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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
Had to park Mini Cooper S convertible “06 after nearly crashing in freeway -transmission failing what a scary moment of my life and my family, biggest threat to end our lives, just want to give an opportunity to BMW MINI USA to rectify their serious mistake, wish to join the class action lawsuit for the transmission, $9000 estimated repair, rental car expenses, etc. include me in this please.
Had to park Mini Cooper S convertible “06 after nearly crashing in freeway -transmission failing what a scary moment of my life and my family, biggest threat to end our lives, just want to give an opportunity to BMW MINI USA to rectify their serious mistake, wish to join the class action lawsuit for the transmission, $9000 estimated repair, rental car expenses, etc. include me in this please.
so how do we join in on the class action lawsuit?
I have a 2004 Mini Cooper and have had it for two years. It currently has 125k miles and the transmission is shit. I had the transmission cooler replaced due to the terrific amount of oil that my car would leave everywhere I parked it. After paying that steep bill, I was told that my transmission is completely shot as well as the head gasket. I am in complete disbelief and am extremely angry that BMW made such an unreliable vehicle. I am not financially able to fix my Mini Cooper’s transmission so my car sits in the driveway. I am a teacher and have to find transportation every day to get to the school that I teach at. This is a freakin joke!
My 2004 mini is at the dealership right now in Hawaii with under 50 k miles on it. It’s been in their shop since July 9, 2013. It went in for the power steering pump warranty & they’re saying all kinds of things are happening to it. It drove perfectly fine going in (except for the power steering). They changed the starter cause it would’nt start after they installed the power steering pump, harness, & fan. Now they’re telling me it’s the transmission. Does this apply to me even though I’m not part of this lawsuit?
sooooooo how do I go about getting re-imbursed for the transmission that I replaces a few years ago and money for the one that I have to replace right now?
2005 “S” JCW manual. Going to be my third transmission.
This lawsuit is regarding ONLY the CVT automatic transmission used on the R50 and R52 “Cooper” version of the MINI. It does not cover any models with the manual transmission or any “S” models, as they used different transmissions. The picture used in the story is misleading, as it is of an “S” model- you can tell by the hood scoop. Good luck to all of you who may benefit when this is approved.
I have a 03 R50 CVT Cooper and really like the car…Too bad its on its 2nd CVT Trans…If this one fails i am in line for another to keep me driving..I am hearing they have a new belt design that is more durable and can take more long term use without failure..When 3rd party repair shops repair a CVT it is almost always the belt that fails FYI..
I have a 03 R50 CVT Cooper and really like the car…Too bad its on its 2nd CVT Trans…If this one fails i am in line for another to keep me driving..I am hearing they have a new belt design that is more durable and can take more long term use without failure..When 3rd party repair shops repair a CVT it is almost always the belt that fails FYI..
reading the below comments I don’t think people understand that this only applies to 2002-2005 5speed MANUAL (Rover/Midlands) transmission cars. Correct?
Someone pointed out that 2002-2005 model year cars however are already OVER 8 YEARS old so does that mean this whole recall is moot ?????