Hi all,
I am wondering if everyone can give me some advice regard my mini's eninge bay fire. I have a 2007 mini Cooper s, it's been running very well with only the biggest issue being cold weather start problem. But recently I discovered that the AC wasn't working, ie no cold air. So I brought the car in for the ac + cold weather (increase emission) problem. I took the dealer about 7 days total and a new dme to solve the issue. I just got the car back yesterday afternoon and everything was fixed under warranty and seeemed to be running fine.
Then this afternoon, after work, I went to the goceries store. And as soon as I park I notice smoke comming out of the engine bay. And within 5 minutes the entire engine bay was on fire. My attempt to put out the fire with the extingisher was unsucessful due to my inabiliity to get the hood open. To make a long story short, bythe time the fire department put out the fire most of the right side of the engine bay was burnt. He fire marshal believe there was an electrical issue that started the fire.
I already call the insurance to start a claim. I also contacted the dealer who worked on my mini the day before, the associate I spoke to briefly over the phone told me that he CANNOT see how the repair can result in the fire.
During the time they had my mini they have:
1 recharged my feon
2. Replaced a ac pressor and switch
3. Replaced the dme
4. Topped off the engine oil
giving the dealer the benefit of the doubt. Can it be true that they have no fault in this incident? My common sense seems to thing the repair some how is related to the fire.
Please advice.

 

Any electrical work they did can POSSIBLY cause a fire. Let the claim/investigation determine the cause. If it comes back to A/C wiring or DME, it's their fault.

 

I'm sorry for you and your MINI...

BUT...Regardless of work being done on your MINI or not. I would print out all of the "other" Spontaneous Engine Fire Threads/Posts and have them as ammunition!!

Do not let the Dealer play the "Head in the Sand" Game...this is/should be a known problem under what circumstances did the other's happen I don't know, but I do know that MINI is aware of them...a call to MINIUSA would be where I start, let them know what happened, tell them which Dealer you have your MINI Serviced at and see if they can't help you out!!

 

Wow, Sorry about your car. Thanks for posting. It helps all us understand what is possible with a mini. I hope it is an isolated case but from RJ posted it sounds like it isn't. Hope it is resolved in a favorable manner.

 

Don't do your dealer any favors by letting your insurance completely handle it. Maybe also call MINI corporate and raise the issue with them. Maybe you can get something out of this for all the trouble it's caused you. If they total the car, ideally you'd be able to get at least a hefty discount on a new car.

 

OP do a Search on Threads "engine bay fires", you will see that you are not alone.

 

Thanks all for replying and giving me some very useful advice. This morning the dealer called me and have asked me if they can have the car tow to their service center so they can do their own investigation. They also have asked me to "hold off" on my insurance claim with State Farm and have offered to lend me a courtesy Mini for the time being.
I spoke with the claim agents at State Farm and their impression is that the dealer is interested in claiming liability for the fire. The dealer suppose to get back to me tomorrow and let me know of their findings. Hopefully they will own up to their error. But I am not sure what they are planning to offer. Have anyone in the forum had a similar situation and how did those usually get resolved.
Thanks again for replying.

 

My 2009 MCSm burnt to the ground today. I watched in horror. Randomly caught fire in a parking lot far away from all the other cars (thankfully) cuz.. I NEVER park beside anyone.

Car was only serviced at BMW/MINI dealership.

No warning signs on drive to mall (25min drive) and I was only in the mall for 20 min. I came out to see everyone watching my car burn... I puked on the spot.

Will keep you posted on what happens with me.

 

Hi, my 08 MCS caught on fire on Thursday. I was able to put it off with a bottle of water, so no major damage on the car engine (I bet it still starts).

I think that it was the two wires and the wire harness that connects with something just below the oil filter (when I opened the hood they were red hot while it was still smoking - and I bet the smoke was the plastic melting/starting to burn).

It was really fast like Carlisle and Shadowgram's case. Car had been sitting outside of my office for 8-9 hrs, then I drove it for 0.8 miles and on the first traffic light a guy told me about smoke coming out of the hood, went to closest parking lot, opened hood, it was only smoke, I run to get fire extinguisher/water... and when I got back (took me a minute or two to get a small bottle of water) there were flames touching the air intake pipe (by the turbo).

I hope that MINI gets good conclusions after studying my car. You can see where it burned, but the wires and the harness are still there (easy to study for a fire expert).

 

Good Job Pisco! Glad you were able to catch it before it really took off.

I want to look around under the the oil filter and see the area you mention. Please update with the parts that are replaced and maybe we can check the same in our Minis.

 

 

Looks like I had better buy an extinguisher. Pisco has some evidence to a possible source. Can someone get a schematic and see what this circuit is? BMW should be doing some analysis on this.

Is their any trend on which area it seems to start from?

Wires don't overheat by themselves. Sounds like some of these fires happen with the car off. That means a circuit that has power with the car off. A lot these days. To reduce weight and cost, wire sizes are as small as they can possibly het away with it, so it could be something is not fused correctly for whatever fault is causing the higher than expected load. Or, some damage is happening. Does not sound like the latter.

If we have a trend, the NTSB should be contacted. Fire would be considered a safety issue. I am sure BMW would rather investigate and recall if there is a defect, than pay the cost and publicity of someone burning up in their car for a known fault. See what delaying known faults repairs did to Toyota!

