Oh great....... guess I can't make fun of Chevy Volts catching fire 3 days after crash testing.

 

Glad to still own my 2005 R53 S with 88K miles. But my wife drives the 2008 Clubman S auto and we are not happy to learn about the problem with the water pumps. Seem to us the PSA Prince Engines are nothing but a quality control and reliability fiasco and will be costly to maintain once out of warranty.

No doubt this recall is a huge black eye in MINI's reliability (or lack of thereof) perception.

 

Looks like the second generation MINI is becoming the Ford Pinto of the 21st century.

 

A gentle reminder that your car has British Leyland heritage.

 

Oh, my...
Everybody, come down! Recalls are so common in today's car market... Next summer, it'll be all good. All of us will be driving on new turbo pumps and enjoy this great car...

 

Soooo let me get this straight... I do have a 7/2007 cooper s but I didn't buy it at a MINI dealership and I'm out of warranty! I'm still able to use this recall right?! Otherwise I guess I'll have to invest in a fire extinguisher :P

 

Recalls to address safety defects are indeed regardless of warranty or where purchased. An issue will be that MINI will have no way to know about you, however. You will need to identify yourself to the mfr. somehow, at some point.

 

I think MINI USA has that in their database though, because I always just get all the MINI stuff in the mail... Otherwise I'll be making a call to MINI pretty soon :P

 

www.miniusa.com and then hit the owner resources link and then the owners lounge. Sign in and set up your profile and make sure all your info and car are in there correctly. That SHOULD be all you need to do because at that point they have your VIN and address in their DB.

 

Spice, you might want to read the applicability list again. The '11 JCW's are listed.

MINI / COOPER S CLUBMAN 2008-2011
MINI / COOPER S CONVERTIBLE 2009-2011
MINI / COOPER S COUNTRYMAN 2011
MINI / JCW 2009-2011
MINI / JCW CLUBMAN 2009
MINI / JCW CONVERTIBLE 2010-2011
Summary:
BMW IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2007-2011 MINI COOPER S, 2008-2011 MINI COOPER S CLUBMAN, 2009-2011 MINI COOPER S CONVERTIBLE, 2009-2011 MINI COOPER JCW, 2009-2011 MINI COOPER JCW CLUBMAN, 2009-2011 COOPER JCW CONVERTIBLE, AND 2011 COOPER S COUNTRYMAN PASSENGER CARS MANUFACTURED FROM NOVEMBER 14, 2006, THROUGH JANUARY 18, 2011. THE ELECTRIC AUXILIARY WATER PUMP THAT COOLS THE TURBOCHARGER HAS AN ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT BOARD THAT CAN MALFUNCTION AND OVERHEAT

 

Remember that time when my gorgeous 2009 Laser Blue Cooper S burnt to the ground in a parking lot? I do! This recall has me feeling... vindicated.

I'm a little concerned that in the article I read from a news source in England, MINI claims that there have only been 4 fires in 235,000 cars. ORLY? o,O

 

The Ford Pinto killed a lot of people.

 

In the NHTSA report they claim 12 incidents in the United States and BMW also claims a number of test vehicles (MINI's) exhibited the same issues. Doubtful they can claim only 4 in 235,000 cars since there were 12 reported incidents and ~90,000 cars recalled. Wondering where the "source" came from.

 

Here is the source claiming only 4 fires: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...?newsfeed=true

Also, even though I live in Canada, my case was reported to the NHTSA: ODI #10335450

Lies, lies, lies... tsk tsk MINI. It would be different if they said "We are only aware of four fires" (which implies that there could be more) but they seem a little too matter-of-fact with this magic number of 4 that they have seemingly pulled out of nowhere. Then they go on to say that one fire occurred in the UK, so I guess that leaves only 3 for North America? hmmm...

 

First, I second the "everyone needs to calm down" statement. Recalls are common - they don't seem to have hurt Honda, Toyota or any other popular brands business. Second, I am a bit confused, as the recall supposedly involves up to and including MY 2011 with the S motor, but I also read that the recall was for vehicles with the N14 engine and MY 2011 was the switch over to the N18 engine. I guess I'll wait to see if I get anything in the mail. At any rate, my son's 09 MCCS will be included in the recall.

 

Tag on driver's side door post.

 

I'd go with the official NHTSA recall specifications rather than NAM posts. If your MINI was built during those time-frames listed in the NHTSA advisory, you are affected.

 

I called the toll free # in the NHTSA post. Spoke with someone who knew my car and history, indicated I'd get the letter, then get it fixed, etc.

I questioned two things: 1) is it dangerous/safe to drive right now, and should I get a fire extinguisher?, and 2) is this possibly the cause of my scoop sagging along the top edge?

I've had the scoop replaced at year two under warranty, but it is starting to show again, and I know this has been discussed as heat issues from the turbo, but I wonder it this has anything to do with heat issues related to this recall....

And no, I'm not so overly concerned that I'm loading up on a fire extinguisher....yet.



Should be resolved in 30 days or so.

 

The article I read said there were only 80 pump failures and 4 fires worldwide out of 235k cars. Only 89k of the cars were sold in the US. That doesn't sound like an epidemic to me.

 

I have owned my Mini Countryman S now since May 2011. It has had the chrome replaced twice (and honestly the new stuff doesn't line up at all like when it was new), cold start issues, and two months ago I took my car in because I noticed a burning smell coming through the vents. The dealer told me to bring it in next time I noticed it. So I brought the car in right away and asked them to examine what I was smelling. The service manager put his head in the car and said he thought it smelled like plastics "off-gassing" and he called a tech over who said she didn't know what it was either. I continue to smell the "burning fumes" as I drive my 3 year old son around and pregnant wife. The dealer acted as if it was no big deal and that I was overreacting. Now I hear about this recall.. I AM FURIOUS! I want to love this car but Mini won't let me. TOTAL P.O.S. I am contacting my lawyer now.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath. Remember, we'll get letters in 30 or so days. How long exactly will it take to manufacture and distribute 90,000 new water pumps and then for all the tech's to replace them. They'll be doing this like crazy on top of their regular business. I'm pretty sure some of us won't be getting this done for a while.

 

27 deaths per 2 million cars built.

 

Wow....that brings something to mind - this past summer, I had an odd smell in the cabin - like electrical burn. Nothing going on under the hood, no smoke, nothing obvious. Asked the dealer, nothing. Changed the cabin filter to carbon (done the year before), diminished, but nothing really changed.

The issue for me, as posted on this board https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-c-is-off.html, was when the a/c was on, it was diminished. Turn the a/c off, leave the fan running, and the smell was obvious. Thought maybe a tire was rubbing, but nothing going on underneath.

Wonder if any of this is related. Not happening now, but still wonder since you brought that up.

 

and 2) is this possibly the cause of my scoop sagging along the top edge?

I've had the scoop replaced at year two under warranty, but it is starting to show again, and I know this has been discussed as heat issues from the turbo, but I wonder it this has anything to do with heat issues related to this recall....

And no, I'm not so overly concerned that I'm loading up on a fire extinguisher....yet.



Should be resolved in 30 days or so.[/QUOTE]

The sagging scoop, a very common problem, is caused by heat from the turbo having nowhere to go but up into the scoop. This is unrelated to the issue on this thread. I installed a thin metal heat shield from Way Motorworks under the scoop on my wife's '07 and haven't had a problem since.

 

What is so different between the 2011 and 2012 engines that the 2012 would not be included in the recall?