It's got to be a cash flow issue. I had all my work done at the dealer. What's to review? You don't believe your dealerships? They're just trying to spread the payout over as long a period of time as they can without the Feds stepping in and directing this to become a recall instead of a warranty extension.

Personally, I'm still torn. I love driving my '02 R53 and have looked at new JCW's. I may buy a newer pre-owned MINI at some point, but I'm sure thinking long and hard if I ever want to give BMW/MINI fresh business after the business I feel they've given me...

 

That's exactly our beef. We had the work done at an authorized dealer, and furnished Mini/BMW USA with a copy of the detailed receipt nearly 5 months ago! I have no doubt you are on point about the warranty extension versus recall.

 

Tic tic tic tic tic...[the sound of the end of the year approaching] and I'm wondering what the next excuse from BMWNA will be for not sending out the reimbursements for the power steering warranty extension repairs.














Top 10 list of excuses:


1. Global warming
2. Ice storm
3. It's UPS and FedEx fault
4. Congress
5. Obamacare has taken all the good customer support people
6. Compassion fatigue
7. Tea party
8. Gluten sensitivity
9. Post Xmas blues and the best one....
10. The check is in the mail!



I hope everybody who is hanging out waiting for their reimbursement has a better 2014 than 2013!

 

Mini customer relations contacted me recently and said while reviewing my request they could not locate a receipt for propf of payment. I sent them a copy of my bank statement which they accepted but are now saying it can take up to another month for them to process everything!

 

I'm happy to report that FedEx delivered a check to me this morning from BMW of North America. They covered the full cost of my power steering pump replacement (parts and labor). After 7 months of waiting I am extremely happy to see this thing.

 

Got mine today! They covered parts/labor even though the work wasn't done at a Mini dealership! It took about 6 months to get it.... but better later than never I suppose!

 

did you think you bought a honda? or did you think you bought a beemer? you all are spoiled americans, crying about losing power steering! power steering is an ASSIST to driving! if you werent so close-minded you would realize power steering hasnt been around very long! the "loss of control" you wussies complain about are how cars were all the time 30 years ago! we actually cooked our food and used arm muscles to steer our cars. chill out! bmwna will make it right, they will make their product better every time (just like every car company) and they will progress.
If this ps repair "broke" you financially, or you cant bear the financial meltdown waiting on a refund than maybe you should re-evaluate where your money goes in the first place. quit crying. 20 pages of forum complaining? get a life!

 

Keeping my fingers crossed 2006 MCS, 98,000 miles original pump, no odd noises. If it goes I will find a way to convert to a manual system.

My friends PS pump just failed on his 02 MC at 157,000 miles, he just unhooked it and is driving it old school style with worn gear box syncros. It is a financial albatross, does not feel it's worth spending the $$$ to replace the pump and rebuild the gearbox on a car worth $4K and will just drive it into the ground.

Reminds me of owning a 944/928, maintenance usually exceeded the value of the car so I never added up the receipts.

 

Dear Troll:

My first car was a 1959 Rambler Custom 6 four door. Power nothing, but the steering felt much, much lighter, even when turning slow in a parking lot than my wife's MINI did when her power steering pump went out.

This is because the Rambler was designed to be operated without power assist. The whole system was designed that way- including the giant steering wheel for leverage. The MINI on the other hand was designed to be power assisted and was much harder to turn without it than the Rambler ever was. Tiny steering wheel, extra components and a rack and pinion and wider tires all added up to make the car very hard to turn without the assist. So much different than with the assist I recommend all MINI drivers try it out first by shutting your engine off in an empty parking lot and then try some turns while coasting at 10 or 20 MPH.

Some of the power steering pumps have shorted out leading to their running continuously and starting fires. Should we not complain about that either? Losing your power steering is inconvenient and sometimes dangerous, but fire under the hood is always bad.

These motors were a bad design and wear out quickly and unevenly. If you want pictures of how the brushes ate into the armature to the point where they would no longer make contact I would be happy to post them. MINI admitted to a problem and they should issue checks more quickly than they have.

Val

 

Dear Vag:
I dont need your pictures, I fix these cars on a daily basis. I dont remember mentioning fire, but if you see smoke because the car hasnt stopped running, do you think you would get out of it? Is fire under car weally weally bad? Gee thanks for the advice and warning. Every car maker has problems, not just this Mini. All those "unintentional acceleration" accidents that Toyota just went though (of which they were cleared by NASA)? Yeah that has happened to GM plenty of times! Do you believe this to be the first car to every catch fire? hmm Fisker?
Every car drives differently without power assist buddy, you just compared apples to chicken nuggets. It still turns doesnt it? Ohhh low speed is really hard? no s*** you have no assist. Assist isnt for the freeway Dr. Vulvashon.
You just want to whine! You just want to complain! Im not saying there wasnt a part problem at all, but BMW has stepped up and you still cry, I bet you would try to sue if pizza hut ran out of pepperoni. Ive seen tons of those cars with 150k on the pumps and they do fine! how long would you say a Ford ps pump makes it? Dodge?
Are you on the pizza hut forum va-ja ja? Obamacare forum?

