We have a blue 04 Mini S, we flew to test drive one ordered it on the spot, got it in a few months and have loved it since. Last night out of the blue my amp went out, instantly no sound. I found the forum of many talking about the how this is common in the Harmon Kardon Systems. I realize this is going to be a very expensive thing to fix and from what I was told I only have a few options. I found some very helpful info here.

I talked to the dealer today they said they have never heard of the systems dying like that... hhhhmmmm interesting. Gonna make a call to HK next to see if they will help in any way since clearly this is a big problem for them. I have had lots of nice systems in sports cars for 30 years and have never had this problem. It's disappointing, I may go away from the brand if it's going to be like this. Sad as it's been a blast to own. Since mine was one of the first ones in the area I loved watching people stare at it and wonder what it was.

It is nice to find others talking about their cars, it's always fun to wave at other owners. I just hope someone has an idea of how to fix it without the 2K price tag, I take really good care of it, very low miles, garage kept, it's never spent a night outside. It's been my baby.

 

IIRC the HK premium sound system are unique in that they are a 2ohm load system, you would have to find a matching amp to replace it, BUT how do you know that the amp is bad? An instant loss of sound might be caused by a lose cable ect. Did you confirm that the amp itself is bad?

 

Don't pour more money into a factory replacement unless you can find one on the cheap. The car/amp is 10 years old.. Nothing lasts forever.. Just go full aftermarket system...

 

Rustof I talked to three of our local sound shops that do awesome sound upgrades, and the dealer I bought the mini from, they all said it sounded like it was a bad amp and the local shops said that they were replacing so many of them for the very same reason that they suspected it was a bad amp. It is looking like around a 2K and up fix to change the system out. We checked fuses and wires, the radio appears to be working, the cd player is making a turning noise and I can change channels. My car is just a for fun vehicle so it doesn't have many miles at all. I usually get Bose and have never had a problem, it's just disappointing to pay to upgrade then have this happen to what looks like so many people, I found hundreds of replies of the same thing happening. We may see if we can find a refurb and just plug it in I want my hands free on the steering wheel to work.
N2Mini what kind of system do you have? One of my speed shops talked to me about a Sony total rewire, amp and 3 year warranty $1800 he said minis were a pain to work on, so small and inside panels have to come out to totally scrap the old system and rewire. He said paddles on steering might not work any more either. Looking for ideas not leaving the garage till it's fixed, tunes are a huge part of motoring for me.

 

I'm on the stock system with an sub in the boot. The MINI wiring of the radio and amp is a pain, and the panels are a pain to get to the speakers, but I'd think if you went full aftermarket system they could just wire it all separetly from the OEM harness. Just need hot wire for power and the rest of system could be on it's on wiring harness.. Granted it won't work on the steering wheel controls at that point probably if you have them, but would be a cheaper and probably better sounding system then the OEM setup...

 

Thanks N2 I am going to do some more research, might just buy a new or refurb amp and plug it in and hope for the best. I really like the heads up and want it to all work. Looks like you can get them as cheap as $350, looks like from this thread you can just plug it in. Hoping for the best. I so wish I had taken the advice of my sales person who tried to talk me into just going with the stock system. I haven't talked to mini or HK yet gonna give them a chance to see if they have any advice. I am hoping there might be others that want to do a class action, there are way too many stories like ours, it shouldn't be this way. I am a huge fan of Bose, I have never had a problem with them. I thought HK would be comparable now after that huge investment I find out they are junk! And now thanks to them have to make a very expensive repair and have no tunes to boot! I'll post about the outcome when I am done. Looking at my car and wishing I could motor about with the nice weather today. Bummer stuck in the garage....