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Stock Problems/IssuesDiscussions related to warranty related issues and repairs, or other problems with the OEM parts and software for MINI Clubman (R55), Cooper and Cooper S(R56), and Cabrio (R57).
Just had this happen to my 2014 Countryman S... Looking at nearly $200 to replace this. I'll be speaking with the service manager regarding this and likely calling corporate to see what can be done about this as well.
they “might have” replaced mine at no costs but I would have had to wait a week for them to do whatever they do with corporate and my daughter had drive back to school the next day 6 hours away. They could put their hands in their pocket and refund me. But they decided not to, shitty service, they have 0 in common with BMW service. Oh and at the same time they found an issue with that LED strip in the back and that was part of that charge. They are charging use for parts designed to fail after the warranty is over.
Originally Posted by Random6690
Just had this happen to my 2014 Countryman S... Looking at nearly $200 to replace this. I'll be speaking with the service manager regarding this and likely calling corporate to see what can be done about this as well.
My car has the melting brake light syndrome. The cheapest plastic bulb holder apparently can't handle the normal operating temperature of the bulb. the metal in the plastic gets hot and melts the contact points. You can scrape off the melting sometimes to get the metal to show back up and get a bit more life out of it before it has to be replaced. Mine is the brake light at the "top" of the light were all the "heat collects".
I have this same issue on my 'new to me' 2011 MCS. The dealership advised a complete new assembly, installed for the bargain price of $310.90. I think I'll try the DIY first!
with me I had to pay $600 to get my daughter back to school after the Ontario CA dealership (sucks) said they could not help me with warranty since I had to contact corporate. corporate said they could not help me because I already paid. Scam, they also said they have not had ANY reports of this meting tail light issue. This should be a class action, tail lights melting is not safe. They have buried their heads in the sand. I'm an EE and told them exactly what the issue is. They know it but won't admit.
Originally Posted by Pleery
So I called my dealership and they said to call MINI corporate whose number is 1-866-ASK-MINI. I called them and the woman I spoke to was friendly but unable to help.
Here's the policy she explained. If the car were still under warranty she might have been able to help - MINI stands behind the cars they build. Since mine is out of warranty, my only option is to take the car to a dealership service department. It's up to the service department manager to decide whether to charge me or not for my problem, presumably based on how valuable a customer he thinks I am.
I described in detail how the poor design caused the bulb carrier to melt and strongly suggested she pass the information on to whatever part of MINI is responsible for taking such feedback and improving their designs as a result. She said that they do exactly that with calls like mine and that is another reason to take the car to the service department - so that my description of the problem can be confirmed by a MINI technician. But it doesn't change the fact that only the service manager has the authority to absorb the cost of replacing my tail light.
Sorry if this info is already well known but I figured the next person who has a broken brake light might want to know how this all played out. I don't plan on making the long drive to my dealership just to have them confirm what I already know. Instead I will try to find a replacement tail light on eBay and if that fails, buy a new one.
I think MINI should have replaced my tail light at their cost since it's a design flaw, not a wear-and-tear problem. I understand they have to draw the line somewhere on out-of-warranty work but I think they got it wrong on this problem.
I have this same issue on my 'new to me' 2011 MCS. The dealership advised a complete new assembly, installed for the bargain price of $310.90. I think I'll try the DIY first!
Neil M.
It's a fairly easy DIY; I hope it worked out for you. I had to do it twice--it re-melted a couple of years after my original incident. This really should be a recall item. Clearly a design flaw that can impact safety.
And I'm in on the class action if someone wants to start it! I'd bet it would be a quick settlement... A consumer should be able to reasonably assume that plastic parts won't melt under normal operating conditions, and I can't imagine how MINI could possibly argue against this, especially when there's a safety issue in play!
My 2011 MCS manual hasn't had an issue with this, and I am now at 111k miles. My wife's 2013 Justa convertible auto now at 78k, though? Yeah, many brake light bulbs, many repairs to the contact areas. Finally just recently bought a pair of low-mile 2014 Justa convertible tail light assemblies (yeah, I know they didn't have to be convertible tail lights, just what turned up), bent the contacts on the sockets a bit, and applied some dielectric grease. We shall see how it goes. But....I DO agree this should be a safety recall, or at least a warranty extension. Ridiculous that this is not being addressed properly by the manufacturer.
