, because I knew it was the transmission (comon sense).

My 2002 Mini Cooper experienced a massive transmission failure at 70K miles. I had purchased the extended warranty, which ended at 50K. Since paying over $8,000 to replace the CVT transmission (which I understand BMW no longer uses), I have learned that many other owners of relatively new Mini Coopers have had the same experience with their transmissions.

2003 Mini Cooper out of warrentee transmission failure @ 67K. Research shows that many Mini owners have been having this problem, enough so that it can be considered a manufacturing flaw. Not all Mini's fail at 67k some are having to replace transmissions or clutches sooner! It's really a design flaw.

My mechanic knows my conservative driving style (I'm 47 and have had no speeding violations, offences, or auto accidents) and also knows that I have been driving a standard since I was 17. From other postings, it looks like I can expect little support from Mini in terms of reimbursement, partial or full. Is the transmission in these vehicles really that bad? I work full time and was without a car for 12 days since the parts had to come from Europe, which meant I had to negotiate my schedule (couldn't afford rental car); I had to spend $2000 to cover costs or repair.

Very poor service and total lack of concern for lousy service work. Extremely disappointing experience. I will never go back and will tell everyone I can not to go there for service. Dirty engine compartment with corrosive fluid still in and around the engine - unknown unseen damage. Loss of paint around engine and under the hood (pictures taken). I want the dealer to refer me to a reputable location in my area to have the engine compartment properly detailed and a paint specialist to restore the engine compartment paint to it's pre-service condition. This damage was a direct result of the loose coolant reservoir cap that was not tightened at the dealership.

Clutch problems seem to be a recurring theme on this page. So I thought I would add my experience to the mix.

complained soon after purchase of brand new mini cooper diesel of burning oil smell told they could find nothing after ten thousand miles my clucth plus the clutch fly wheel has burnt out and a big repair bill of twelve hudred pounds absloutly disguisting that a clutch should burn out at such a low mileage shocking engineering bearing in mind that this does seem to be quite a common thing at low miles wont be reccommending anyone to purchase a mini cooper no way

we purchased a brand new 2005 mini cooper. At 12,000 miles the engine blew. The sales manager said we must have driven it through a irrigation canal. After some disscussion, they said they would put a new engine into the car. It now has 80,000 miles . We had bought the most expensive air conditioner for it at the time. It just broke down again. The service man said you did not recieve a new engine, this is a new block, but the other parts were put back in. Cost so far $1,800.00 for air conditioner. General manager of Niello said he is very sorry and he would be angry also had he purchased a new car and this had happened. But the people hanging up on me at Neillo is an internal problem. Which he would take care of. Which must mean the fact I didn't get a new engine is a external problem

A lot of the complaints sound like mine. I thought my 2003 mini was the greatest thing when I first bought it new. I wonder if the dealerships get money for doing warranty work. In the first year of having the mini cooper I had to replace the clutch, the transmission, I had brake problems, random interior panel bolt covers coming off. I had problems with my left door the door actuator broke so I couldn't open it from the inside, I had problems with the windows not rolling down. the sunroof not opening or not closing, the back of my drivers chair falling off. My biggest problem was my airbag system going off by itself while me and my girlfriend were cruising to the beach. I didn't hit anything it was aparently some vibration in my suspenson...more bull****. But the right pillar has an airbag behind the panel so when the airbags on the right side went off it launched a panel and it gashed my face...good thing i had sunglasses on..im not blind but those were 300 dollar sunglasses ruined. My gf got whipped by the seat airbag going off. We were stuck in a very very very bad part in LA.For that incident i paid thousands of dollars to fix everything out of my pocket. The dealer wouldn't pay a cent even under warranty. A few months later the airbag light turned on...in fear of the airbags going off by themselves of course I went in immediately to get it fixed. I paid full price for that. Then a couple weeks later it went back on and they wanted to charge me for that...but i couldn't pay for it so now after a few years of driving my car, everything is falling apart on it. The interior the exterior...I'm so mad. I hate mini cooper. I'm over sending my mini cooper to the dealership to get it not fixed...I'm stuck with it so I have to learn how to fix cars now because mini coopers are pieces of ****.

