- The problem
- On certain vehicles, the lower screw connection of the rear struts to the chassis may fail. The head (top) of the screw securing this connection may break. The remaining portion of the screw will still hold the strut in place.
- The risk
- If left unattended over a period of time, and depending on driving conditions, the remaining portion of the screw may break. If it broke, the chassis would lean directly on the tire diminishing the driver's ability to control the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
- The fix
- Dealers will replace the lower screw connection of the rear struts. Owner notification began april 7, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact bmw at 1-800-831-1117.
Suspension
2003 Mini Cooper Suspension problems
Owners have filed 14 complaints about the 2003 Mini Cooper's suspension with NHTSA - 3% of all its complaints, most recently on October 1, 2020. They describe 1 crash, 0 fires and 0 injuries. Broken springs, struts, control arms, ball joints, noises and alignment that won't hold.
- Complaints
- 14
- Recalls
- 1
- Crashes
- 1
- Fires
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Deaths
- 1
Suspension recalls for the 2003 Mini Cooper
Suspension complaints
I was starting my vehicle and it made a bad knocking noise then it was like crunching noise so I stopped turn it off and waited for a while went back to the car still making a strange noise but once I put it in the drive it stopped making noise drove down the road a bit and talking about apparently slips off of the car so it just pulls over inside all the all the wearing lights came on so pulled over apparently this happens quite often but the harmonic balancer separated and with spinning against itself and knocked...
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the pieces off of it and through the serpentine belt so that needs to replace now that should not happen it's one piece is this one piece this needs to be recalled for these whatever cars had these harmonic balancers is dangerous and it could blow your car up thank you
The left rear control arm broke in half. I noticed my car was not reversing correctly as if the rear wheel was dragging. I exited the car and elevated it with a floor jack to find the rear control arm on the driver's side broken in half. *Tr
This mini cooper a 2003 w/130k miles driven by a young female. She had no idea her wheel was going to fall off the driver side front. She had called for a check engine light on and intermittent battery failure. It was ask that I drive the car and listen to a pop coming from the wheel section. The pop was the entire wheel assembly moving forwards and back bumping the wheel wells as the car went forward. Needless to say I didn't drive far nor did I accelerate faster than 10 mph. I told the parent of the driver...
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that the car was not drivable under any condition and that it needed immediate attention. The lower control arm bushing rubber was completely gone. I do not know if this is a defect. This part is a mount and it's holding many components of this car together. It is nothing like I have seen before used as a mount. I have seen the rubber worn from this type part but they were not being used as a mount. When the rubber on this part deteriorates it causes the mount to be unstable resulting in the whole wheel assembly moving like a swing forwards and backwards while driving. In a traffic situation this could be devastating to more than just the driver of this car but also to the cars driving near if the wheel were to come off in their traffic. Needless to say the mini cooper would immediately fail in traffic with the brake cylinders hitting the road causing flying sparks, if rear ended it would more than likely flip. This is a dangerous scenario. This car was purchased second hand as are a lot of cars. This is not a part on anyone's check list and not one you consider to be one of this type of failure. I am filing this complaint but I am not the owner of this car. I am merely concerned at the implications of the deterioration of the rubber and what those implications mean to the other purpose this part is suppose to perform and can't when the rubber is gone. *Tr
My 2003 mini cooper has almost caught on fire several times, replaced transmission, electrical harness, power steering pump, a/c hoses and a/c service, wheel bearings, injection plugs etc....... I still cannot find the real problem why is causing a short, it has almost caught on fire several times, this car has been the most dangerous car I have ever own, I have never spend so much money on trying to fix any vehicle, right now I'm about $11,500 in costs of repairs, this is a crime to the consumer, I have been reading about a class action lawsuit that is in progress, I hope and pray that we get justice from the maker of mini. *Tr
My mini cooper s has less than 27,000 miles on it. It has been carefully driven and has sustained no crash damage. Had several warning lights come on the car and had failures with the abs, steering angle sensor, and front wheel sensor. In addition and most importantly, I was told that I had "mushrooming" and cracked front shock tower mounts on both sides of the car, and that alone would cost over $1,400 to repair. I was told that hitting potholes or other road hazards caused this. In addition, the dealer,...
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roadshow mini in memphis, tn, stated that the shock towers and front bushings were considered wear items, and that they could be redamaged immediately if the car came in contact with another pothole. Additionally, I was told by mini usa that no engineers or national representatives could be contacted, and that the dealer would handle all questions and concerns. I asked if there were any upgrades and fixes offered by mini and was told that there were none. However, this problem seems to be fairly common, and there are several aftermarket companies that address this issue,. The service manager at the dealership stated that he sees this problem on 3-4 cars in the shop every month. It appears that this is a design flaw, that there can be strut collapse or suspension failure while driving, and that mini should have addressed this problem with these cars. For normal driving conditions to have resulted in deformed and cracked strut towers is unacceptable and represents a hazardous situation. I have never owned an automobile that had strut tower failure under normal driving conditions. *Tr
I bought a new 2003 mini cooper with a 3 year 36k warranty 6/26/03. While under warranty and receiving recommended maintenance through the dealer, the car required repair of the driver's seat which was frozen in the reclined position. Shortly after the warranty expired, and 10,481 miles after a dealer maintenance check, the brake light indicator began flashing. I took it immediately to the dealer. I was told the entire brake system needed replacement for $886.60. At the same service visit, I was told the...
