2004 Mini Cooper Electrical problems

The power steering is very stiff to drive and cannot drive my cooper because I can no longer steer the vehicle.

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. The contact stated that the vehicle's battery was located in front of the firewall above the gear box. The battery acid leaked onto two shifter cable linkages, which caused them to melt unexpectedly. The vehicle would not shift gears. The contact also stated that the same failure occurred one other time. The vehicle was repaired six months ago because of the same failure. The manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was not repaired again. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.

Driving down honda parkway I heard pop sound. Tpms light started flashing and smoke started coming out from under hood. I pulled off of road into a gas station. At that time I didn't have any power brakes.The car was fully engulfed in flames in about 10 mins. The fire dept put out fire.

I was driving my daughter to school when it first happened, the wheel got so tight and I hit the curb. Thank god I was in a school zone and therefore I was driving slow. After that, I noticed that same day that my battery was drained when I was leaving from work. I got a jump but then it happened again when I stopped for groceries. I figured something must be wrong with the battery (which is fairly new) or the alternator. I took my car to a shop and they diagnosed the battery and the alternator was fine. But they...

I experienced a sudden loss of power steering on my vehicle. Fortunately this did not result in a crash but it sure scared me. I am concerned about my safety driving this vehicle and may consider getting rid of it. I am disappointed in mini's unresponsiveness to this issue. *Tr

While driving around town the power steering quit working making the car very hard to turn. It was not noticeable driving straight, but when taking a left or right turn you almost cannot make the turn unless you really crank on the steering wheel. This problem has been happening intermittently without no warning. In order to get the power steering back, the ignition has to be completely shut off, and then restarted. *Tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper s. The contact noticed that the vehicle's air bag warning indicator was constantly illuminated and both front windows hesitated to roll up and down. Also, the air bag indicator would illuminate when the front seat belts were buckled or unbuckled. The dealer stated that there was a positive cable in the fuse box that malfunctioned. The contact was informed that the failure could destroy the electrical system, cause a fire, and keep the air bag from deploying in a crash. The...

Merging onto interstate I accelerated and suddenly lost power. Engine was running but I could not get any speed. Eml message lit up on dash. This was very dangerous situation, losing power as I merged with traffic that was going at highway speed. I managed to limp to side of the road. Shutting off car and restarting reset something and eml message disappeared and engine operated normally. Googling problem showed my experience was not unique and that could expect it to occur again. And it seems dealer can only diagnose source of problem if error message is on. *Tr

Traveling east on 376 approx. One mile from the squirel hill tunnels, a women in another vehicle alerted me, trying to tell me my car was on fire. I pulled off the highway to the side of the road, pulled up the hood and saw fire. I called 911 and the fire company came and put out the fire. Googled the interenet and found there was approx 200,000 cases of fire without the manufacture recalling all vehicles.

I drove my sister's 2004 mini cooper sometime in spring of 2012 to check on work done from the dealership. As I yielded into a roundabout and entered it, the power steering cut off which steering effort became very heavy and very nearly had a collision with another vehicle. I sister informed me afterwards that the issue just happen recently occurred to her too, as she exited a highway exit ramp at nearly 55mph, and power steering had failed. Luckily, she was able to react quickly with the power steering loss....

Driving off-ramp at 35 mph power steering stopped functioning and steering became really hard, lights went off, ac stopped working, and lots of engine lights came up, almost crashed when turning a corner and engine started failing.....Got home and shut off car, when tried to turn on again, it failed to start....... *Tr

12-4-10: The power steering pump kept running after the car was off and drained the battery in 2 hours. Sept., 2012: Two incidents of power steering loss while driving. First time I had no power steering when I started the car. I drove a short distance, stopped and restarted the car and the power steering worked. Second time I lost power steering briefly while driving at low speed. My mechanic found that the power steering fan had seized and replaced it. When he took it for a test drive, the power steering pump was making a loud noise. He replaced the pump as well and the problems were corrected. *Tr