I purchased a used MINI Cooper model year 2002 with 32,400 miles on it in July 2007. Im very disappointed in the car. Ive had nothing but problems in the year since I purchased it. Specifically, the passenger window broke and does not roll down, the passenger seat back wont adjust, the sun roof does not open and close, the car over heats if the air conditioning is running or I have to sit through more than 3 stop lights in a row and lastly the sifting cable has come off twice in the year Ive owned the car, even though it was part of the recall and supposedly was fixed. I know this was a used vehicle, but with only 32,400 miles the car should not have so many issues.

I leased my Mini Sport in September of 2007. I chose to get a new performance vehicle to treat myself and at leasing I was told that it would be covered from bumper to bumper as well. The only things I was told that were not covered were the tires. I was OK with that. Since I picked up the car, I had been smelling the slight odor of burning oil here and there. Especially when accelerating or driving on the highway. Then like an idiot, I would completely forget to follow this up. At 5030 miles with only 8 months of driving, my clutch went out. You could imagine my surprise when I was told that I was responsible for $3000 worth of repair. Having driven clutch my entire life, 28 years to be exact, you could imagine my rage. I have only had to replace a clutch once, and that was for my old JEEP and it was over 65,000 miles!! Really? Seriously? They really expect me to claim responsibility for a blown clutch? They also insinuated that it was all my fault. I am presently searching for a way to break my lease and return the car. There is NO reason this should happen!!!!!!

I have a 2005 S with ~30K miles. #1 In Jan my brake pad sensor light came on, so I had my brake pads replaced immediately. The light still won't turn off. The shop tried installing a new sensor and I've tried the hacks on the Mini forums. I refuse to pay the dealer to reset a stupid light. #2 My BST cable burned up a few weeks ago (symptoms included random electrical failures so I took it to the dealer). The BST cable was designed as a safety mechanism in advent of an accident because of the rear battery. I was rear-ended in April 07, but neither the insurance company of the guy who hit me or the body shop who did the original repairs would cover it. Cost: $1200 #3 This weekend my clutch slave cylinder failed due to a cracked seal. The cylinder is plastic! I drove my previous car for 89K miles with no sign of clutch damage. WTF, Mini? Cost: $70 (DIY fix fortunately)

I bought my '02 MINI from a BMW dealer in 2003. I was told when I bought the car that the extended warrenty I was buying for it was for 100k mile seven years. They did not tell me that I needed to service it at a certified MINI service center every time I service. I live 40mi away from the nearest MINI service center. Because I'm using a service center where I did not buy the car, I am refused the curtesy of a loaner. I cannot service my car where I bought it and when going to thier recomended service center I'm treated like a second class consumer.

my 2007 mini cooper s has 15K miles. I noticed on Wednesday June 18, 2008, that my clutch seemed to be slipping. I called mini to tell them that this needed to be adressed and was told that it would be a couple of weeks before they could schedule me for the work and provide the promised (and touted) loaner car. I insisted that this could be a safety issue and they eventually and reluctantly agreed that they would test drive the car the next day. As I was driving to dealer (long drive) the problem worsened to the point that the car wouldn't move. I called Mini Roadside assistance (another included benfit)and after three phone calls and 2+ hours, was finally towed to the dealer. I was already disappointed and frustrated at the poor care at this point, but since they gave me a loner car (strings attached) I was willing to let it go, since the car is covered bumper to bumper including brakes, windshield wipers and all mechanical and drive train for longer than the period of my 30 month lease. I was extremely surprised to hear later that day that they were not going to cover my repairs and wanted over $3500 to fix my car. I am amazed. The service rep said I don't want to say you abused the clutch, but.... I have driven manual transmissions for 25 years and have rarely, even on cars with over 100K miles, had to replace a clutch. This apprears to be a bait and switch where a waranty is not being honored and a ridiculous excuse is being offered. Please help!

These cars are certainly not built to last. After 100,000 miles, everything is going! The CVT transmission, dampener plate and torque converter at $6500 (would have been over $10,000 if BMW/MINI did it!! Now power steering pump at $1000!

