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Engine & cooling

2015 Mini Cooper Hardtop Engine problems

Owners have filed 14 complaints about the 2015 Mini Cooper Hardtop's engine & cooling with NHTSA - 26% of all its complaints, most recently on February 23, 2025. They describe 2 crashes, 0 fires and 1 injury. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.

Complaints
14
Recalls
0
Crashes
2
Fires
0
Injuries
1
Deaths
0

Engine complaints

Engine & coolingFuel system

Lower Engine Support and Passenger Engine Mount damaged as per routine inspection by dealer in Feb2025. Never diagnosed before. Repair done by independent service center in Feb2025 and I have receipt of approximately 1K. Also, since 22feb2025, I am not able to add fuel to the tank because the pump stops constantly and causes spill of fuel. This can cause fire. Never happened before. Tried at least 4 different gas station and same result. Dealer charges over $200 to perform inspection/diagnostics. Not done yet. Repairs to fuel tank are in the thousands. No warning in the car dashboard for none of the issues. Car with less than 80k miles.

Filed Incident Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11644422
Engine & cooling

The contact owns a 2015 Mini Cooper. The contact stated that after the vehicle was taken to a local dealer for a routine oil change, the mechanic also determined that the valve cover gasket needed to be replaced and an unknown engine software needed to be updated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, and the contact was advised to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 78,000.

Filed Incident Engine · Engine and engine coolingNHTSA 11517933
Engine & cooling

Crankshaft Pulley burnt while driving. Could not accelerate. Car threw overheating codes and AC blew hot air. Battery Charging Malfunction error shown as well.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11427300
Engine & cooling

The contact owns a 2015 Mini Copper The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the fuel tank needed to be replaced. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 78,000. The Vin was not available

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11426647
Engine & cooling

Crankshaft pulley went out at 50,000 miles while in motion making car overheat.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11365676
Transmission & drivetrainEngine & cooling

12/19/19 I brought my vehicle to have 2 front tires replaced had them mount and balanced and a front alignment done. The dealer also completed multi point vehicle check. I get home. The car sits still saturday. I start it saturday at 1:30pm and get ready to pull out of drive way. Warning light comes on dash stating battery is not charging. Stop carefully. Consult nearest service center. I contacted service advisor. He stated to drive it back and they will give a loaner. I said no! The vehicle isn't drive able and...

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I don't feel safe. He stated they close in 30 minutes. I wanted to speak to upper management. No one was available he stated. I said I would call back monday december23 2019. I spoke to receptionist who makes appointments. She had available spot on thursday december26,2019. I told her I will have it towed that thursday. I get there told them about the message that came on dash. I was going to have to replace battery and needed a brake flush and oh by the way looks like your pulley went out. The vehicle only had 37,502 miles. I have never heard of a pulley being replace at this mileage. I contacted customer relations for bmw mini that friday. They said they will contact in 1 business day. They did say there is an open case. They will contact jan 7. I was in a loaner for 6 days. I spoke to service manager tues 31,2019 which was new year's eve. She stated the dealership will give 20% discount and bmw mini will still contact me if they are going to assist. I mentioned to them about the defected pulleys on 2002 thru 2006 models. They will look into it.

Filed Incident Power train · EngineNHTSA 11297064
Engine & cooling

Purchased vehicle november 2017. Car was parked and when I started engine there was a loud noise. I took it immediately to mini cooper service. Was told the passenger side engine mount had collapsed and it has also caused damage to the heat shield for the turbo. How is this possible? No signs or prior problems. My maintenance has always been up to date. When it happened the vehicle was parked, heard the raddleing.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11191649
Engine & cooling

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 mini cooper. The contact took the vehicle to orlando mini cooper (350 s. Lake n. Destiny dr, orlando, fl) for routine maintenance and was informed that the engine mounts were cracked and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 52,000. The vin was unknown.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11164732
Engine & cooling

Timing belt defective leading to serious engine failure requiring replacement. Within two weeks of replacement engine again was defective requiring a second replacement.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11118596
Engine & coolingFuel system

Excessive carbon build up on engine intake ports at 35k miles. Car purchased new, has oil changes by dealer every 5k miles, and is filled with 92 octane gas. Lots of people posted on internet over last 7-8 years that minis are prone to this issue and bmw hasn't resolved it. When asked if this should be routine maintenance, if this was driving or fuel issues, dealer said none of the above. Yet resolving this issue is about a $600-1000k repair! This either needs to be a routine maintenance, recall or service bulletin put out to owners/dealers. Bmw needs to own up to this issue.

Filed Incident Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11055020
Engine & cooling

I took my 2015 mini in for its last service before converting my lease into a financing deal and purchasing car. I was informed there was an engine recall due to crankshaft bearing problem. They have know about this issue for 2 years yet never informed me. My dealer says they have done hundreds of engine replacements. Why is this not public? I think bmwusa is hiding this from the public! While its nice they replace the engine, this is going to effect my resale value.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11044252
Acceleration & cruise controlBrakesEngine & coolingCrash

I made a right turn from the main street, into the parking lot of a strip mall, then an immediate left turn, and another right turn into the right angle parking slot. All the while having my foot on the brakes, I started to shift into park, when it was in the right spot. The mini instead coming to a stop, revved up, jumped the curb and hit the store in the front. The air bags deployed. I had my foot on the brakes really hard, all the time but the brake pedals were locked up. It would not move up or down. Sat hard...

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on the floor! When the tow truck came, the brakes were still locked up and the gear was in park and couldn't be moved from there. The seat belts couldn't be retracted either. Mini engineer claims that there is nothing wrong with the car and I can safely drive it after the body is repaired. I am having a difficult time with this conclusion. The car's brakes and gear were locked up, and had to be lifted on a flatbed and taken to the repair shop; I still maintain something within the car malfunctioned. *Tr

Filed Incident Vehicle speed control · Service brakes · EngineNHTSA 10935157
Equipment & accessoriesEngine & cooling

Tl* the contact owns a 2015 mini cooper. While driving at a low speed, the contact noticed an abnormal odor coming from the air vents. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the odor was coming from the micro filters in the air conditioner. The technician also diagnosed that the air conditioning system needed to be cleaned. The vehicle was repaired multiple times; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 1,670.

Filed Incident Equipment · EngineNHTSA 10874565
Electrical systemEngine & coolingCrash1 injury

My 2015 mini cooper 4 door hardtop was parked in my garage. I started it but had not put it into gear yet. I opened the door and got out (car didn't budge) and as I walked back towards the rear, the car lurched out of park and reversed which caused it to pin me in between the car and the garage beam as it continued to roll quickly backwards as if someone was accelerating. When contacting mini, they had one of their inspectors come (no documentation provided to me). I was called (again no documentation) and told...

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that the engineer found no fault in the transmission or electrical system and that this was not a defect. They have since been unresponsive with providing documentation, haven't been ale to acquire parts to fix my damaged vehicle and refuse to acknowledge that there is something wrong with selling a car that can kill people and to not have parts for 4 months! I had my car for a total of 2 months total drive time. It's been in the shop for 4 months with no resolution in sight.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Unknown or other · EngineNHTSA 10807750

Mini Cooper Hardtop engine complaints by year

Cooper Hardtop engine problems, every year

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Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked . Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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