2005 MINICooper S power steering failed while turning off highway almost causing me to crash into an adjacent car because I had to muscle the car into a corner. This is a very serious problem which happened one more time later in the week while I was turning into my driveway. A woman might not be able to muscle the car correctly thus causing an accident.

- Auburn, CA, USA

I own a 05 MINICooper S that has power steering problems..the steering went out when driving 75mph..since then the power steering motor will not shut off on its own and the battery must be disconnected which is another issue altogether...I am not able to drive this vehicle as it is not safe...it started as an intemittent problem and now is a constant problem...I only own this vehicle as was hoping MINIwould step up and take care of this...

- Austin, TX, USA

My 2005 MINICooper steering is going out every time I try to turn I have to use both hands and all my power to turn it. I just dropped it off at the repair shop and will call him in the morning to let him know the problem so he can try and fix it.

- Chino, CA, USA

We have a 2005 MINICooper. On 16jun11, my wife was driving back from her shift at the hospital at around 9am when while taking a turn the steering wheel suddenly became very heavy. She had to make the car turn with a lot of force. The next day, 17jun11, when we tried to open the car, it didn't respond to the key remote, and we have to open it manually. The car didn't respond, and wouldn't start. Today, 18jun11, we called aaa va our insurance, and they came over jump started the car. I took the car to the MINIservice center (new country BMW), and they said I would have to come back on Monday, 20june. They did take a quick look under the hood, and even when the car is switched off, a cylinder behind the battery makes a continuous hissing sound. They said the problem would most certainly be related to the power steering pump/assembly. So, when in its turned off state, the pump somehow drains the battery. I will take my car to them in a few days again when they are free, but meanwhile, when I park, I park with the battery connections removed, so atleast I don't have to ask aaa to jump start it everytime. I am not sure if this is a manufacturing defect, and MINIwould be taking care of it. But I am worried about the costs!

- Hartford, CT, USA

2005 MINICooper S. power steering failure: I was driving my car for about 10 minutes, when the power steering failed. I reached my destination (without power steering), the car sat for approx 3 hours, when I got back in the car, the power steering worked. The first occurrence was on Tuesday, June 14, 2011. On Wednesday, June 15, this occurred numerous times after driving the vehicle only for a few minutes. Again, after the car sat for a few hours, the power steering resumed working. My car has approx 56K miles on it, and I am the original owner of the vehicle. Updated 07/26/11 updated 3/16/12

- Moorestown, NJ, USA

While driving my 2005 MINICooper S through a crowded parking lot, my power steering just suddenly went out without warning. There was no indication of the sudden failure and I was barely able to get my MINIinto a parking spot away from pedestrians.

- Decatur, IL, USA

MINICooper 05 power steering failure.

- West Yarmouth, MA, USA

I have a 2005 MINICooper S. the power steering went out on me as I was driving on the bay bridge. Almost killed me and god only knows who else was on the bridge! how can the people at BMW sleep at night knowing there are minis out there with this problem! do the research and you will see how many terrified MINIowners are out there! thank god I was in the far right lane so I could pull the car over and coast the rest of the way. The car was towed to minisf, who told me the power steering pump failed. I replaced the pump, but for some reason the problem continues intermittently. The fan runs all the time, even when driven for a short time. The entire system needs to be replaced. And, what's worse is the thought of selling this car to someone who might experience the same terror I did. There were no injuries or crashes. Thank god for that.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

Loss of power steering in 2005 MINICooper. 1. on 06 April 2011 at 11:00, I had an appointment at the grand rapids, mi MINICooper dealer for an oil change. During the routine inspection conducted along with the oil change, it was reported to me that my power steering fan had failed. Fortunately, as reported at that point, my power steering pump looked fine. I paid to have the power steering fan replaced at that point. I experienced no issues with my vehicle's steering until 11 June 2011 at approximately 7:30pm when, while attempting to pull into a parking space in a parking garage, the power steering failed completely. The resulting loss of steering capability caused me to impact a movable parking sign in the adjacent parking space. Hours later, after cooling down, the power steering continued to function, but has begun to fail at random intervals. I am currently awaiting an appointment to have it replaced for approximately $1500. 2. the consequences of the failure have been heightened concern while driving, and a dynamic cost of $1500 to replace the power steering pump.

