The news reported the other day that MINI was recalling R50/R53 MINIs due to the known issues regarding power steering failures. My 2003 Cooper S has only 51K miles on it. I've had the power steering go out several times, but it always returned to full functioning. After I replaced the battery, I've had no recurrence of failure. A friend of mine with an S daily driver said the power steering pump will load shed if enough power is not available, so we assumed I am good to go. My question is : has anyone been contacted about this and what is MINI doing to address the issue? I don't want to bother with bringing my MINI in just so they can tell me everything is fine.

 

From my understanding....02-04 R5X models now have a 13yr/150kmi power steering pump extended warrenty. In your case...I would take the car in & just tell them the power steering is intermittently cutting out.


They should replace the pump and the fan with updated parts.
Mini is not contacting anyone about it....just a extended warrenty for that item. ITS NOT A RECALL. Mini made the news about some F56 safety issue recalls I know.


Sounds like your pump is bad. They will intermittently cut out then. Especially in the hot summer.

 

evidently it is now a full blown recall

http://fortune.com/2015/10/28/bmw-mini-recall/

 

I stand corrected. makes sense since all 02-06 cars use the same pump.
You should get a letter in the mail.....eventually

 

This^ Mine went out about 18 months ago though and my local Mini Dealer still replaced the Pump/fan no questions asked due to the recall.

 

Wonder what they will do for me. I'm sure nothing.

Have an 02 and my 13 years ended last month.

I took it into the dealer over the summer and they wanted $120 just to look at the pump. Said if they determined it was bad they would replace at no charge, including the 120.
But if it wasn't bad I would be out the 120 so I passed since it was working fine and not leaking.

Now that it's a recall I assume they are replacing even it's good. I can hear it now, recall only covers 13 years...

 

The extended warranty covered 13 years. The safety recall has no such restriction.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...5V660-4048.pdf

Search recalls for your car here:
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues
http://www.miniusa.com/recall

 

Oh perfect. Thanks

I misread the link to that fortune website

 

I would assume the recall covers all models affected by the power steering failures. Hopefully we're talking new pump and fan. Either way, my MINI will be off the road as soon as they throw salt...

 

I did a search by vin on the site below and no power steering safety recall for me (2005 MCS JCW). But I did find out i have that front passenger seat occupancy sensor mat that has a recall on it. Will be contacting my mini dealer soon to get it replaced.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchSafetyIssues

 

Apparently, not all MINIs from 02 to 06 are affected.
My Feb 2003 R50 shows no active recalls on either of the two links above.

 

So what would determine if they are not affected? location sold? I think it would be any and all minis between 02-06 they all use the same damn powersteering equipment..

 

I have a 9/03 build Cooper S and I just called customer service and they told me that it doesn't affect me but on the NHTSHA website they say the recall doesn't start until 12/1/15 so he recommended I check back then. I just bought a used pump online so I might wait and see if I'm covered in which case I'll be reselling it online.

Were there multiple pump styles for 02-05? Seems odd to me.

 

So i have a 2006 MCS ....1/06 build date ... with only 40,700 miles and the last month or so my power steering went then magically appeared again and just the past 2 days its been out completely ..Kind of stinks that it doesnt cover the 2006 model since they are all the same power steering components ! They should at least include the 06 model since its the last of the first gen cars ....I read somewhere on here that if your Battery is going that might affect the Pump ??? My Battery is Original to my car almost 10 years old ...could that be the Culprit ????

 

Remember the myth 05-06 cars are built way better.

 

Yeah..LOL

 

They are!! (100+changes)Night & day difference between a 04 & 05 vehicles....if you driven both and can't tell the difference. Your not paying attention to the details.


BMW calls it LCI=Life Cycle Inpulse


like I originally said....there is NOT a recall yet....


relax, you all will get a new power steering pump eventually...regardless of age & mileage


CHEERS


***and if your steering feels stiff then normal then stiff etc....most likely a bad lower steering shaft & not the pumps fault.

 

Guess What ...My Power Steering Magically Re-appeared again on my drive home ! ........I really think its a Battery issue and its not holding the Charge ...Before the power steering went i did not drive the car for 3 days and before that i took a long trip and the power steering was working perfectly ...so i checked my original OEM battery tonight and there are 3 options of colors too show up in the little window on top of the battery ..GREEN .."sufficiently charged"...BLACK "insufficiently charged"..and YELLOW ..."Replace Battery"...taking a flashlight it seemed BLACK ....so im guessing my OEM battery is on its last legs ....Going to Autozone this weekend to check the Voltage of the battery then probably buy the Duralast Gold (H5-DLG) ..Unless someone can recommend a better Battery???

 

If your alternator is going bad and low voltage occurs...the computers get together & have a meeting.... and agree to shut off your power steering pump because it sucks a lot of juice...


****could still just be your pump though

 

It's probably the power steering pump. When it starts going out, it will fail intermittently for awhile (sometimes for weeks or months) before it goes completely.

In any case, it's easy to check the condition of your battery.

 

I contact Mini and corporate.....they told me the recall will not be official until the middle of December. My power steering just went out! The only thing they would offer was, I pay for the full repair now and get reimbursed. I only get reimbursed if my vin comes up on the recall. As of now, they have not generated the list of affected cars. I did not want to chance $1200-1500 when I can do it myself for $300. I'm waiting for the recall and I just take a hammer and give the pump a few taps every few days and it work for a little while.

 

What year is your Mini???..Maybe i should keep a Mallet Hammer in my Glove box ...

 

LOL.......it is a 2003 with 185k miles. I bought it for a commuter car for $2K with a dead motor. I just replaced the motor with a salvage yard one and a long list of other stuff. After 1 week of use, other thing are beginning to fail. The car was sitting for 3 months and the girl who had it before neglected maintenance. Blew it up by not having oil in the engine. I had the salvage yard engine on a stand for a week replacing every seal and gasket was replaced, most of the sensors inspected, cleaned and o-rings replaced. Motor is running great and other little thing are failing, right side door lock, power steering, AC, bushings are bad. LOL...it has become a money pit for minor stuff. All in all, about $5K fully redone. Hopefully I will get 4-5 years out of this???

Oh yeah, two light taps with the hammer gets the power steering pump going, lol

 

I’m fully aware of the progressive refinements, but BMW/MINI never fixed any of the core problems with the first gen.

The oil pans still leak
The crank sensors still leak
The BCM still fail
The dampener still fails
The supercharger still fails
The strut towers still bend up like a beer can
The control arm bushings are still made out of bubble gum
The power steering pump will still fail and if you’re unlucky burn you car to the ground
The header will still crack
I’ve also heard the rust protection was better on 2005-2006 cars, but guess what extended warranty be damned they’re still rusting.

 

I live in Germantown MD. I sent my 2004 R53 to the mini dealer in Gaithersburg. They replaced the power steering pump and fan free of charge.

I say screw the website sites and just ask your dealer. I never purchased the car from them and I'm it's second owner. Just saying.

This was August 2015