I have always had clutch transmissions. I am very easy on them.With less than 70,ooo miles i am told i need a new transmission.A whole tranny--not just a clutch!!!The parts to rebuild them are not made available by mini--so they soak you for the whole thing!! They are very scarce in salvage yards-probably because of this very issue!!What a rip-off! I have also had 2 windshields replaced because of stress cracks.It seems like every repair is a fortune--if you can even get the parts within a reasonable time frame!! My radiator and wiper motor also went bad. Finally-i have not met a mini owner yet that is satisfied with the gas mileage-the mpg claims are not even close!!

I bought a new 2006 mini from Mini of South Atlanta (then Hank Aaron Mini). With less than 20,000 miles the whole computer system went out. Had the car towed, they kept it three weeks. In this time, we had trouble getting anyone to call us back. They kept saying they had not seen this problem and they were having to fly in mini technicians. Finally got the car back, but was very nervous about it and decided to trade for a new one. In November of '07 I bought a new mini s loaded. Now with under 6000 miles the navigation, sirius radio, blue tooth screen has quit working.

I bought a new mini cooper 2005, on october 2005, and the car warranty is for 3 years or 36 k miles, the car is with 15 k miles now, but my warranty is already expire, that hapened on january 2008, that said the service advisor on my last car service. I called to the deler financial department, to ask, why my warranty is expired, on january, and the guy told me, the car when you bought it, was used, that is the only reason, he said. On my buyer contract, say, NEW car and the salesman, never told me this car was used. the car is perfect , but I want to now if I can do something, becouse this is a bad action, sale used car like new cars. thanks for your atention, and I hope an answer.

i bought a used 04 mini cooper s @ 23,000 miles on it. this last weekend around 26,345 miles the battery light came on while in san antonio, at the same moment that happened the power steering quite working.im a mechanic nearby and have never had a problem with any of my chevy's.i bought this car for gas milage and dependability,but maybe i should have bought a chevy, at least they recall thier screw ups. while in san antonio we could have had a wreck cause the power steering failed .the electric power steering pump get its power from the alternater{a yellow wire from the alternater feeds power to the pump,another problem is that heat from the exhaust burns up the pump, causing the power steerin g to fail.there are way to many problems with mini cooper and the company should recall the whole car. its nothing but a problem. if you are already having problems now, what kind of problems will you have in 10 years from now,guess it will be junk by then.there should be a law suit against bmw

Well afer reading all of these comlpaint i am feeling sick and used. It seems like one big scam!! I own a 2003 mini cooper. when u buy a high end car you expect a certen craftsmanship. so when i bought this mini with 147,000 i was not concerned with a TRANSMISSION going out. HOW stupid I am. we used the car for six months and owe $8000. Hard lesson learned come to Consumeraffairs.com first befor I make a dumb move like that. For the rest of my life I will bad mouth BMW to everyone I will come in contact with. Word of mouth the best addvertisement aroud.

October 25, 2006 my mini was 6 months old and I got a Stress Crack in my windshield. Crevier replaced it. May 5, 2008, I got another stress crack in my windshield and BMW refused to replace my windshield. I went to a private glass company and They have stated that it is a stress Crack and BMW should have replaced the glass. I replaced the glass out of pocket.

I have a 2003 Mini Cooper S. Before the original warranty went out I was having problems with the onboard computer that estimated gas consumption, average speed and temperature. This was shortly followed by problems with the power door locks. I took it to the Bob Smith Mini Cooper in Calabasas, California to have it resolved. They said there were no problems and returned the car. With in a week the door locks started to malfunction. The door locks work only 50% of the time. The drivers side door lock stopped working completely. The windshield wipers regularly malfunction. I have specifically taken this car to Bob Smith Mini for the door locks and the windshield wipers on three occasions. They have replaced sensors and relays but the problems remain. I have had the entire radiator replaced when it started leaking and was unsafe to drive, which required a weeks stay at the dealership. At 100,000 miles, the day my extended warranty ended, the heater and air conditioner went out. The most recent problem was the pump on my power steering reservoir malfunctioned, causing the battery to drain. When people stop and ask me how I like my cooper I tell them the truth. It is the biggest piece of @#@#$ and I wished I bought the something else instead.

This is a problem with the car and not directly with any person at the dealership. I bought a 2004 Mini Cooper new from this dealership. The car is 4 years old and I am spending a lot of money (over $3000) in repairs. I have never had this with other cars such as Fords or Hondas.

