Hey everybody,
Just officially joined the mini family tonight. 2015 Cooper S with 19.4k on the ODO. Looks like a brand new car on the outside and inside, but has a couple issues that are bothersome and that I didn't notice on other cars I test drove.

At highway speeds (70-75 mph) under acceleration, the car feels like it raises the nose up slightly and pulls to the left (not much). When I let off the gas, it dips down and pulls to the right, which is much sharper than the reaction I get under acceleration. Other than those two instances it appears to drive perfectly straight.
I've seen threads about previous generation cars, but so many possible answers and no one really coming back saying how they fixed it. Everything gets blamed from engine mounts, poor alignment, bushings, tires, etc. I have no idea where to start tracking down the issue.


The car also smells a bit odd inside, but may be due to whatever chemicals the detail guy used. I'll air it out before I start hunting for whatever died.

 

Mine does that too. i figured it was just the engine shifting power to the wheels with tehmost traction.

For the smell, find a detailer that can do an ozone treatment. It takes about 4hours and will get rid of any smell you have in there.

 

The odor is a known issue having to do with the cabin, air conditioning filters retaining moisture and getting moldy. Several threads on here detail the problem and fixes. If you are still under warranty take it to dealer.

I haven't really noticed the other issue. Check and see if the control arms have been replaced under warranty as they are also a known issue. I had mine done at about 8,000 miles.

 

I was able to go by the local Mini dealer service department today and get the service history printout.
Found out a few things.
My warranty isn't as long as the BMW dealer I got it from claimed. Was told it was from the original purchase date by a customer (11/2015), not the in service date where the dealer used it as a loaner (4/2015)
It does have some extended maintenance program (MP 0000000144 -MP 72 / 100K) which is supposed to last until 4/2021 or 100K miles, but unless I'm not reading it right, it seems this just covers an oil change every 10k miles and maybe some brake pads?

Here's whats been done.

Date - Miles - Defect Code - Description
12/30/2015 - 5,429 - 6451007800 - Air Conditioning Evaporator, front poor service finish

12/14/2016 - 11,685 - 61610077MP - FT Wiper Rubber Insert-MP
12/14/2016 - 11,685 - 61611177MP - RR Wiper Rubber Insert-MP
12/14/2016 - 11,685 - 64310237MP - Microfilter Replacement
12/14/2016 - 11,685 - 6451007800 - Air conditioning evaporator, front poor surface finish
12/14/2016 - 11,685 - 85990089MP - 1st Eng Oil Service-Full Maintenance
12/14/2016 - 11,685 - 85990101MP - Vehicle Check
12/14/2016 - 11,685 - 85990501MP - Standard Operation MP

6/22/2017 - 15,053 - 72600001500 - Other accessories permanent malfunction
6/22/2017 - 15,053 - 0012440400 - M120217 Service Action Program Control Units

9/25/2017 - 17,081 - 34000077MP - Brake Fluid Change - Full Maintenance Program
9/25/2017 - 17,081 - 6411333200 - Moisture condensate drain hose on air conditioning Deformed / distorted / bent
9/25/2017 - 17,081 - 6431027600 - Microfilter housing dirty / blocked
9/25/2017 - 17,081 - 85990501MP - Standard Operation MP


Other than the pulling to the left/right, I'm noticing that the car also seems to almost have a slight hesitation in steering response. Perhaps something is wrong with the steering.

The chrome trim around one of the headlights is also badly bubbling. I didn't notice this at all until earlier today, and am wondering if it just happened.

The car is at 19,400 miles currently, and the warranty is good until 4/2019, so I'd like to get it all sorted. I've wanted a mini for a long time and really feel that this one could be a car I hang on to until the wheels fall off, but I'm hoping that is later rather than sooner!

 

You're probably experiencing some mild torque steer. As for the smell, you need to take it back to the dealer like the Mooch said. It's a known problem and from the service notes it looks like they took a couple of swings at it, but still haven't got it right. Took my dealer two tries and a friend had to have the heater/A/C coil replaced to fix the problem.

 

Thanks Vetsvette,
I'm not 100% sure torque steer would be the issue, but I guess anything is possible. It seems to coincide with engine RPM, the slight delay in pulling to the right on lift being the rev hang that all modern cars seem to have. Honestly I'd probably get used to it over a few weeks and forget about it. I'm coming from a Focus ST, and honestly haven't driven an automatic (other than the girlfriend's honda fit) in so long I can hardly remember if they have any other quirks that I'll need to learn to live with.
It's been great window down weather the past few days so I haven't noticed the smell. Was yours like a chemical odor? I don't have the best sense of smell, so I can only identify it as 'odd' and 'slightly chemical'

 

Odd/chemical pretty much describes it. It usually goes away after the A/C or heat runs for a little while.

 

The electric power steering compensates for torque steer.
See if the dealer can reinitialize the EPS.

 

"At highway speeds (70-75 mph) under acceleration, the car feels like it raises the nose up slightly and pulls to the left (not much). When I let off the gas, it dips down and pulls to the right, which is much sharper than the reaction I get under acceleration. Other than those two instances it appears to drive perfectly straight"

Of the four Minis I have owned I only encountered this once.

The original R53, after receiving the full coil-over treatment, exhibited this behavior after I accepted the car back from the tuner.

Because this was as obvious safety issue, and completely contrary to the norm, I immediately drove back to the shop.

There was a rather important bolt left finger tight on the right front.

I would respectfully suggest that you make every effort to track this down, before it causes a serious problem..

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Charlie - Thank you. I have a scheduled service on Friday and have noted the problem. I will add a note to check the bolts. Do you recall where exactly this was located? I realize it could probably be caused by a few different ones, but might be good to start there and work out.

 

Did you ever figure this out? My daughters car is doing the exact same thing. It's definitely not torque steer...

 

I had this exact issue on my 2016 after nailing a horrible pot hole.

I wasn't able to fix it, I ended up selling the car however, after selling it and gaining more knowledge of the platform and common issues, I believe its the front control arm ball joints and the front control arm rear bushings.

It could also be the top strut mounts, but these would be the only parts in the front end that control alignment and are known to have issues on this car.

Under acceleration/decel the control arm is allowing too much movement of the alignment.