The car engine stopped dead in the middle of a state highway while going at cruising speed of 35mph on the right most late, and with engine dead power steering became unresponsive and became impossible to steer the car to the side. The car was literally dead in the middle of the highway, we had kids on board and for a small car, we were really that lucky passing cars were able to spot us and avoid hitting us. When we took towed it to the shop, the issue was that the timing chain had snapped and also cracked the engine top cover on the left side. On searching the internet it looks like this is the "timing chain, tensioner issues" that BMW/MINIis already aware of however they have not yet done a recall. There was almost no way of telling there was this problem brewing with the vehicle. Although now in retrospect there were a few tell-tale signs, when it was cold, we had heard a rattle sound, which went away immediately. Also the same day the car engine stopped when standing at a signal, but started up again. Now we realize that these signs were related to the problem that other users had complained too before the timing chain broke.

- Saint Louis, MO, USA

Car started making rattling noise on start up, drove it to MINIthey say my timing chain is stretched and housing broken, around $2500, to repair. Reading online this is a common problem, even the basis of a lawsuit and I feel it should be looked into.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

After hearing a rattling while idling at a stop sign and then driving down the road, there was a terrible noise that came from the engine and the car lost all power. My husband pushed the car to the side of the road and opened the hood. It appeared that the timing chain had busted out of the top of the engine cover. We were very concerned as this could have happened on the highway, which he had just exited. We have been doing research and have found several others that have had this same issue in the MINIand would like to see it come to a resolution, as our mechanic is advising us that the cost of repair will be upwards for $6,000 and MINIis not covering cost of repair. We are wondering if there is a recall on these vehicles. We have read that their is an active class action suite, as well.

- Royse City, TX, USA

Despite performing regular oil changes and complaining about our timing chain making a noise from the first month, MINInever fixed the problem always insisting that the noise was normal or that nothing was wrong. Eventually our timing chain jumped the rails and destroyed our engine. The vehicle was inoperable and MINIusa declined to fix the issue. Only once did they try to fix it by replacing the tensioner. The part they used was an older discontinued part. This did not solve the issue and so the timing chain continued to rattle and then destroyed the engine.

- Siloam Springs, AR, USA

After complaining repeatedly to the manufacturer about a rattling noise from our vehicle engine at start up, the timing chain broke and has completely destroyed our engine. The manufacturer repeatedly claimed the noise was "normal" engine noise and that there was nothing to worry about. Now that not only is the timing chain broken, but the engine has been destroyed from the subsequent damage. There is a petition online (currently over 800 signatures) from MINIowners claiming to have had the same problem at low mileage and similar experiences dealing with MINIof North America ignoring the issue. www.minicooperspeed.com/MINIcooper-cold-start-knocking-noise-issue-2007/.

- Siloam Springs, AR, USA