My first post, although I'm not terribly new to Minis with a 1965 Traveller and a 2002 BMW Mini: today, in the 2002, the power steering went out as my wife was in a fairly-sharp (80 degree) right turn with oncoming traffic. No smashups but a couple of close calls. When she returned home I checked everything over and found no obvious discrepancies (good fluid level and electrical and mechanical connections ok). In surfing the internet, I then found a large number of similar power steering failure complaints (mostly in the UK where they've had more time with the car): it appears that the pump itself is faulty. No recalls, however, as BMW's crack legal staff seems to be on the ball. The car has a little under 50,000 miles.

 

The pump itself almost never fails, the electronics on the motor and motor itself are usually the culprit.

 

Yup sounds like your P/S has died, this is a pretty common problem. A new pump will fix it, and the newer pumps are also quieter.

http://www.waymotorworks.com/product...6&cat=0&page=3

 

My wife has on 03' with 42k miles on it and her PS intermittently goes out. It has scared the hell out of her more than once with a few close calls. Guess a new PS pump is in the works.

Does anyone know of a good pump that is RELIABLE? (since BMW can't seem to manufacture reliable Mini parts)

Is it worthwhile to have the old PS re-manufactured in case my other Mini PS pump starts going out?

 

While looking around for a PS unit and an upgraded PS fan (one that moves waaaaay more air) I came across this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/..._failures.html

I guess we're not the only ones complaining.