I have 40,000 on my 2003 mini cooper and there were problems I kept taking it in for when it was under warranty. It is now out of warranty and I need a new transmission. This repair is around $8,500.00. Mini would not help me while in warranty and refuse to cut me any kind of break now, even with the low miles. I believe this has been a problem all along but it was never notice until it got very bad. I just paid it off last week.

I own a 2003 MINI Cooper with 75,000 miles on it and just had to replace the transmission. I have never heard of a transmission lasting only 75K miles. What's more, the repair cost $7400! MINI used a new technology in the early automatic models called CVT transmission. Interestingly, they have stopped using this technology and now use the standard automatic transmission. This seems to me to be an admission on their part that the CVT technology is not viable over the long term. Even though they have acknowledged that the CVT technology isn't viable, they still make their customers spend upwards of $7000 to replace it when it goes bad. I feel like a lab rat!

My 2002 Mini Cooper Coupe's driver seat caught fire today. I have had other problems with the locks not opening, the airbag light staying on and possibly a transmission problem (i am currently @ 53,000 miles). I am a teacher and bought my car used in 2006. I am horrified and shocked at the quality. I am still paying on my car for two more years and have no idea what will happen if this car is in such poor shape. Is there anything we can do to hold the company responsible.

I bought a 2003 Mini Cooper with CVT transmission with 79,00 mi on it. The car is in great physical shape and ran perfectly,, until last week with 82,000 mi on it, it lost power and I had it towed to my mechanic. He reports that the car needs a new transmission with cost estimate 7,800 dollars (incl tax), which was almost 1,000 less than the mini cooper dealer in Portland OR. This just sucks because I owe 12,000 on my credit union loan for this car. I don't think the car is worth 19,800 dollars to me. So for now, it sits in my garage until I figure this out.

I bought an '02 Mini Cooper S with 25,000 miles on it from a high end dealer in the Bay Area about a year ago (11/06). I have to say that I love this car. Love it! I have never enjoyed driving another vehicle more including some loaded BMW's. Having said that I have to say for a lightly used car made by BMW I have been very dissapointed with it's reliability. Shortly after purchasing the car I did some minor tune up work myself with the help of a race car mechanic. Yep, a race car mechanic. I installed a set of high end Bosh plugs in the car and troqued them down to factory specifications. Sweet. The car ran like a champ for 10,000 miles. Well on the way to work one day there was a sudden drop in power and I limed it off the freeway to my work site sounding for all the world like a gaint sewing machine. I popped the hood and low and behold the spark plug from my # 2 cylinder had popped out and was sitting on the engine. I was able to put it back in a torque it down with no noticable problems, that is to say there was no evidence that the plug or the head were stripped. It just popped out! So I was able to drive it to my local dealer to have it checked out. Well they found a hoste of small problems (leaky gaskets, recall air back wiring, control arm bushings, broken door handle, software updates, $2,700) almost all of which were covered under my extended warranty. Thank Heaven. And I was told that there was no problem with the plugs or the head, it was just a freak thing that happened. I've read on the web that some after market plugs do come loose and pop out. What? Why dosen't Mini recommend that you use factory plugs to avoid this problem. It's just too bad that they're $20 each!

Purchased a 2004 mini cooper with under 52,000 miles on it. With under 57,000 miles on it it starts running rough. I take it in and find out the transmission is going out. Call the mini dealership and find out its $5600 for a rebuilt transmission plus several hours of work. aprox $8000 total. The blue book for the car is only 16,400. And the car only has 56,000 miles on a automatic transmisson. After doing some research online I find out theres thousands of people who's transmisson has gone out at under 60,000 miles. Theses cars are lemons and there needs to be a recall.

Purchased a 2007 BMW Mini Cooper on 5/26/07 and paid a premium of thousands of dollars over the vehicle's sticker price due to high demand for this car. On 5/30/07, while driving the vehicle under normal conditions, the vehicle's Check Engine Light became illuminated. Fortunately, I was close to home (within 1/2 mile) so I pulled into my driveway and immediately called the dealership where I had purchased the car.