Hey if anyone needs a pair I have mine from a 2012 ht jcw I recently replaced mine with the blackline but ill sell these cheap. one of the clips on the left light broke but the work great still. I also have the rings to throw in great condition and some side indicators that i hit with niteshade
So a few weeks ago I noticed one of my brake lights was only lighting the top half of the circle that is usually lit. I figured I would replace the bulb and everything would go back to normal. Fast forward to last week, car was at the dealership to replace a bad alternator and they checked the bulb out for me. My SA calls to tell me it's not the bulb, it's the whole assembly, and it's melting. I couldn't believe my ears, did they seriously just tell me a part of my car is melting? No explanation as to why this might happen, what is causing it, they just say I have to replace the entire assembly to fix it. 2 days later, the other tail light does the EXACT same thing. I emailed my SA, asked what could be causing this and should I be concerned that my other light "melted" and caused the same exact issue, he claims "it's rare but it happens". I've been looking all over the internet to try and find any other instance of this happening but haven't come up with much. Has anyone ever heard of this?
Same thing happened to me . Both tail lights melted.
Hey if anyone needs a pair I have mine from a 2012 ht jcw I recently replaced mine with the blackline but ill sell these cheap. one of the clips on the left light broke but the work great still. I also have the rings to throw in great condition and some side indicators that i hit with niteshade
How much for the tail lights? Would you be willing to sell just the passenger side? I’ve got this issue for the second time on my 2013 R56 S. First time I replaced the driver’s side assembly myself after my temporary fix didn’t hold up. Now the passenger side is doing the same...
How much for the tail lights? Would you be willing to sell just the passenger side? I’ve got this issue for the second time on my 2013 R56 S. First time I replaced the driver’s side assembly myself after my temporary fix didn’t hold up. Now the passenger side is doing the same...
I’d prefer to sell all of the items listed. I was thinking around $100+shipping Pm whatever offer ya got
Same thing happened with my left tail light just after my warranty ended. I hate to replace the whole light assembly so I’m thinking I’ll try replacing two sockets. Two of the three bulbs aren’t working.
Crap design! Same thing on my 2011 base. Melted plastic and sockets on both sides. Difficult to remove the sockets. I'm not buying a whole new assembly, I will solder it together somehow.
Some great info here, thanks so much for the contribution. Apologies if I missed it, but I'm wondering if anyone's had any luck with DIY replacement of the JUST the lamp socket or socket & bulb carrier? Asking in regards to my 2011 MCS. Thanks!
just came across this melting issue today when i thought all i had to do was change the bulb. after removing the taillight assembly and investigating, i found the bulb socket was melted to the socket carrier. the chunk of plastic broke off as i twisted the socket.
i should be able to clean the bulb socket, but will need to work on the carrier assembly. Any ideas for insulating the exposed metal?
Just curious - is the melting tail light syndrome primarily on automatic transmission cars?
I'm thinking that the 6W filament in the taillight bulb doesn't get that hot unless it's loose & there's some arcing going on.
The 21W brake filament, on the other hand, does generate a lot of heat; with an automatic, it is likely to be on for a much longer time.
Just curious - is the melting tail light syndrome primarily on automatic transmission cars?
I'm thinking that the 6W filament in the taillight bulb doesn't get that hot unless it's loose & there's some arcing going on.
The 21W brake filament, on the other hand, does generate a lot of heat; with an automatic, it is likely to be on for a much longer time.
FWIW: my 2010 LCI automatic had melted tail lights (which caused one of the bulbs to lose contact) at less than 50K miles.
Just curious - is the melting tail light syndrome primarily on automatic transmission cars?
I'm thinking that the 6W filament in the taillight bulb doesn't get that hot unless it's loose & there's some arcing going on.
The 21W brake filament, on the other hand, does generate a lot of heat; with an automatic, it is likely to be on for a much longer time.
Hi guys, sorry to bring this old thread back up but I didn't see a resolution. I'm having the same issue and I don't think it's caused by anything else other than the tail light itself. I don't think it's a faulty alternator and my day time running lights are off. It happened to my 2011 R56 Cooper S, my current 2013 R56 JCW and my friend's 2013 R56 Cooper S. Did the lower wattage bulbs help? How about LEDs?
I have melted brake light housings on my 2018 Cooper clubman S. So what did you end up doing to fix the problem?
I have melted brake light housings on my 2018 Cooper clubman S. So what did you end up doing to fix the problem?
Honestly, i just paid them to replace it... But i made sure they added a note on the account about my disorientation that a FIRE HAZARD was not covered, warranty or otherwise. I didn't have it happen a second time, and i actually just sold my mini 3 weeks ago...
Unless you get a really caring service manager, not sure what other options there are... Had this happened a second time, i would have accepted no less than the dealership replacing every single light bulb housing on my car... I would have absolutely Karen'd the situation into oblivion.
I have melted brake light housings on my 2018 Cooper clubman S. So what did you end up doing to fix the problem?
You can clean the contact points and then solder the connections permanently (which means you have to take out the entire carrier each time as opposed to just pulling out the bulb holders pout the the bulb socket) or just get another bulb socket (the black plastic piece).
10-08-2019, 03:32 AM