 

Just thought I would update this thread. My fire happened a month ago COMPLETELY destroying my car in less than 30min from start to finish. I am no closer to having it dealt with really than I was the day it happened. My insurance adjustor, an engineer from my insurance company, and the fire report all indicate it was an electrical fire. MINI Canada is sending it's own engineer to look at the husk of my car in two weeks. Sooooo frustrating. I won't be able to order a 2010 model now because there won't be any more production dates... I don't want a 2011 model because I have a feeling the financing rates are going to jump here...

Really, really miss my car. Nobody wants to replace it... I wrote a letter to the president of MINI Canada, and I contacted the NTSB and filled out a report. I'm still making payments on a car that no longer exists and MINI seems fine with that too.

 

You have full coverage insurance? They should replace it, and go after Mini if they believe it's Mini's fault. That's what they're there for. My insurance agents would have had me a check within a couple of days after the fire. Yours should too.

 

I have FULL coverage. My policy is actually quite amazing: full replacement value (purchase price and NO depreciation), enhanced forgiveness (for being claims free), platinum benefits (still waiting to be treated like a platinum customer sadly)...

You see-- my insurance company is saying: MINI needs to assume liability. We want to wait and see if they will replace your car. We don't want to give you a cheque for $43 grand (yes-- before anyone comments on the price, please note that in other countries, MINI's are much more money).

I agree though-- my insurance company should have paid off my car, and given me a cheque for the difference by now. It is not fair for ME to be strung along while MINI twiddles it's thumbs and waits 6 weeks to send an engineer to look at the car. Shame on my insurance company.

 

I'd be camped out in my agent's office. Every day they drag their feet they're costing you interest. Show up, be polite but firm and don't leave without a check. Make it clear they're losing a customer otherwise.

 

Thanks man. Good sage advice. I guess-- this is one of the rare times in my life when being nice ISN'T doing me any favours. Apparently I have to wait until the "supervisor" comes back on Friday to get answers. Something is rotten in the province of Ontario my friends...

 

Nonsense! They're trying to avoid the cost of a legal battle with Mini by waiting to see if they'll just "fess up." And they're doing it on your nickel. Supervisors are not needed to pay insurance claims. It's what insurance companies do. If they've had an adjuster out there to determine the loss, they know exactly how much they owe you.

After this crap sandwich your insurance company is trying to feed you, I'd go elsewhere as soon as I got a check.

 

Most insurance covers a rental car while your car is in the shop. Go rent a Hyundai and see what all the talk is about.

If this is a common problem or not, I'd contact the Feds and report it. The more info they have, the better they can do for consumers if there IS a fire problem. Ford cruise controls were a major recall for them as they would catch on fire sitting in your garage.

 

Today I picked up my Mini, but I'm still not happy (and I guess you guys should't be either).
The cause of the fire was: auxiliary water pump had a short circuit and apparently this caused the wires to got red hot and the wire harness got on fire.
My dealer fixed my car by replacing the aux water pump and all the wires that burnt, the even offered a loaner car that I didn't take.

Dealer can not change the "engineering" so they are limited to replacing what was damaged. I have contacted Mini USA to see if they want to use my car as a guinea pig, study, investigate, add a fuse so it burns instead of burning the car but I don't think that they are very interested. I spoke with the "escalating affairs" contact yesterday, and he said that I would get a call back but 25 hours later and there has been no call (I guess that mini on fire is not a priority!)

I'll keep you posted... and ... I carry an extinguisher. There's nothing more frustrating than seeing a little flame and not having a cup of water to put it off.

 

So sorry for you folks! I do appreciate you posting about your experiences though for the benefit of the rest of us.

I do remember reading about engine compartment fires before I decided on a MINI. It scared me pretty good, but on further inspection it seems like most of the fires to that point were the earlier models. (My memory is a little hazy so I may have that wrong.) Of course there could be many variables, but your experiences do not bode well for this generation of MINIs.

Good luck. I hope you get fair resolution from MINI, assuming there are no external factors responsible. Thanks for the tip on the fire extinguisher; probably a good idea no matter which MINI we have.

 

Interesting. Motors should ALWAYS be fused at less than the wire capacity. Motors fail by stalling, which causes over current. Light bulbs fail by opening, so no fuse is needed. NO EXCUSE at all for a motor to cause a electrical fire in a car. That would be a serious design defect. I don't have a schematic to look further. If anyone had one, I would love a copy.

 

Tedswoods, if you have a Justa, you have no worries here - the aux water pump is for the turbo, and that makes a lot of sense as the cause since all of these seem to have started after a car was driven and parked - which is when the aux pump runs.

I think I'd bet on an interference somewhere with the wires, causing a short due to the insulation wearing thru. As a '09 Turbo owner, I'm going to take a good hard look at mine and see what I can learn.

 

So we do have a water cooled turbo bearings. That's very good. If the wires are chafing on something, it should be an easy fix for all of us. More details and pictures of the location of the fault would be greatly appreciated. If the failure is a stalled motor, then it is a design fault in need of bigger wire of smaller fuse.

Still wish I could get a schematic.

Now I know some of the noise when I stop. I do wonder what all the whirrs in the dash are when I open the door.

 

FYI
There are 7 complaints with NHTSA (including mine) about Mini S 2007-2010 having spontaneous fires most of them after the car was off.

10289793 - 07 Cooper S
10286597 - 08 Cooper S Convertible
10310677 - 08 Clubman S
10286663 - 08 Cooper S
10314796 - 08 Cooper S
10342365 - 08 Cooper S
10335450 - 09 Cooper S

I wonder what's the number for Mini to let us add a fuse??? I think that I need to call them again with this info.