I bought a 2003 Mini Cooper new. I managed to get by with a few repairs that were covered by warranty, the most serious was replacing the transmission because it wouldn't go into reverse a lot of the time without some difficulty. At just over 44,000 miles and just past warranty my check engine light comes on and the car runs a little rough for about 20 seconds and then runs smoothly, but the check engine light stays on.

i bought a brand new mini in 2006. A month after, I was driving the car will not move at highway speed and there was transmission fault into it. This was just one of series of problem I've got. The last one was a check engine light and after bringing it to a dealer in houston texas, they told me all these kinds of problems such as cracked strut core support, charcoal filter cracked etc. and they are charging me $2700 plus. The car has a very few mileage (15000 miles). It was never used for long driving. It seems to me the car can only drive in a smooth road because if you hit a little bump it will caused some parts to cracked. What kind of workmanship is this car and the parts they used. Can I consider this as alemon car???

I have all you people beat, I bought a used 02 Mini Cooper S in February of 07. The car had low miles, one owner, and factory certified. The first month I had the car it was in the shop for two days to fix a number of small issues, two weeks later I took it back to Flow Mini(in Winston-Salem, N.C.) because of a brake issue. This dealership is 100 miles away and the closest that can look on my car. Anyways they did a brake job and changed the window regulators and some other small things that totaled up to $1,300. Three weeks later, my car was back in the shop, I had to get my whole brake system replace, plus another $4,300 worth of stuff.

I have a 2003 Mini Cooper. From the first week I have had the car I have had various issues with it! Within a week I had a defective switch that said my hood or my hatch door was open (it wasn't) So I go to the dealership and they tell me it is a defective switch and replaced it. When it was time to have my first oil change done I dropped off my car in the morning to have it done.

My CVT automatic transmission went on my 2002 Mini Cooper with only 64K miles. After doing research, I see that there are tons of people with the same issue. Mini refuses to do anything about the issue (like a recall), and doesn't want to help in an other financial ways either. An expensive (BMW made car) shouldn't be having these issues at such low miles.

I bought a 2002 Mini Cooper after having a BMW 325ci. I was moving back to San Francisco and this seemed like the perfect city car. After owning the car a few weeks small things started failing. the power locks stopped working. The windows stopped locking up into the door when shut. the car began to be difficult to get into reverse. Then the engine started to make some interesting sounds and the car began driving more rough. Within 9 months the car was in the shop exhibiting to me what seemed like transmission issues. I had an extended warranty so I wasn't too concerned when I took it into Mini SF.

I purchased a brand-new 2006 Mini Cooper S Convertible in February of 2007. I live in the hilly Bay Area, and the other day I was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic going uphill. I started to notice an odd burning smell but didn't attribute it to my car until later that evening when I noticed the smell again when driving home. I had it towed to Mini the next morning. Lately I've only been driving my car 3 days a week for about 10 miles each way. Well, the car only has 8200 miles on it and guess what? It needs a NEW CLUTCH!

I bought a used 2002 Mini Cooper in May 2006. The car kept stalling on me. I took it in to the Mini Dealer in Long Beach for an inspection, but nothing was wrong. In August of 2006, (80,000 miles) my transmission went out! The new transmission would cost about $7000. I bought a used one for about half of that. Now, I am just waiting for the transmission to give out again. The worst part, was that it was only a few days before my wedding :(

We purchased our 2002 Mini on 10/10/06, w/55,059 miles on it. 9 days later the clutch went out, not covered by extended warranty that we purchased. We towed it back to Mini San Francisco service dept who insisted that we wore out the clutch and it was our problem, wear and tear, etc. after 9 days! Unbelievable! They offered to pay half, but we felt this was completely unfair.

I have a Mini Cooper which I bought in March of '04. Since then, I've had a few problems with the car's electrical system and now, I've found out that the engine is losing compression in one of the cylinders. I first noticed that the door windows would not close properly and that the rear hatch idiot light would come on for no reason. These were just minor irritants at the time.

