I own a 2003 mini cooper automatic and I've already had to have the power steering pump and the cooling fan replaced twice, and now, only a year later after my 2nd replacement and a few thousand dollars later, it needs to be replaced for a third time. The care only has 80,000 miles on it. This is costly and a safety issue for drivers. I will never buy another car by mini or bmw. *Tr
Equipment & accessories
2003 Mini Cooper Equipment problems
Owners have filed 13 complaints about the 2003 Mini Cooper's equipment & accessories with NHTSA - 2% of all its complaints, most recently on August 11, 2011. They describe 0 crashes, 1 fire and 1 injury. Trailer hitches, mobility equipment, accessories and aftermarket parts.
- Complaints
- 13
- Recalls
- 0
- Crashes
- 0
- Fires
- 1
- Injuries
- 1
- Deaths
- 0
Equipment complaints
The sparkplug has blown completely out the head of my 2003 mini cooper, I went on line and found out that this is becoming a common problem. *Tr
For the past 2 years the air conditioning has been intermittent. The lights for the fan and temperature remain on but no air blows cold or hot. Sometimes it goes back on by itself after a few minutes of driving. Sometimes slapping the passenger side of the middle column (where the controls and radio are) makes it come back on. And sometimes it stays off for a day or two before spontaneously coming back to life. Its gotten to the point where I have a hardcover book with me at all times to do the slapping. I live...
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in austin and the closest dealer is in san antonio, nearly 90 miles away. The two times I drove there with the problem, it worked for them. I even have documentation from the dealer the problem was an issue back when the car had 34,000 miles. We never know when the air conditioning will go out. Considering the temperature in austin has hit 100 nearly 50 times this summer, do you blame us for not wanting to drive the car. Please offer us suggestions to have mini usa pay for this. Its been an ongoing problem for 2 years. The 90 minute drive to san antonio is hot and there's no guarantee the ac will misbehave once we get there. Ground breaking on the austin mini dealership is on hold so we're at the mercy of the san antonio dealership. *Tr
My transmission failed on my mini-cooper once when it was in warranty and I had to pay to have it fixed, once again, and it was just out of warranty and I paid 3000$ to have it fixed and once again when the 2nd transmission was in warranty and minicooper fixed it. This car was a lemon and mini never accepted responsibility for the defective transmission problems. *Tr
1. The malfunction happens spontaneously 2. The power steering pump malfunctions and causes the steering wheel to be stiff placing me or anyone else driving/on the road in danger due to the reluctance of the wheel to turn. 3. The dealership offered no monetary support but instead told me there was nothing I could do about it but to replace it and attempted to charge me $1000 dollars in cash. Instead I took the car to an independent mechanic and was charged $700. A ridiculous price to pay for my safety. *Tr
Sudden unexpected failure. Cvt transmission (automatic) in 2003 mini cooper. First one was under warranty. The second time they told me they would sell me another car. The car sold for $22k new, transmission costs $8500 to replace. So that's $17000 worth of transmissions 4 years (its been sitting for the last year while I still have to make payments). I don't think their idea of buying another car to replace my transmission was a good idea. *Tr
1) No notice given up to failure of power steering 2) power steering gave out on car after white smoke poured out of engine area 3) car is at dealership right now. *Jb
My car was brought into the dealership for an oil change and rear brake repair on tuesday (june 26, 2007). Wednesday evening (june 27, 2007) the car was driven 15 minutes, parked for almost an hour, then driven a mere 30 seconds to change to a different parking spot. Walked away for a minute and noticed smoke coming from the front of the car. Upon opening the bonnet, there was flames coming from the underside of the engine. The first attempt at using a fire extinguisher temporarily put out the fire, then it...
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re-ignited which the fire department was then called to put it out safely. The car was brought the next morning (june 28, 2007) to the dealership and was not looked at until the next day (june 29, 2009). The diagnosis was the steering pump failed, upon which it overheats causing the fire. The fire then damaged the loom (harness, or main wiring for the vehicle), which also ruined the battery. Prior to the fire, there were no signs that the steering was failing, nor any indication that there was any other possible electrical problems. Car mileage was at 65,500 at the time it was brought to the dealer, and about 65,525 miles at the time of the incident. Nothing will be done until the insurance agents from both the consumer and dealership assess the damages. *Tr
2003 Mini cooper windshield failure. Spontaneous crack although dealer insists it was a pin hole sized hole that caused it. Refused to cover under warranty. 2Nd time it's happened and was covered first time under warranty. Apparently happens very regularly to mini and at $1078. Complete...This just isn't right. *Jb
This car is less than a year old. So far the air bag indicator light malfunctioned, the radio was replaced, the passenger window motor was replaced, the navigation system display is about to be replaced, and two red marks on the takometer no longer light up.*Ak
My 2003 mini cooper s stumbles and bogs down when starting in first gear. When starting from a dead start and letting clutch out, the cars power cuts off for a moment and then cuts back in. This was not a characteristic of the car prior to my dealer upgrading the software for the engine management system. I've contacted mini usa (aka bmw) and they acknowledge the problem, but have no fix for it. I consider it a safety issue, especially when pulling into traffic and the car hesitates badly.*Ak
I have a mini copper s and the windshield cracks very easy. I have talked to mini usa, and they said that it is not their problem. But this has happen to so many mini owner, I think that it is a mini usa problem. Cause why would so many mini windshields crack all the time. *Ak
Windshields on mini coopers cracking,chipping easy and frequently. I have had four windshields replaces in the last 8 months. 2 Covered under warrantee for stress related cracks and two due to small rock strikes. I have neve been thru windshields like this before and feel that the construction and design of the mini windshield makes it substandard in protection.*Ak
Mini Cooper equipment complaints by year
Cooper equipment problems, every yearSource: 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