On 2/11/2016 I got home from work and I parked my 2005 MINICooper S (53,000 miles) on the driveway, turn off car and stayed with my kids & wife since they were waiting for me outside, my wife notice a sound & smoke coming from the car, the smoke were coming from the engine, I immediately open the hood & there was more smoke coming out, the headlights & all the lights turned on & stared flickering, also the wipers turned on, couple of seconds later the botom of the engine was engulfed in flames. My wife ran to get the water hose & I were able to put the fire out, we were lucky that I didn't walk inside the house like I always do, it could have been a horrible tragedy for me, my family and even our neighbors. The next day I had the car towed to my mechanic who after an inspection found out if was the power steering pump that got on fire and damaged all the wires around it, since he is a MINIspecialist he told us about a recall for that specific part, but to our disappointment he ran our VIN # and found that our car is excluded from that recall since its a late 2005 production. That exactly same thing happend to us with the actuators, one day while my wife was shopping with my kids, they just got locked inside the vehicle with the windows rolled up, it was a summer day and luckily she was able to get out through the back trunk, we contacted MINIbecause there is also a recall for the actuators and they also excluded our car saying that it was a late 2005 production and were not able to get the recall. The way we see it MINIis not taking responsibility for their defective components, it is not fair since I have no way to find out if my car was build with not defective parts, obviously it was. I am terrified by the idea this could have been worst since we R always driving with our kids. U need to do something about this & make MINIliable for these safety issues.

- North Hollywood, CA, USA

Power steering goes out. Very hard to turn the wheel. Its like having no steering at all at times. I have two MINIcoopers. This one has not yet to get the recall for the steering pump. I have a recall for the other MINIthat I own but that one doesnt have a problem.

- Whitehall, PA, USA

I have a safety recall (no. 25V-205), an air bag problem, issued last June and have now received another recall ((15V-660). The first recall has yet to be repaired.the air bag "off" light is on all the time. I have contacted MINIand the dealer twice and they tell me there is not a fix yet. I think 6 months is long enough for an air bag problem. I have not had a problem with the second recall, a steering problem, but I assume it could happen. I am concerned that the combination of these two creates an extra dangerous condition. I asked MINIif they would pay for a rental when I needed to have a passenger. They refused. This is my only vehicle and I have no other choice.

- Fountain Hills, AZ, USA

The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper S. while in park, the contact heard an abnormal noise coming from the front of the vehicle after the vehicle was turned off. The contact had to disconnect the battery cable to get the noise to stop. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering assist pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 103,000....updated 02/19/16... updated 05/03/18

- Lynfield, MA, USA

The power steering system on different occasions has stopped working completely, other times it just takes more of an effort to turn the wheel each occurance can last from a few seconds or much longer periods of time and doesn't matter if its low or high speeds. Also when starting the vehicle a low battery light is somtimes iluminated. The loss of power steering assistance is complete unpredictable.

- Kensington, NH, USA

Power steering failed at low speed while turning at a stop sign in a school zone. Steering effort increased dramatically then shortly after the battery light, then alternator light came on. Was able to just make it home. I looked online and discovered that this is a common problem and that MINIis offering an extended warranty. I called MINIand gave them my VIN. They told me my 2005 Cooper S is not included in the extended warranty and would not do anything for me. It seems that MINIis not capturing all the vehicles that have this problem. I never received a letter notifying me of the issue. Lot of forums about this issue. So glad this did not happen on the hwy.

- Nevada City, CA, USA

Loss of power steering. And regarding this: NHTSA campaign id number :15V660 manufacturer :BMW of North America, llc make / model years :MINI2002-2005 subject : electro-hydraulic power steering loss I can tell you the problem was because the location of the cooling fan causes it to be continually bombarded with road salt and debris, so it fails, then the pump burns out.

- E. Dundee, IL, USA

The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper. While driving approximately 60 mph, the power steering suddenly malfunctioned and caused the steering wheel to become very difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering motor failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 75,000.

- New Orleans, LA, USA

Sometime when am driving on the street or highway the power steering goes out and it very difficult to turn the wheels, it is very scary and dangerous! happen at least once a week at different times. If I turn the wheels too much, I notice it happen too.

- Missouri City, TX, USA

Lost power stearing, heat and air all at the same time.

