On Saturday afternoon, 12 March 2011, a loud, high-pitched humming or whining, serious-sounding noise developed while I was driving, the loudness (and/or the pitch) of the noise would change when I turned the steering wheel. I checked the power steering fluid level, which was ok. The night of Sunday, 13 March, I left the car at atlantic motorcar services of wiscasset, Maine 04578, which specializes in MINIand other european vehicles. The following morning I described the problem and asked them to check it out. Atlantic found "the power steering pump (epas) is defective". they replaced the epas assembly (part # 32 41 6 778 425) at a cost of $1212.49; and bled, flushed and filled the system (ps service kitbg $99). This resolved the problem.

- Newcastle, ME, USA

MINICooper 2006 - power steering pump failure. Feb 2nd we had a major winter storm in Kansas City, I was driving less than 10 miles /hr with about 2 feet snow my car stopped at the curb next to apt. Since then my steering which is somewhat mildly stiff for years(my friends had previously wondered if I even had power steering ) was very stiff, and made a scratching noise. I made an appointment at the MINIdealership and was told I had a mechanical breakdown power steering pump failure at 56000miles, and mine was the second car he had to change the pump on. In Aug 2010 I was told everything was perfect and in the past whenever I mentioned the steering wheel - they said its fine, no problems detected. This time they told me the fluid was low, probably leaking. If this had happened on the highway I dread to think what the consequences might have been, given from what it looks like from the class action suit that mine is not an isolated incident as I was led to believe. My insurance company person who inspected the car also stated this was unrelated to the winterstorm, and likely mechanical error.

- Kansas City, KS, USA

2006 MINICooper S: power steering failure intermittent failure of power steering--at first. Very frightening experience. Very dangerous. Now there is no power steering. I've never had such an experience in any automobile. I investigated this experience online and find a number of similar experiences. I'm very troubled by such a flaw in the engineering of this vehicle.

- South Portland, ME, USA

Power steering fan about to fail, was advised to replace to prevent power steering pump failure. Independent mechanic made the assessment and advised the repair. This is known issue in 2004-2006+ minis and am reporting to make sure there are enough data points and consumer reports of the incidence.

- Cedar Crest, NM, USA

Power steering pump. Complete failure while operating vehicle.

- Bay Village, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2006 MINICooper convertible. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph the power steering completely failed and the vehicle was difficult to control. The contact was able to continue driving. The vehicle was diagnosed by an independent mechanic who advised the contact of the pricing and it was too costly. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

- Naples, FL, USA

2006 MINICooper S jcw gp first time in 2008 just noticed fan would come on more often and power steering whined louder. Dealer at main line MINIreplaced. Second time in 2010 steering wheel felt like it lost power but regained during occasional turns. Dealer claimed it was due to aftermarket parts (camber plates) but then replaced it anyways cause main mechanic drove it and noticed play in steering.

- Watsonville, CA, USA

After pulling into my driveway and going inside the house for a few minutes - we noticed a very chemical/plastic smell. We quickly found it was coming from outside, only to find our 2006 MINIS spewing black smoke from under the hood. There was a fire, found to be caused by the power steering cooling fan failing, and causing the power steering pump to overheat and start on fire. I have found numerous blogs and complaint pages on this problem. I haven't the money to repair this problem at this time, and so the car still sits. This seems to be a problem the manufacturer is responsible for, even after warranty. "preventively replacing" the parts is also a ridiculous thing to expect vehicle owners to do. Updated 10/13/10 pictures received. Updated IVOQ 10/21/10

- Plymouth, MI, USA

Power steering pump failure @ 49,000 miles.

- Macomb Twp, MI, USA