NEWS:   BMW recalls 90,000 Mini Coopers
DETROIT NEWS -- January 14,  2012

JANUARY  2012 -- BMW is recalling certain model year 2007-2011 Mini Cooper s, 2008-2011 Mini Cooper S Clubman, 2009-2011 Mini Cooper S Convertible, 2009-2011 Mini Vooper JCW, 2009-2011 Mini Cooper JCW Clubman, 2009-2011 Cooper JCW convertible, and 2011 Cooper S Countryman passenger cars manufactured from November 14, 2006, through January 18, 2011. The electric auxiliary water pump that cools the turbocharger has an electronic circuit board that can malfunction and overheat. The circuit board may smolder which could result in a vehicle fire. Bmw will notify owners, and dealers will replace the water pump free of charge. The safety recall is expected to begin during february 2012. Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty 1-800-424-9153), or go to http://www.Safercar.Gov .  12V-008

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• Mini Cooper

NEWS:   2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman All4: Out of Gas

EDMUNDS INSIDE LINE - March 3, 2011 -- Here's something I haven't yet told you about my weekend in the 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman All4: I ran it out of gas.

It happened in the middle of a very busy intersection at El Toro Road and Interstate 5 in southern Orange County -- a very bad place to have a dead car.

The light turned green and I started off normally, but as I nosed into the intersection at maybe 15 mph the Mini's turbo-4 went silent. Because our Countryman is a manual, I was able to toss it into neutral as I clicked on the 4-way flashers and began looking for a safe place to coast to a stop.

Luckily, that place turned out to be a gas station. I had just enough momentum to coast up the driveway and roll straight to an open pump with the gas door on the correct side in true "I meant to do that" fashion.

Except I hadn't, of course.

Hadn't expected it, is more accurate. Yes, the low fuel warning was on and I knew I would have to stop soon. But the "countdown to oblivion" meter was telling me I still had 13 miles to go. I wasn't overly concerned as I had plans to stop at a Shell station with a well-stocked mini mart no more than 2 miles ahead. No problem, right?

Wrong. Apparently no one told the Mini's engine what the distance-to-empty (DTE) meter and I were planning when it decided to teach both of us a lesson.

And that lesson is: Don't trust the DTE meter, especially in an unfamiliar car with a horrible non-analog fuel gauge that is nothing more than a series of little lights.

MPG meters and DTE meters are not basing their calculations on actual fuel flow measurements made with a flow meter; they're making a guess based on rpm, counting the injector puffs over time and using the throttle position sensor and other inputs to estimate how much fuel was burped out with each pulse.

On top of all that, the fuel gauge doesn't measure how many gallons of liquid the tank initially contained with any sort of reliable precision. Even if you had accurate fuel consumption readings you couldn't predict range accurately without knowing precisely how much gas you had on board at the start.

Engineers know this, and that's why most low fuel warnings are programmed to be far more conservative than this. How many times have you filled up at a gas station in response to a low fuel warning, compared the fuel tank capacity to the amount you pumped and found you had 3 or 4 gallons remaining? It has happened to me many, many times.

In the context of this typical "crying wolf" approach, running dry with a stated 13 miles to go represents a gross overestimation. Not sure if this is a Mini-wide trait, but I'll not run it so close with our 2011 Countryman again.

Still, running out where I did near a handy gas station makes me want to dash out and buy some lottery tickets.

Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 2,920 miles

MORE RECALL INFO:    Mini Cooper

NEWS:   Feds Probe Reports of Mini Cooper Steering Problems

AOL NEWS -- September 28,  2010 –  Mini Coopers are known for their quick, precise handling, but some owners have complained of steering problems that may lead to a crash, prompting a federal investigation.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has begun looking into complaints of power-steering failures in 80,000 Mini Coopers from the 2004 and 2005 models years, after receiving 54 complaints that "allege a loss of power steering assist due to power steering pump failure," the agency said Tuesday on its website.

"When the power-steering assist stops working, it requires increased force to steer the vehicle. Some drivers reported experiencing difficulty while trying to steer or control the vehicle," NHTSA said.

A spokesman for Munich, Germany-based BMW, which owns Mini Cooper, said the company will provide regulators with information it's seeking, Bloomberg News reported.

The probe into Mini Coopers is the latest investigation into steering issues by NHTSA. On Sunday, Hyundai Motor said it was voluntarily recalling nearly 140,000 Hyundai Sonata models from the 2011 model year for loose or improperly assembled connections on steering columns. The defect may make the cars hard or impossible to steer, possibly leading to a crash.

In August, the agency began a preliminary investigation into 2010 Kia Soul models after receiving a complaint about a complete loss of steering. That investigation involves about 51,000 vehicles.

MORE RECALL INFO:    Mini Cooper

DECEMBER 2009 - BMW is recalling certain model year 2010 Mini cooper and Cooper S vehicles for failing comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 110, "Tire Selection and Rims." The affected vehicles were equipped with 17 inch wheels, but their label states that they were equipped with 16 inch wheels. Also the tire pressure stated on the label for the cooper s is incorrect. Erroneous tire information could lead to improper tire fitment and inflation which could affect the durability of the tire and the stability of the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash. Dealers will mail to consumers the corrected label or the customer will have the option for dealers to install the label free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during January 2010.  09V-474

APRIL 2009 -- BMW is recalling 12 MY 2009 mini cooper convertible vehicles. These vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 110, "Tire Selection and Rims." The issue involves the vehicle tires and tire pressure label. The affected vehicles were equipped with 15-inch wheels instead of 16-inch wheels, therefore, the tire label does not correspond to the tires on the vehicle as required by FMVSS 110. Failure to follow proper vehicle loading specifications or misprint label could increase the risk of a crash. Dealers will replace the tires with 16-inch wheels free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during May 2009.  Owners may contact BMW at 1-866-646-4772.   09V-143

DECEMBER 2008 -- BMW is recalling 28,450 MY 2007 and 2008 Mini Cooper S vehicles. The centrally located tailpipe extension protrudes slightly beyond the rear bumper and inadvertent contact may occur with a person's leg. If the tailpipe is hot when contact occurs, the person's leg can be burned. Dealers will replace the tailpipe extension with a new shorter tailpipe free of charge. The recall is expected to begin in January 2009. . This recall was the subject of an Engineering Analysis, EA08-020, conducted by the Office of Defects Investigation. 08V-657