The Mini is 50 in 2009. Once ever-so British, it was re-launched by BMW in 2001. Since then, more than a million have been produced worldwide and, as they say in their adverts, it’s no ordinary drive, more a ‘Mini Adventure’.
But some of you have found your ‘Mini Adventure’ is more a test of your nerves, because a crucial part of the steering system can fail without warning, and drivers can be left fighting for control of their car.
Frightening
It happened to Heather Hinam as she was driving her five-year-old Mini around a roundabout. Heather said: “I came to a roundabout, went to turn the wheel and there was nothing. It was just like the wheel was rigid. So, I wrenched on the wheel as hard as I could. I just managed to get a little bit of movement in it sufficient to get me around the roundabout. It was very frightening.”
Heather had bought her Mini from a used car dealer but she took it directly to her local BMW garage for repair. They said that her power steering pump had failed. That’s the crucial part that has made manoeuvring modern cars so much easier, and it’s so essential that if it fails, steering becomes extremely difficult – far harder in fact, than an older car with no power steering at all.
BMW’s customer service told Heather this wasn’t a common fault, which is surprising because we’ve heard from dozens of other Mini owners who’ve told us they’ve had exactly the same problem, and have had to fork out anything up to £800 for the repair.
Shocked
Natalie Redford was shocked to find the steering on her six-year-old Mini became hard to handle on her journey home from work. As she turned right, she couldn’t turn the steering wheel enough to make it around the corner and she mounted the pavement, narrowly missing a wall. “I was quite shook up – really shook up actually,” Natalie told Watchdog. “Someone could have been on that path, and I could have gone into them, and there was nothing I could do about it at all.”
BMW say that power steering pump failures are not common. When we rang 45 main dealers, 30 denied there was a common fault, 14 said they’d had a few problems and only one dealer said the power steering does have a tendency to go wrong. But if the problem really is as rare as BMW would like to make out, we were surprised to hear from one Mini specialist telling us he’s doing a roaring trade replacing the faulty part.
Common problem
Matt Pike is an independent Mini mechanic, and a supplier of spare parts. He says he can barely keep up with demand for replacement power steering pumps: “At least 60 per cent of our regular customers have all had pumps changed. And we’re getting at least two calls a day from people after power steering pumps because they’re such a big failure. I’d say it’s the most common problem we have with the Minis.”
Some worried drivers have contacted VOSA, the government body responsible for vehicle safety. VOSA said they’d done their own tests, and were convinced that even if the pump fails, the car can still be driven safely.
Motoring expert Mark Brown is surprised the Mini’s power steering pumps are failing so early in the car’s life, and is concerned by the risks the failure can cause: “I’d expect power steering pumps to last virtually the lifetime of the car, with a few exceptions. I think that because of the number of reported incidents, and the potentially dangerous situation it can leave a driver in when the failure does occur, that we’re getting into the realms now where a safety recall ought to be seriously considered.”
BMW say that they’re aware of an electrical issue which has the potential to affect the Electro Hydraulic Power Assisted Steering system fitted to more than 223,000 petrol-powered Minis sold between 2001 and 2007. This includes 175,000 Mini one, Mini Cooper and Cooper S cars sold between 2001 and 2005, 9,000 convertibles and 32,000 Mini Hatch cars sold in 2006 and 7,800 Mini Convertibles sold in 2007. BMW say that in January 2005 a modification was made to the pump supplied with all new Minis which virtually eradicated the issue.
Statement
In a statement the company said: “Mini UK strives to provide the best possible service to its customers and is concerned when they are not satisfied with their cars. We can appreciate that the issues these Mini owners experienced can be disturbing, but we have thoroughly investigated the cases of each customer, and worked hard to eradicate the issues described. As with all modern cars, power steering systems are an added support function that makes steering easier, especially at slow speeds, when parking for example. They are not an essential component of steering systems and cars can be driven perfectly safely without power steering assistance. All new Minis on sale today also feature new power steering mechanisms completely unaffected by these issues.
“However, Mini UK takes such incidents very seriously and has worked closely with the independent regulatory bodies who have liaised with us on the most appropriate route to take with this issue. Furthermore, we would advise that if any owner of a petrol-engine Mini produced between 2001-07 has concerns over this issue or has experienced a similar situation, they should contact our dedicated Mini UK Customer Service line on 0800 777129.”
I experienced exactly the symptoms described above this past Friday – completely without warning. While driving in a hilly area near my home, I suddenly lost the power steering function, and had to haul on what felt like 30 lb. weights to get the wheel to respond; quite a challenge to negotiate turns/curves, and get the car home! This morning the car seems perfectly normal – so I suspect some kind of intermittent electrical malfunction.
Any suggestions/advice would be very welcome.
CT
Hi CT,
i got the same issue. Mine is a 2005 Mini Cooper cabrio.
Send the car back to dealer and they say it is a problem with the power steering pump. need to get it replaced.
There are alot of others having this problem as well.
I suggest u approach your dealer asap as this could be very dangerous.