I thought buying my 2004 Mini Cooper S would be my greatest purchase ever. Well, it turned out to be a bad decision. I like others, have had my battery die on me more than once at around 36,000 miles. The dealer said that my radiator fan was staying on a draining my battery. They replaced the fan, battery, clutch plate and disc, a heat damaged flywheel, a rear main seal that was leaking, and a defective oil pan gasket. I only took it in for the dead battery. Little did I know that the car was about to fall apart. I thought I had just had a slew of bad luck and that thank God the car was still under warranty. Now, at 78,000 miles new problems have arised. My entire exhaust manifold, motor mount, master cylinder, and brakes had to be replaced. My power windows had to be replaced as well. After paying over 1700.00 dollars in repairs I realized that this car is going to cost me more than what is worth. It is pretty to look at and fun to drive but not worth the trouble. I need to trade this car in before the transmission takes a dump. This was the advise to me from a BMW repair shop who stated that he has repaired over 5 transmissions on Minis in the last month. All of which, had lower miles on it than my car. So, if you are looking to buy a Mini - don't. Stare at it from a far on the highway while the other sucker is stuck with the repair bills.

We have a 2004 Mini Cooper S. It has been in the shop for unschedualed service 10 times now. The last time takes the cake. I was on my way to the dealer for an unrelated problem (The seats keep getting stuck in the reclined position) when the air conditioning stopped blowing cold. Of course they only had time to fix the seats and I had to make another appointment for the air. We live about 45 minutes from the dealer. So after bringing the car in for the 11th time we were told the electric fan on the radiator for the air conditioner died, causing the air conditioning to overheat and blow out the radiator, the evaporator the compressor and every other air conditioning part ever made to blow up. They wanted over $4000 to repair the air. After raising hell they agreed to fix it for about $1200. The car only has 42,000 miles on it. They told me that is how they are designed. They are not designed to tell you the fan died. (How about a warning light or auto shut of the air contitioning) they just let you keep driving until the air blows up. I feel this is a huge design fault that BMW over looked or maybe that was done on purpose to make money on repairs. This car is cute and fun but is built worse than any car I have ever owned . And I used to own a Pinto. Don't buy a Mini unless you have another car and you like going in for service a lot and often.

I have a 2003 MINI Cooper S with about 68,000 miles. At 57,000 I had valve problems with 2 of my valves. Now, I have to replace my fuel pump and sensor. Needless to say, I am not happy.

I bought my Mini Cooper with a CVT back in 2002. Since then, I have had the car stall on me multiple times. Each time I took it into the dealership, they just updated my software, until the last time when it happened in the middle of a busy highway with my grandfather in it with me. They dicovered that my DME (the CPU of the Mini) was faulty and was sending constant ground signals to one of th coils until it exploded. They replace the DME and everything was fine for a little while, although I did replace my battery at around 20K. Last week, I was driving to my 2nd grade class, and my car just flat out died in the middle of the road after driving for about 1/2 a mile. I had it towed to my mechanic, and it was discovered that my transmission is completely broken. It's a $6500 fix with my mechanic and an $8000 fix with the dealership. My warranty just ran out last June and there is pretty much nothing Mini Cooper could do for me (big surprise). I only have 55K miles on it, and a transmission replacement should not happen at this stage! Although I have fond memories with this car, it had been quite a nightmare to maintain. My grandfather and I could have been killed in the middle of the freeway that day, but BMW/Mini just doesn't really care despite their ultra friendly facade. I am extremely disappointed.

I got my 2005 mini cooper used from a guy in New York who kept it in really great shape. He didn't want to give it up, but his little girl kept hitting her head when she got out. I was so excited to get my mini. Not long after I started driving it, the check engine light would come on for no reason. Then for absolutely no reason, my horn started blaring outside my house and I couldn't stop it. Angry neighbors came outside and the police were called. Luckily someone came with a flashlight and disconnected the horn.

Along with many others, I have also had a lot of problems with my fairly new Mini Cooper. Sure enough after my warranty expires the power steering pump just quits, and its $700-$800 to have fixed. My car has 50,000 miles, I have had the passanger lock replaced, front and back brakes, and the battery. I am a student and work retail...I basically work just to own the car without much left over for anything else, let alone $800 for power steering!

I bought my Mini Cooper new in April of 2003. The first week I had it the Service Engine Soon light came on and I brought it back to a MINI dealership to repair it. I drove it home and the next time I started the car the light came back on. I brought it back to another dealership who assured me it was fixed but the next time I started the car that light came on.