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front struts needed replacement to the tune of $1600. My male friends who are mechanically inclined and/or engineers said that one would need to be doing stunts in a car to need that kind of repair at 50,293 miles. It was not clear why the indicator only tells when brakes are totally shot, or why the most recent service check had not shown worn pads and disks. Later, at 53,007 miles, the driver's side window failed and that cost $497.51 To replace. At 62,516 miles the air conditioning system died which cost $1173.58 To replace. The automatic door lock on the driver?S side does not work and lord knows how much that repair will cost. Now at 69k, the manual transmission needs replacement. My present mechanic (cheaper and more reliable than dealership) says the replacement of the transmission and clutch with a remanufactured system will be >$4000. This is an outlandish amount of repair and repair cost for a $19,000 car with 70k mileage. I have had 2 previous hondas that were cheaper than the mini and never needed a clutch or transmission. My son drove my $14,000 '95 honda civic until last month and it had 200k miles. I will never buy another mini, or bmw for that matter, based on this experience. I will be sure to discourage others from buying one. I hope a class action suit is formed. *Tr
My car's right rear control arm had broken in half. This arm prevents the tire from swinging sideways. Lucky for me, I was going slowly at the time. The control arm consists of two 1/4" pieces of metal with holes in them at evenly spaced points. Both of the metal arms were broken in line with the holes that were part of the manufactured design. I paid $1900 for an extended warranty through universal underwriters(now called zurich) at mini of concord, california. Control arm replacement is listed as covered. Their...
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reason for not covering it is because it has a slight bend in it (i don't see it) and it is because of that it eventually broke. The metal that makes up this arm is no more than 1/4" thick: poorly made, especially when coupled with these holes that are in it. This part should be made to withstand impact. To me it is obvious this is a manufacturing defect and I am appalled that neither the dealer or the insurance company that I bought my extended warranty from will pay for it. I could have been killed had I been on the freeway when this happened. I have gone from a mini lover to one who will sell it after I'm able to afford to repair it. I am currently price comparing in private repair shops. *Tr
Consumer wants to know if there are any recalls for 2003 mini cooper s. Consumer states that her son was killed while driving his mini cooper s back in july 2008. *Nj the consumer was told her son lost control of the vehicle. The consumer discovered recall 03v086000 and wanted to know could the recall have been a contributing factory. *Jb
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper. Upon taking the vehicle in for an oil change, it was discovered that the driver side struts needed to be replaced. Approximately four months later, the passenger side strut needed to be replaced. The front and rear brakes were also replaced and the vehicle had an oil pan leak. The driver's and passenger side window motors failed and needed to be replaced. The current mileage was 12,900 and failure mileage was 10,000.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 mini cooper s. While the contact's wife was driving 60 mph, the wheel and tire detached from the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and has not been diagnosed at this time. The contact was informed that the cost for the repair would range from $3,000 - $5,000. The affected components were the steering, brakes, suspension, and shocks. A police report was filed and the contact has pictures available. The vin was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 30,000.
After reading internet forums regarding the mini cooper cars. I learned of a recurring problem with the front strut towers deforming under regular driving conditions. Upon inspection of my own mini cooper by myself I found that my towers were distorted in a mushrooming of the top sheet metal . I found online the manufacturer of a machined aluminum plate that bolts on top of the tower adding additional strength to the top of the tower. My vehicle did not have cracks in the tower but other people are finding cracks...
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as well as the distortion. I believe that if the tower where to crack completely that the front struts would be forced up and causing the car to loose the ability to control steering. *Nm
Just driving along on a straight smooth road at 40 mph when the lower rear control arm broke clean in half nearly causing me to lose control of the car as the wheel rotated up into the fender well. Scottsdale mini insists that this arm should only break if the car was crashed and therefore they will not honor the warranty. I am the original owner and have never hit any significant potholes or other road hazards. There are many similar cases of this failure reported on the internet but mini is apparently reluctant to classify it as a design flaw. *Jb
On 1/26/06 I took my car into tuffy auto to have the tires rotated, at the time the mechanic told me that the right rear lower control arm had a crack in it. At that time I called mini and told them that my right rear lower control arm was damaged. I was told by the service manager at mini that my driving was the cause of this and that it wouldn't be covered under warranty. I then took pictures of the lower control arm while it was still attached to my car, these pictures show that there was a shearing effect on...
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the rear-most part of the arm and there was no bending on the arm. I then had the car taken by flat-bed to my mini dealership where they are replacing the lower and upper control arm. My pictures refute what they are saying about this being a drivers fault and they are refusing to warranty the work.*Jb
While pulling into the parking garage at work, the rear of my mini cooper s made a noise. The control arm on the right, rear suspension broke. When looking under the rear, the control arm was in two pieces, broken in the middle. The vehicle is at the dealer and I will be requesting the part back. *Jb
Mini Cooper suspension complaints by year
Cooper suspension 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