Cooling fan stopped working already installed 3 fans from time of purchase of vehicle this will be my fourth one its has issue with low speed. It burns only low speed on it tried to install aftermarket fan did not last more than a month had to purchase from a dealer now another one this can has nothing but a problem with this issue. *Tr

The power steering failed, common problem in 2004 mini cooper. Canada has issued a recall in january 2012. *Tr

The vehicle had been acting strange for the last couple of months, the steering would become heavy at times, and on the other occasions would work just fine. A trip to the dealership revealed that the power steering pump had failed. This seems like a known issue with most of the 2004 mini coopers, a defective part was put into the car while manufacting. Mini is not taking any responsibility of it, and the dealership is asking for $1200 to replace it. Due to the power pump failure, the temparature rises and may have caused damage to a few hoses around that area. *Tt

Lost power steering at highway speed due to power steering pump failure. Short circuit or fire melted power steering pump wiring harness. Damage was caused to other portions of electrical wiring harness by fire, resulting in blown fuses. Upon removing key from ignition at roadside, engine kept running until battery was disconnected. *Tt

I was unable to get my vehicle smogged. The obd was not communicating with smog machine. Took it to dealer and found the power steering electrical was causing a short circuit in the system. *Tr

While exiting the freeway the steering suddenly and without warning became extremely heavy taking significantly more effort then normal to just move the wheel slightly. The next day the power steering worked normally but the fan on the power steering pump continued to run after the engine was turned off. After 5 minutes in a parking lot it had drained the battery to the point where it struggled to start the engine. When I returned home I was forced to disconnect the battery until I can get it serviced. *Tr

Very disappointed with mini cooper and the corporation of bmw on how they handled my issues with my 2004 mini. I came to the dealership several times in ramsey, new jersey with the repairs that were recalled. I had printed the recalls as evidence that there were identical issues as the repairs needed to my car! The dealership ignored and refused to even look at the recalls on paper and to my dismay I was forced to pay out-of-my-own pocket! I had no choice because of my concern to drive a 'safe' vehicle. To my...

Parking assist alarm stopped working completely then the next time as soon as the vehicle was in reverse the alarm sounded as though impact were imminent though nothing was behind the vehicle. Alarm continues to sound whenever the mini is in reverse. *Tr

While driving in a 35mph zone, smoke started coming out from under the hood (bonnet). Driver noticed odd steering response shortly before smoke appeared. Repair shop noted power steering pump failure causing wiring loom fire. Research has found numerous power steering pump failures on mini coopers. When power steering fails, driving is next to impossible given size of steering wheel and power assist design. *Kb

The electric power steering pump failed... Saw smoke coming from engine area, even when power to engine was shut off and key removed. After several attempts to restart vehicle after talking with service mechanic, he advised to "restart" car until the power steering unit possibly turned back on. After 6 attempts (appox 3 mins apart), the system started to work again, but with a "stiff & grinding" noise coming from the pump being transmitted thru the steering wheel. Cause of failure is "power steering pump/fan unit". Very dangerous, as this happened at speed on freeway, and lost almost all control of steering.

Powers steering pump failure, power steering pump cooling fan failure

Power steering fails. On multiple occasions the power steering has failed, both while driving as well as after just starting the car. The problem is intermittent and I see no pattern to it's occurrence. Typically it is remedied by turning off the car and re-starting. There has been a few occasions where it will sputter in and out before it goes out completely but the most common occurrence is when I start the car, there's is no power steering.

My car has had intermittent power failure since 2008, usually lasting a few days. More recently my power steering has been out for the past 2 months. Today it started working on my way home from work but the power steering fan remains on after I turn the car off. I had to disconnect the battery in order to keep the fan off. Consequences have resulted in near accidents on the highway and road when failure occurs (failures happened when I have gone into turns). Power steering pump and fan will need to be replaced. *Tr