- Toms River, NJ, USA

While backing my car out of my parking space this morning I went to turn the wheel and it seemed stuck I then realized I had no power steering. I had parked the car the night before and had no indication that there was a problem with the steering. As I backed the car out without power steering I almost hit two cars trying to control the vehicle, I was able to park the car without incident. There has so far been no recall on the steering and apparently I'm not the first person this happened to.

- Peachtree City, GA, USA

The power steering on my 2005 MINICooper failed suddenly as I was making a left hand turn through an intersection. It took all my effort to keep the car in the lane. The MINIdealer initially told me that the power steering motor was covered due to the extended warranty on 2002 ? 2005 MINICoopers which extends the warranty on the power steering motor to 13 years or 150,000 miles. I was called back later to be informed that my car was not covered as it was manufactured after the Feb. 2005 cutoff date. My MINICooper was manufactored in June 2005. Global MINIin chamblee, ga charged me $899.78 for replacing the power steering motor. My sudden power steering failure at 83,025 miles was consistent with the power steering extended warranty issued by MINIusa for the sudden failure of the power steering motor. The warranty, in effect, is saying that the power steering motor of these vehicles should last for 150,000 miles. While MINIusa has extended the coverage to some 2005 minis, coverage to my MINICooper has been denied failing at only 83,000 miles even though it exhibited the same symptoms of failure.update 9/15/15 updated 11/28/2017

- Athens, GA, USA

In the months of may and June of 2015, my power steering would intermittently stop providing power assist. It has completely stopped working now. Makes it challenging to make emergency maneuvers.

- White Marsh, VA, USA

After an hours drive, I was standing outside of the vehicle talking w/ the car off. All of sudden smoke starts pouring out from under the hood. I quickly opened the hood to hear some type of electrical fan/pump sound & smoke coming from the bottom/rear side of the motor. I was able to pull the battery terminal & the noise/smoke stopped. I then searched online & found the known issues of the electrical assisted power steering. I found the fuse for the circuit, a 100 amp fuse hidden on the bottom side of the fuse box that had not popped even though the pump was burning itself up. I had enough tools w/ me to pull the fuse, get the car started & make my way home w/O the power steering assist.

- Franklinville, NJ, USA

Power steering failed. Extremely difficult to steer without it. After the car as turned off and then cooled: 30 minutes later the power steering worked again. This has now happened on 3 occasions over the last 2 weeks: All on days with the temperature in the 90S. I called the MINIservice but they said that they won't fix it under the extended warranty on the power steering pumps (150K miles, 13 years) unless its failed while they have it. Very dangerous to drive this way with unexpected failures: Especially for my wife who would not be able to force it through turns without power steering. I don't understand why there has not been a recall on this power steering system.

- Yorktown, VA, USA

The steering has started to become extremely unreliable and the car starts to lose control at about 50 miles per hour. At first the problem was slight but it is becoming more difficult to control the car at highway speeds. This situation seems very similar to a complaint that has led to a class action suit and the recall of some MINICoopers. Unfortunately our VIN was not on the list, although it appears that MINICoopers from 2002-2009 have been affected.

- Calabasas, CA, USA

Parked at shopping mall and not running for at least 30 minutes, come out to MINIcooper on fire. Smoke coming out of engine area, high pitch fan whirling, electrical smell. Power steering failed, shorted out, and caught on fire. Vehicle was not even on and parked when this happened. Appears to be a major failure many others owning a MINIcooper have experienced. BMW/MINIcooper of usa did nothing for us and put it all on our and my insurances shoulders. Amazed so many cases of this same issue have happened yet they do nothing and seem to expect everyone else to foot the bill. Got the run around by BMW and unless it was for my insurance company, the MINIwould have been scrapped.

- Grass Valley, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2005 MINICooper. The contact stated that the power steering failed and the transmission was leaking fluid. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering pump, fan, and the transmission needed to be replaced. The power steering was repaired at a cost of $1900. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 64,200. Updated 7/1/15 updated 07/09/15

- Chicago , IL, USA

Driving up a residential street on my return from work, steering very abruptly became very difficult. Apparent power steering pump failure.

- Danville, CA, USA

Power steering pump failed to turn off with vehicle. Resulted in battery being drained and ultimately loss of power steering. Power steering pump, fan, and fluid had to be replaced as a result of fan becoming seized, pump overheating and failing.

- Royal Oak, MI, USA