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.
Suspension
Mini Cooper Suspension problems by year
36 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Mini Cooper's suspension. Broken springs, struts, control arms, ball joints, noises and alignment that won't hold.
Suspension complaints by model year
Suspension recalls
Latest Cooper suspension complaints
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? CONTROL ARMS AND BUSHINGS How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? CONSTANT CREAKING AND CLUNKING OF FRONT SUSPENSION Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? MANY OTHER OWNERS OF THE SAME YEAR AND GENERATION HAVE THIS SAME ISSUE Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? NOT YET Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? NO
Front Upper Arm Bushing on both the Driver's and Passenger sides needed to be replace after less than 25,000 miles. Bushing failure causes upper arms of suspension to whack against the body and greatly effect handling, could lead to accidents.
Engine Mount and right control arm bushings have cracked and need to be replaced below 60,000 miles and only being 4 years old.
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...
Read the full complaint
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
I have heard from more then 3 dozen other individuals owning both the mini cooper and mini cooper s ranging from years 2006 to 2010 that there have been problems regarding the air cv joint axel and/or power arm control a constant problem regarding the general module electronic component. This isn't just a coincidence and may end up being the cause of serious accidents if one or two of these components are defective. For this many consumers to be having the same issues, same sounds and revisited visits to mini...
Read the full complaint
dealer shops around the globe something is not right and needs to be investigated. I know for one thing this control arm is a huge problem if it fails considering it's location could be the cause of many serious accidents and possible deaths depending on the speed and severity of the accident when it takes place. My vehicle is currently not on the road due to the severity of the noise and reaction to the vehicle when being operated and it is a scary thing. They want to charge a absurd amount of money to fix something that quite frankly may have been something recalled a long time ago, and wasn't because a lot of consumers are not aware of this process such as myself until recently when an attorney friend of mine started to dig around a bit after hearing my story and the stories of many others I have spoken too.
Tl* the contact owns a 2015 mini cooper. While driving at highway speeds, the contact noticed an abnormal roaring noise from the rear driver side of the vehicle. When making a turn or driving over bumps and dips in the road, the tires lost traction with the road and caused the vehicle to skip. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed as a suspension failure. The vehicle was realigned; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 9,000. Updated 09/09/15*lj updated 11/27/2017*cn
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...
Read the full complaint
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
2005 Mini cooper 2-door convertible: the left rear upper and lower (original/factory) control arms (metal strut) failed while driving on a main road; warning sign was a slight noise from the rear left tire, which went away when turning the wheel slightly left, then came back when turning the wheel slightly to the right. (Sounded like intermittent rubbing/ tire issue.) The car was driving normally and the tire low pressure indicator light was not illuminated. While turning off main road to investigate, second...
Read the full complaint
control arm failed and car came down to rest on rear tire and would not roll forward. Unexpected and complete failure with clean fracture to both control arms. No collision occurred to the vehicle/part. Vehicle not rusted. Google search brings up many other mini cooper posts of this control arm failing unexpectedly and without warning. Consumer is very concerned that this could have happened while on the highway (that they had recently exited). Others posting online have experienced 'uncontrolled 180 spins' when theirs failed. Consumer concerned that the original factory control arms on other side may exhibit same unexpected failure in the future. Not clear if this is a design flaw or materials/parts bad batch. Mini cooper dealership employee mentioned the same failure (to his personal car) with no warning recently. Online posts of consumers with the same unexpected failure: http://www.Mini2.Com/forum/first-generation-faults-fixes/80969-rear-suspension-failure.Html http://www.Mini2.Com/forum/first-generation-faults-fixes/108796-rear-control-arm-issues.Html http://www.Mini2.Com/forum/first-generation-faults-fixes/69981-broken-part-underside-whats-called.Html http://www.Psmini.Org/forum/expensive-repair-control-arm-bushings-and-struts_topic6569.Html
Right rear lower trailing arm broke while driving. There was no impact with any object, it broke on its own. *Tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 mini cooper. The driver was driving at an unknown speed when the steering wheel became very stiff and difficult to turn. The vehicle was parked and shut off. Upon restart the steering wheel remained difficult to turn. The failure and current mileages were 60,000. The power steering pump failed internally. The power return line was leaking. Also, both struts were leaking. Updated evoq 02/02/11
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
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 mini cooper. The contact stated when traveling at any speed, there was an unusual pop coming from the front driver's side, specifically when attempting a turn in either direction. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where the contact was informed that both front sway bar bushings would need to be replaced. The vehicle was then taken to an authorized dealer where the contact was informed that the transmission mount would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 31,000 and the current mileage was 40,000.
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,...
Read the full complaint
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
1. Normal around town driving. Passenger rear lower control arm snapped ... Steel failed under stress one of several manufacture holes punched into the member. 2. Caused the vehicle to become inoperable. 3. Required replacement control arm. Bmw has since re-engineered the control arm. Replacement arms are made stronger. *** I can provide online forum postings from northamericanmotoring.Com and mini2.Com (us and uk online forums for mini owners) which demonstrate that this member is routinely breaking...
Read the full complaint
on other vehicles of the same vintage. Photos of my failure and the failures of others available. Mini is routinely denying responsibility for this vehicle safety item citing improper driving habits. *** *Tr
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data