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A class action lawsuit claims BMW has been selling 2002-2009 Mini Coopers with a defective steering system that makes the Mini “virtually uncontrollable in traffic and starts a potentially catastrophic fire in the engine compartment.”
The BMW Mini Cooper class action lawsuit, filed October 12 in Newark Federal Court, claims that the vehicles have an inherent defect that compromises and diminishes the quality, safety, durability, craftsmanship and performance of the Mini Cooper. The lawsuit claims the defect manifests in the steering pump of the vehicle and causes, among other things, the complete loss of power steering and control of the vehicle while it’s in motion, and often results in the ignition of a fire in the engine compartment.
According to the Mini Cooper class action lawsuit, internal BMW documents show the company knew about the problems with the power steering and/or power steering pump in the cars, but failed to correct the problems and continued to sell the Mini Coopers without telling consumers the full truth about the dangerous defect.
The National Highway Transportation and Safety Agency (NHSTA) opened an investigation into the matter in April 2007 after it received over 32 complaints about loss of power steering and fires in 2002-2004 Mini Coopers. In response, BMW acknowledged that the defect’s primary cause was an insufficient seal of the power steering pump ground cable at its attachment to the chassis, which results in water ingress that corrodes the power pump power cable connector and leads to loss of power steering and “localized smoldering.” The NHSTA closed the initial investigation after BMW claimed to have fixed the defects, but NHSTA opened a new investigation into the later Mini Cooper models after it received numerous complaints from car owners about the same problems.
The BMW Mini Cooper class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of a nationwide class of persons who purchased and/or leased a 2002-2009 model year Mini Cooper. It is seeking damages and restitution for class members, attorneys’ fees, and an order prohibiting BMW from selling, marketing or advertising the Mini Coopers without a detailed warning about the defect.
A copy of the BMW Mini Cooper Defective Steering Class Action Lawsuit can be read here.
Updated October 25th, 2010
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43 thoughts onMini Cooper Defective Steering Class Action Lawsuit
This Just happened to my 2005 mini cooper s with just 53 thousand miles . Came home from work parked my car in driveway and minutes later without any signs car started smoking from under hood. Seconds later the whole bottom of engine caught fire. Headlights came on, wipers turned on and lights started flickering. So I disconnected the battery. Luckily I did not walk straight inside house or I would have never caught the fire . Was lucky theres a hose near the car that I was able to put out the fire! This is not good! I have 2 kids and they love going out in the mini. There needs to be something done about this steering pump safety issue. Mini has to take responsibility for its defective car components!!!
Yep. After my power steering fire, the BCM went. 10g repair.
Happened to my just paid-off 2005 MINI S Convertible. Fire in the driveway. Handled poorly by the company and my local dealership. Subsequently the BCM failed, and I had to dump the car. lost over $10,000 on my dream car. I want to be compensated, I would love to be part of this class action lawsuit. Such a horrible time in my life.
I have a 2003 MINI that just hit 50,000 miles, and my power steering just went out while driving. Not only was it scary, but I am also expecting it will be a very expensive repair.
My 2005 MINI COOPER S caught on fire when I parked in gas station on Dec 20th, 2014. Scary. It could have bombed the whole gas station. Now I recalled that the steering wheel was rigid before the fire happened. MINI or BMW better do something about it before serious incident happen. Can we file class action suit as a group? Any experts to help out?
My car has been serviced real good, up to date oil change and inspection. No signal or warning before the fire happened.
My Mini Cooper S has this issue too had failed power steering.
My 06 Mini Cooper S had power steering failure, car went into complete limp mode, started smoking, then fire that I had to put out all within 5 miles of my home. Luckily I keep a fire extinguisher inside my car and I got my kids out of the car. I got in contact with Mini USA Betsy Holeman who had me tow my car to the Mini Cooper Dealer of Indianapolis, IN who took pictures of everything, diagnosed the car as power steering failure, and reported back to Betsy at Mini USA. She contacted me with a completely different story than my Service adviser, and the Service Manager Todd. She said they would not be covering my Mini due to it having a MINI COOPER Intake, Exhaust, and Pulley. She stated that was the reason for my power steering pump to fail not because of their flaw 02-09 cars are having…..
I am either going to sue Mini on my own for the repair or join the Class action lawsuit. I have enough evidence and recordings to prove they are jerking me around.
Same here with my 2004,only wait not one class action suit there is two,my transition just went tonight guess what 5000 to 8000 to replace
Has this class action suit settled. I have a 05 cooper that has the power steering problems and after reading all the fire problems I am scared to drive it. I just started researching this issue and had no idea how bad it is.L can’t afford to fix it and was wondering what options I have
Almost crashed! My power steering went out going around a exit ramp. Two wheels went off the road before I could gain control. Someone will die over this. Mini needs to recall them now. 2006 mini
2005 MINI Cooper non s. 133,000 miles, so far 3 power steering pumps – at least I’m getting very good at replacing them myself.