- Ann Arbor, MI, USA

I was driving 50 mph, outside air temp approx 65F. Without warning the power steering failed. I pulled over and checked the tires and engine compartment to check for leaks or belt faults. Nothing, so I continued 20 miles to my destination without the steering assist. After I turned the engine off, I restarted it and the power steering was back. It happened during a slow turn, fortunately. If I had been in any tighter of a turn, I probably would have driven off the road.

- South Elgin, IL, USA

Power steering intermittently goes out while driving and continues to run while the car has turned off. Has almost caused me to crash several times when it has gone out on the express way.

- Taylor, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper convertible. The contact stated the steering column locked and the vehicle would not move. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated there was a failure with the steering electric power assist. The cost would be $1000 for the repairs. The dealer stated they would give her a return call if they repair the vehicle under warranty. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 102,000. Updated 07/08/11 the dealer replaced the power steering pump. Updated 07/29/11

- Conroe, TX, USA

I own a 2005 MINICooper. Mileage is 43,070. My power steering pump recently malfunctioned. Steering became uncontrollable and the power steering pump eventually would not turn off and continued running after I turned off my car. Part had to be replaced. I understand that a class action was filed in October 2010 regarding this same problem. I am writing to let the NHTSA know that my power steering pump also malfunctioned.

- San Francisco, CA, USA

Power steering intermittently goes out while driving and does not return until car is cycled off and back on again.

- Taylor, MI, USA

My power steering began to stop working as I rode. I would park the car, switch the engine off and restart and the power steering would come back. This happened several times both in back roads and highways. Finally last month it stopped working completely and now it is very difficult to drive and really a danger to be on the road with.

- Providence, RI, USA

The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper. While driving 30 mph, the contact stated that it became impossible to steer the vehicle. The dealer informed the contact that the power steering pump and fan failed. The manufacturer advised the contact that they would research the failure and the contact was awaiting a response. No repairs were performed. The current and failure mileages were approximately 68,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- New York, NY, USA

My 2005 MINICooper VIN # [xxx] just lost power steering while driving on the side street, tried to shut off the engine and restart, it works but decided to just park in the garage since I was afraid to get involve in a accident. Then suddenly, a weird sound coming from the engine compartment, left it overnight, next thing my car battery died and could not start the car. Jumped start it let my husband drove it around the block and exactly the same problem occurred. The power steering became stiff and very hard to maneuver even just making a 45 degrees angle and returned to a driving position. I just decided to just park it and wait until a possible recall. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Chatswort , CA, USA

My 2005 MINICooper S has power steering wheel failure. It started happening after the car hit 50,000 miles which I think it's still too low for any cars. I first encountered the problem a couple weeks ago when I was trying to make a left turn on a main rd. The steering was so difficult to turn even with both hands that I had to come to halt in the middle of the road. The car would have hit the building if I kept on going at full speed which is 30 miles. So glad there was no car behind me. Encountered a few more times after this. My car is now parked at my condo lot as it cost over $1300 to get it fixed. It will be very dangerous is this happens on the freeway. A few of my friends have the same problem. Something needs to be done or life will be lost. BMW/MINIneeds to do something about this.

- Cambridge, MA, USA

The steering wheel on my MINICooper has become hard to steer on and off for the last couple of days. At the onset, I was going at about 15 to 20mph and turning right. The steering got hard to turn and I was having difficulty staying out of on coming traffic. I pulled off to the side of the road, turned off the car and hood under the hood to see if there was anything to explain what was going on. I was not able to identify anything to explain this occurrence, so I restarted the car and it was back to normal. Since then it has done this on and off several other times. I call the mechanic and was told these vehicles have lots of problems with the steering pump, cooling fan and rely switch.

- Newton, KS, USA

The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper. The contact stated the power steering failed without prior warning. The contact stated it would be almost impossible to turn the vehicle because the electronic power assist would prevent the wheel from being turned. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 49,000 and the current mileage was 52,000.

- Denver, CO, USA