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A California federal judge has indicated he will grant preliminary approval to a proposed class action settlement involving allegations that BMW of North America LLC concealed a transmission defect in its MINI Cooper automobiles. If approved, the class action settlement would pay thousands of drivers as much as $9,000 for vehicle repairs.
U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez requested more information about the class size and suggested some revisions in the MINI Cooper class action settlement notice. Plaintiffs’ attorneys indicated that approximately 1,200 MINI Cooper owners had their transmissions replaced at BMW dealerships. However, it is unclear how many drivers took their MINI Coopers to a third-party facility for repair.
The plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit alleged that BMW hid the MINI Cooper transmission defect from customers at the same time it issued bulletins acknowledging the issue to BMW dealerships. The transmission defect can cause significant delays in acceleration, loss of forward propulsion and total transmission failure while driving. Even more concerning is the tendency of the transmissions to fail without warning. These transmission defects can contribute to traffic accidents that may lead motorists to experience serious injury or death.
In their class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that BMW sacrificed the quality of the MINI Coopers in an effort to keep the vehicle prices low. Therefore, the company manufactured cars of substandard quality that put consumers at risk. The plaintiffs accuse the car company of prioritizing profits over customer safety.
Since the first MINI Cooper transmission defect lawsuit was filed in 2011, four similar class action lawsuits have been filed. The plaintiffs’ attorneys estimate that the number of Class Members in these consolidated class action lawsuits could number in the tens of thousands.
Judge Gutierrez has said that he will wait to approve the MINI Cooper transmission defect settlement until he receives an updated estimate of the number of likely Class Members.
Under the terms of the proposed class action settlement, BMW will reimburse drivers under the eight-year/150,000 mile warranty for all of their out-of-pocket expenses associated with the transmission repair. The plaintiffs have estimated their repair costs to range from $6,000 to $9,000. The proposed class action settlement will also provide a maximum of $4,100 to Class Members who had their MINI Coopers repaired at a third-party facility and up to $2,000 to consumers who sold the vehicles at a loss due to the transmission defects. BMW has also agreed to cover all future repairs for MINI Coopers up to 150,000 miles and eight years.
Owners of MINI Coopers who replaced their vehicles’ transmissions after the warranty expired will receive a three-year/50,000-mile parts warranty, according to the class action settlement.
Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit are represented by Roland Tellis and Mark Pifko of Baron & Budd PC and Payam Shahian of Strategic Legal Practices, among others.
The BMW MINI Cooper Transmission Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Aarons v. BMW of North America LLC, Case No. 11-cv-07667, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
UPDATE: Judge Gutierrez preliminarily approved the MINI Cooper Transmission Class Action Settlement. Details on how to file a claim will be available soon
UPDATE 2: Notices and claim filing instructions for the MINI Cooper settlement are being delayed by disputes between the two parties. Both sides asked the Court to intervene to expedite administration of the class action settlement benefits.
UPDATE 3: Claim filing instructions are now available! See how to file a claim for the MINI Cooper class action settlement here.
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114 thoughts onJudge Will Approve Mini Cooper Transmission Class Action Settlement
Which transmission when out? Manual or automatic? In all of these complaints including the description of the suit it doesn’t specify the transmission or the actual problem. It doesn’t specify the cause or the cure outside of replacing the transmission. Please clarify. Please clarify the years and car model. Thanks
Hello, I have 2007 Mini Cooper S Hardtop with 95K and only now my transmission went out. I started researching and found out about this case action law suit. The MINI dealer says the repair will cost $9K, which is more than the value of the car. Till date I have spent almost $7000 on all previous repairs and don’t want to spend anymore. Is there anything I can do? Please help !
I own a 2004 Mini Cooper. The transmission just went out with low mileage. What can I do?
In February 2017, the transmission on my 2006 Mini Cooper with 70,000 miles suddenly stopped working. I was told that it had to be replaced at a cost of $8,000. My friend took the car to several mechanics and finally found one who had the technology to reprogram the computer and now the transmission is working fine. Transmission don’t usually die with no warning. I bought a new Mini with no trad in from that dealer who, I’m sure, could have kept the car, reprogrammed it, and resold it for several thousand dollars. This seems like a very questionable business practice to me.
I just bought a 2007 Mini Cooper with 77k miles the transmission is no changing gear the dealer sold as is I was looking for transmission problem online when I found this site.
Too bad I just sold my 2005 miniS with low mileage and in perfect condition, besides the transmission being shot, for less than 1k. I loved that car.
I have a 2008 Cooper S, 131,000 miles. Transmission went out changing lanes on the freeway. No warning. Dashboard display did not appear until transmission was gone. Quote for repair: just over $8000.00. (don’t even get me started on the Turbo)
I have had ALL previous work and repairs performed bythe “Dealer.”
Hello, I have 2004 Mini Cooper with very low mileage and only now my transmission went out. I started researching and found out about this case action law suit. Mini doesn’t want to do anything about it, as I missed deadline and case administrators never contacted me:-( Is there anything I can do?! Please help!
You can contact the settlement administrator for the settlement or class counsel with any questions about the case and the claim process. The article has a link to the TCA settlement article with settlement administrator contact information. The article also lists class counsel, and you can Google for contact information. Good Luck!
I had my transmission replaced about a year and a half ago expecting the same thing but haven’t found anything new on the topic if you get any information on a new class action lawsuit please let me know
I brought a used 2006 Mini Cooper R50 and my car started losing power, propulsion and I have found out that the transmission is the problem. I am inquiring about the class action lawsuit and believe that BMW needs to stand by their product and fix the issues with the transmissions in which they knew about. Loyal BMW customers should not be held liable for this expense, is there any recourse for me to hold BMW responsible for a defective transmission.
Yo tengo un mini cooper 2003 con 88000 millas y la transmicion danada y ahora se encuentra en mi garage como un bonito adorno….por la razon de el alto costo de la reparacion….yo me uno ala demanda..
I bought 2009 mini cooper with 60k mileage on it and the transmission failed. I payed $3200 for them to fix it. I am always thinking something was not right and I know mini will face a law suit one day.