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Engine & cooling

2012 Mini Cooper S Convertible Engine problems

Owners have filed 4 complaints about the 2012 Mini Cooper S Convertible's engine & cooling with NHTSA - 15% of all its complaints, most recently on June 5, 2025. Stalling, loss of power, oil consumption, overheating, head gaskets, timing chains and engine failure.

Complaints
4
Recalls
1
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths
0

Engine recalls for the 2012 Mini Cooper S Convertible

Engine and engine cooling: turbo / supercharger

18V24800047,806 vehicles affected

The problem
BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2011-2012 BMW 550i, 550i xDrive, 550i Gran Turismo, 550i Gran Turismo xDrive, 750i, 750Li, 750i xDrive, 750Li xDrive, 760Li, X5 xDrive50i, X5 M, X6 xDrive50i, X6 M, ActiveHybrid7, MINI Cooper S Convertible, John Cooper Works (JCW) Convertible, Cooper S Countryman, Cooper S Countryman ALL4, Cooper S, JCW, Cooper S Clubman, JCW Clubman, Cooper S Roadster, JCW Roadster, Cooper S Coupe, JCW Coupe and Rolls-Royce Ghost, 2011 BMW X6 Hybrid and 2012 BMW 650i Coupe, 650i xDrive Coupe, 650i Convertible and 650i xDrive Convertible vehicles. The electric auxiliary water pump may fail and cause the circuit board to overheat.
The risk
If the circuit board were to overheat, it can increase the risk of a fire.
The fix
BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the electric auxiliary water pump, free of charge. Depending on the model, there are currently limited parts available, however not all parts are available at this time. Owners will be notified of the recall beginning June 11, 2018, and will receive a second notification when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact BMW customer service at BMW 1-800-525-7417, MINI at 1-866-825-1525, or Rolls-Royce at 1-877-877-3735. Note: BMW recommends that owners park their vehicle outdoors until the recall remedy has been performed.

Engine complaints

Fuel systemEngine & cooling

The contact owns a 2012 Mini Cooper S. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle failed to accelerate above 40 MPH, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and the contact was informed that the fuel pump was defective, and the fuel pump was replaced. The contact stated that approximately a year later the failure recurred, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer and was diagnosed and determined that the fuel pump had failed again and needed to be replaced. The...

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fuel pump was replaced under warranty; however, the failure recently returned a third time. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 87,000.

Filed Incident Fuel system, gasoline · EngineNHTSA 11665052
Engine & cooling

Nothing has failed yet, however, the oil stick is completely illegible. On a car that fails to have an electronic dipstick and likes to burn oil, as well as has a very small oil capacity (Around 5 liters or less) this design is going to cause the engine to run out of oil without the driver knowing. It is a seriously bad design, especially combined with BMW recommending a 10,000 mile oil change, the car will burn off all the oil it has and operator will have no idea due to the faulty design of the dipstick. I...

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generally like BMWS engineering and designs, but this one is just atrocious and I have no idea how it got approved. Running a car out of oil usually causes the engine seize unless you shut it off at the right time, which, most people will not do. Imagine if your engine seizes on the highway? No it hasn't been inspected, I can send pictures of it, if you want? Or a video? I have not had this problem yet (knock on wood) but I have read the only warning sign, is the sound of an engine without oil and the oil pressure light comes on (which at that point you have maybe 3s to pull over and shut off the engine before it toasts the engine) I have also read about the engines consuming the entire oil capacity if you follow the BMW recommended schedule. It all just seems like a huge oversight for a company that usually has few issues.

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 11514050
Electrical systemEngine & coolingFuel system

The car stalled while driving on freeway once and high pressure fuel pump was replaced by mini cooper and again second time on inner roads driving at 20 miles an hour....Without any warning

Filed Incident Electrical system · Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11301419
Engine & cooling

Engine rattling noise (timing chain and tensioner) at all times, vehicle has only 50,000 miles

Filed Incident EngineNHTSA 10852609

Mini Cooper S Convertible engine complaints by year

Cooper S Convertible 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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