Last fall, my beloved Black Jack caught fire after driving around town for about a half an hour. Yes, it was the power steering pump.

After I parked it in my garage, I noticed a weird-sounding whine coming from the bottom of the car. It was the fan that cools the PSP. I also saw some smoke coming from the bonnet, which I opened post haste. About 60 seconds after that, there was a BURST of orange and yellow FLAMES. Grabbing a fire extinguisher, I was able to douse the the flames before, well, the whole damn car burned up, possibly taking my house with it!

Some subsequent research revealed that, yes, there were some problems with the PSP b/t the years '02 and '05. As you probably know, MINI covered those PSPs with an extended warranty (150k miles or 13 years). To be precise, the warranty covered cars through '05 with February builds. Of course, my car was built in MARCH of '05. Not covered! However, it just so happens, that my insurance covered a good portion of the repair costs. So I'm lucky, there.

I related this story to BMW USA, and they have offered me $3500 toward the purchase of a new MINI. This is probably not terrible, I imagine. Most folks get NOTHING when stuff like this happens, so I feel okay.

At any rate, my deer '05 MCS is still running, and I'll probably go ahead and buy a '15 MCS.

 

This is precisely among the reasons why I initiated the request to have Condor develop a delete kit for us.
http://www.condorspeedshop.com/produ...teering-delete
Read more here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...able-soon.html

 

Between 2006 and 2010 the statistics show an AVERAGE of 152,300 vehicle fires a year.

There are a few things I keep in my car, "just-in-case". Jumper cables, minor tools, fix-a-flat, some extra food and water, an extra tactical combat casualty care kit (deals with pretty wide variety of very severe injuries) and of course, a small fire-extinguisher for this exact reason.

 

This is good example as to why it's important to have someone specifically acquainted with a MINI when it's up on a repair rack...each and every time it's up on a rack areas of concern should be looked at and hopefully addressed. If the person doing the oil change ( Quickie Luber ) is performing that task, it is doubtful there are any observations/recommendations being made.

Leaking ps fluid at intake hose, heat and a poor harness connection at PS pumps are all falling dominos for this scenario.

GL with the 2015 !

 

Sounds like something... Er...OK...came out of something terrible...sad to see a gen1 go...
But a discount is a good thing!!