Also, write in to Mini UK. tell them your problems.
Mini UK should issue a warning to recall all Minis produced from 2001~2007!!!
Mike
As of this month, I’ve had three different major repairs done to my 02 Cooper CVT power steering system, including the pump, column, and now the cooling fan/wiring harness.
I just bought a used 2003 cooper mini which I discovered to have power steering loss on & off and one time the pump stayed running after the car was turned off having to remove the battery cable to shut it off. Next day it was ok but I see posts on many forums saying much the same including a possible electrical fire from that problem. Love the car but if it’s gonna keep me broke fixing it………
well after reading about these faults i aint nicking one and im sticking to my word on that. imagine doing 70mph round a corner and the steering pump goes. yeah right.. dont think so matey!
I agree with Mike. I have a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible. Absolutely love it.
Except for the power steering failure. It happens all the time. There should be a recall before someone gets killed. I purchased this car in 2007 and it had about 60 k miles on it. The steering went out the first week and the dealer said he would fix it. Well guess what……………..nothing so far.
The power steering on my Mini Cooper suddenly failed without warning last night at around 10:30pm as I was driving along the M56 and on to the M6 at Warrington. How scared was I? I was on my own and it was dark and I was on a motorway and about 25-30 miles from home!! The wheel just suddenly went rigid and heavy, I could not steer the car properly. I managed to limp home but with great diffculty as driving it was like dragging a huge weight through tar. When I got home I went on the computer and Googled “Mini Cooper Poser Steering Failure” and up popped the BBC Watchdog item. So, if you’ve got a petrol Mini aged 2001-2007, beware as this is a fairly coomon fault. Apparently it’s the power steering pump that fails and needs to be replaced. Depending on the age and mileage of the car, BMW may just make a contribution towards the cost of repair. If it happens to you call Mini Support on 0800 777129 and they will tell you to take it to your nearest Mini dealer to get it looked at. I love my Mini and will get this fixed but if it costs me £800 I may have to fall out of love with it….
I bought a mini copper s, 2005 model Oct last year for my partner who is nuts about these cars. I have had many cars and have had 3 minis (original). After about 4 weeks of owning the car we discovered a few minor faults. Shortly after this we discovered the car kept losing water and was over heating. We had the theromostat and housing replaced because of a leak. Three days later whilst driving along I lost power stering. I opened the bonnet and smoke was pouring out. We left the car hoping it would catch fire and that would be the end of the problem but unfortunately it wasnt. We have now had to have the electronic PS pump replaced plus associated wiring as its burnt out. These cars are dangerous and I would not recommend buying one.
The Mini obviously has two failure modes for the power steering pump. First, the pump itself can fail and secondly the integral relay that controls it can fail. The latter often causes dead batteries since the pump won’t turn off and run constantly after the car has been turned off. In either case you have to replace the pump which Mini in Peabody, MA estimates at $1000. When the relay seizes it is an inexpensive item itself costing a few dollars. It frosts me that this relay isn’t in the relay box where it can be easily replaced. Not to mention that when we brought our Mini to this dealer for a dead battery problem they replaced the battery and sent us off to come back again with another dead battery. Never correctly diagnosing the problem. That is something we had to do ourselves. Given all the failures and pump replacements why hasn’t this problem been recalled? Can they discount the relay failures and stay under the threshold?
Same thing happened to my 2005 mini.
I’m in USA, don’t think there is a recall on this eventhough I did see many ppl on forums complaining about the same Power steering pump failure.
Dealer said it will cost $800 for parts + 4 hrs of labor ($500) = $1300 to repair.. @_@
Same as with all you guys – mine’s a 2004 Cooper with 30,000 miles on the clock – the power steering pump has gone on mine too! Argh!
Exactly the same symptoms – intermittant power steering failure when the engine wamrs up – you switch it off and if it’s still warm, no steering assistance at all – I like the comment Mini UK say at the end of the text about it being a support function and not an essential part of the steering where it can still be driven safely. I’m a 30 year old male, and call myself fairly fit physically – however I could not turn that wheel at all, let alone try and turn it at low speed around a corner – very bad!
Is is possible to use an ordinary electric oil pump. Why should it not work? Has anyone tried it, cause i want to? massikader@gmail.com
Why has mini not recalled back those troublesome cars to have the powersteering pump fixed, replaced or have the problem solved?
Where in the USA is a cheap place to buy a new pump? Willing to do the labor but $500-$600 for a power steering pump is CRAZY….
my 04 Mini just started making the steering noises. topped off the fluid but it didn’t help. I’m resigned now to bringing it in and spending $$$ to fix as it’s out of warranty. Sigh…….
I wrote a letter of complaint to Mini UK after my power steering pump went – I was so angry and was/still am on the verge of making a complaint directly to the Health & Safety Executive for the UK.
WIthin 18 hours they refunded the cost of the pump directly, so I only paid for the labour….is this a sign of acceptance from the company? People are still adding problems about this on this site. It seems to be so huge!