BMW Will Settle Mini Cooper Engine Defect Class Action Lawsuit

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BMW of North America LLC has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit over allegations that certain Mini Cooper models contain an engine defect.

The BMW class action lawsuit filed by Joshua Skeen and Laurie Freeman alleges that Mini Cooper S Hardtops, Clubmans and Convertibles between the model years 2007 to 2010 have a timing chain problem that costs vehicle owners thousands of dollars to repair.

According to the BMW class action lawsuit, the Mini Cooper’s timing chain tensioner is off-sync, which forces the engine to work harder at the expense of the engine’s pistons and valves. In some cases, the alleged engine defect reportedly caused the entire vehicle to lose power.

Skeen and Freeman say they each purchased a new Mini Cooper S in 2007 and were told that the timing chains were supposed to last about 10 years or 120,000 miles. However, the plaintiffs claim they had to make costly repairs much sooner than anticipated.

In 2013, Skeen claims to have paid more than $3,000 to replace the BMW car engine that had 74,000 miles on it. In a similar situation, Freeman says the timing chain tensioner on her Mini Cooper was replaced under warranty in 2009 but failed again in 2013 costing her $1,300.

The BMW engine class action lawsuit claims that the car manufacturer has been aware of the engine defect since 2008 when they acknowledged the problem by issuing a technical service bulletin. However, the plaintiffs say that although the company knew about the issue they did not offer to reimburse BMW car owners for the repair. 

If approved, the BMW class action settlement will reimburse Class Members 100 percent of the cost of repairing or replacing the timing chain tensioner at an authorized MINI dealer. In addition, the BMW settlement would extend the four year or 50,000 mile warranty to seven years or 100,000 miles.

The proposed BMW engine defect class action settlement was reached after more than a year of negotiations, followed by a full-day mediation between both parties.

More information about the BMW Mini Cooper class action settlement was not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are represented by Raymond P. Boucher, Shehnaz M. Bhujwala and Maria L. Weitz of Boucher LLP, David Markun and Daria Dub Carlson of Markun Zusman Compton LLP, Bryan L. Clobes and Kelly L. Tucker of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP, William Pinilis of PinilisHalpern LLP, Jeffrey A. Koncius of Kiesel Law LLP, Tina Wolfson, Robert Ahdoot, Theodore W. Maya and Bradley K. King of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC, and John A. Yanchunis of Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group.

The BMW Mini Cooper Engine Defect Class Action Lawsuit Settlement is Joshua Skeen, et al. v. BMW of North America LLC, Case No. 2:13-cv-01531, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

UPDATE: On Jan. 6, 2016, the plaintiffs asked a judge to grant preliminary approval to the BMW class action settlement. 

UPDATE 2: The BMW Mini Cooper Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to file a Claim Form!

UPDATE 3: On July 26, 2016, a federal judge granted final approval of BMW’s $30 million Mini Cooper class action settlement.