I bought two mini coopers in 2003.one cooper S and a cooper. The cooper S has been serviced several times to fix the battery which sometimes dies for no reason.The wind shield wipers stop working after about 5 minutes . Every time the service department says nothing is wrong and all is fine. Well, today I found out that the cooper which has 86,000 miles needs a new transmission.

I have a 2002 Mini Cooper, and for the most part love the car, and I take great care of it. After the four year warranty ended the troubles began, the passenger side window motor wouln't work, then thank god finally did. After a northeast winter storm the wiper blade motor died, that's right died, $400 for that one. Two weeks later the power steering dies, works again after restarting the car but periodically happens again.

I bought my 2002 Mini Cooper brand new andhave a multitude of problems starting with a faulty airbag sensor that has been replaced 6 times now. I replaced the battery at 20,000 miles. But I have always been the Mini's biggest fan. until now.

I bought my 03 mini cooper (non S) from a Mitsubishi dealership on December 23, 2006. When I purchased it there was no person working so they were unable to give me a check up but they told me that If I find any problems over the weekend bring it back in Monday morning. So over the weekend, I found that the heater did not work, it took 14 days to fix it. I had it for one night and the Battery drained, I was able to jump it and drive it home.

After deciding to purchase a mini cooper. I went to my local BMW dealership, to work out a trade in, with my 1996 Avalon. The salesrep, persuaded me into a lease program and insisted that I was ineligible for a purchase with a loan. With pressure, after some time, I felt, that, was my only option. I was verbally quoted a few things, such as...my lease would allow me 10,000 miles a year with a four year lease.

My girlfriend's 2003 Mini has experienced a multitude of problems all stemming from electrical issues surrounding power steering failure. The power steering pump had to be replaced due to it burning out in the driveway of our home. Luckily, there was no fire or other damage to the car. Prior to this, noticably more whine could be heard from the power steering pump when turning the steering wheel.

Three months ago a piece of black plastic trim next to the windshield on my 2003 Mini Cooper unexpectedly flew off. I took the car in to the closest dealer (since it is still under warranty) to have it replaced. A repair technician told me he has noticed this problem before with other Minis, so i thought they would quickly get to the bottom of it. Boy was I wrong! The dealer kept the car overnight saying the glue had to dry. I later found out that there is no glue involved. The car seemed OK, but the very next day the trim cracked again. I took the car back in and was told that the problem was that I had installed an after-market windshield on the vehicle and this was causing the trim to break.

My boyfriend has an '03 Mini Cooper, and has has the power steering replaced twice. The second time it fried the wiring, which led to over $2,500 in repairs.

My car burned up in my driveway Tuesday night, Aug. 8. It was an '03 Cooper S, and I loved it. Was driving it Tuesday night and smelled a wire burning smell, and when I parked in my driveway, I saw flames shooting out from under the right front wheel well. The car is totaled, and I owe $12,090 on it.

A few nights ago I was accelerating onto the freeway when something in my transmission snapped in my 2003 Mini Cooper, (69,000 miles). I had to have it towed to Crevier and they quoted me $7400 for a new transmission. The mechanic said they do not open up Mini transmissions therefore I need a new one. The transmission itself can be bought for $5800 through a non-dealer type. The unit price is roughly 1/3 the value of the car.

I only slightly under 30,000 miles on my 2003 Mini-Cooper and was told I had to pay for a battery replacement because I had not driven the car enough. Even though I drive my car daily to work - I have to pay over $200 for a new battery because I did not use the car enough - this is so ridiculous. Talked to several Mini representative and all say the same - Mini Policy and yet it is not in the Policy Book provided upon purchase.

I purchased a 2003 Mini Cooper 1 year ago. I loved driving it until a belt broke in the sealed transmission. The Mini dealership said they can only replace the entire transmission,$7000, not the part that broke. I was referred to the company who makes the transmission out of Germany. They do not want to sell the part, only a new transmission. I have called several transmission shops; none of them are able to purchase the belt needed to fix the tranny!

I had a small engine bay fire due to a faulty power steering pump shorting out. This has happened to at least 3 other MINI Coopers in the U.S. and a few more in the UK. MINI needs to have a recall on the part. Thankfully no one has been seriously hurt or killed, nor has there been severe property damage, YET. All of the cars that spontaneously caught fire were parked.