 

Ha !

Mine (November '06 build) has failed twice and is currently leaking.

Dean.

 

I've been waiting 9 months for my steering pump reimbursement. And it's not just that I've waited that long that bothers me, what really bothers me is that I replaced the clutch when I found out I was getting a reimbursement thinking that it was sort of cost-neutral. Nine months later, it's anything but cost neutral. And what's more when they replaced the steering pump, they didn't bother to replace the steering fan, which blew during the summer. And took 2 months to order during which time, I couldn't drive the car without worrying that the pump would over-heat and need to be replaced again.

The whole experience has made me realize how many things went wrong with the car over the years. And how much time I spent at the dealer. It is a fun car to drive, but it's like the bulldog of cars, cute but expensive and rarely willing to move. No wonder they have a bulldog as a mascot!

 

I'm sorry to hear of all the issues with the power steering pumps-fans...and getting reimbursed for replacing the faulty ones. I hope your issues are all resolved in the New Year.

I have an '02 MCS with 134,000 miles on it. My power steering pump went out a couple of days before Thanksgiving (first issue with it...the fan has been replaced 2x). It wouldn't shut off...and drained my battery down leaving me stranded.
Got it home, and I ended up driving my other car until we could install a pump I bought from the junkyard. Then I came across this thread (thankfully) and called my closest MINI dealership (MINI of Murray in Utah), and told them about my problem. They promptly scheduled an appointment. They put my junk yard pump into a box so I could keep it for a spare...and took the nasty original pump that had failed in exchange for a new pump, fan, and fan guard. They were incredibly pleasant to deal with (something I couldn't say when it was still part of the BMW dealership), and highly professional. If there are any of you that live in the Utah/Idaho area that are needing issues with your MINI resolved I wanted to let you know that the attitude within that dealership has changed since they got their own building...and I would highly recommend them to anyone!

 

Update - Contacted MINIUSA Customer Care today. Again, no money but there was something new this time - there was no promise that I would be reimbursed. Just as well since I was promised I'd see the reimbursement by the end of September when I called in early September. When I didn't see it at the end of September and called them back in October I was assured that I would see it by the end of the year. I am beginning to think they weren't referring to 2013.

The Customer Care representative did seem to be awfully concerned that I might be recording the conversation. What does that tell us?

 

BMW/Mini customer service representatives seem to be well trained on how to offer apologies, but beyond that we have repeatedly found it is a waste of time to bother calling them.

Previous to our attempting to get the power steering pump reimbursement, we had purchased a 2012 countryman that repeatedly had to be towed back to the dealer because of electrical system problems. When we called mini customer service, we got the usual apology, but beyond that it was a waste of our time. The only way we were able to get BMW/mini's attention was the file a claim pursuant to our state's lemon laws.

We filed for our power steering pump reimbursement last July, and included a copy of the dealer service receipt showing in full detail what we paid the dealer to replace the pump.

We called BMW customer service perhaps a dozen times since July trying to find out where our check was, and every time received a different excuse. The last time we called them they had the nerve to tell us that the receipt that we furnished them with last July did not really prove that we actually paid the dealer the money that the receipt indicated. Can you believe that?

We finally had enough of their nonsense, and called their executive offices. Someone named Tina Gunn, who is at extension 8228, turned out to be very helpful in getting us our check without much further delay.

 

Shark,

Thank you for the info about the Countryman.

I was thinking about getting one to replace the R53 but after hearing about the issues the Countrymans are are having I decided to the R53.

 

I have been very active on the CM forum since before the first ones were delivered, and in fairness I have to say I never heard of any other CM owner that had the electrical issues we did.

And this is no more than a casual observation, but it seems like BMW has steadily worked the bugs out of the CM. There seems to be significantly fewer owners having problems with each successive model year. If you start reading through the posts in the CM section I think you will see what I mean. BMW replaced our faulty 2012 with a 2013, and I've said repeatedly that I can plainly see a noticeable improvement in the build quality.

Last week JD Power published a survey based on 3 year experiences of 2011 owners, and the results were an embarrassment. Let's hope that a year from now the results from 2012 owners show a substantial improvement.

 

I suspect that the reason you are not hearing about the Mini electrical problems is because only a small sub-set of Mini owners are showing up on this site. My 2003 S had a LOT of electrical problems. Years ago, I did research on forums, though I don't remember which ones and there were a lot of people who complained that the entire electrical system had to be replaced in some of the early vehicles. Mine certainly had electrical issues which required 3 stereos and a slew of other random fixes. I think Mini has had an easy time of their lemon-like issues because the Techs that fix them are quasi-BMW people who have service skills. And because Mini owners love the cars despite the issues. Were it not for those aspects of the Mini-mystique, the ratings for Minis would accurately reflect that the Mini is the Bulldog of cars - The amount you pay for the car is a down payment on the total cost. And you'll do it because you really, really want it, but not because it's in any way the BEST car made, though it's obviously the one you personally want.

 

no, the electrical issue that I was speaking of was with our 2012 countryman. We owned a 2003 MCS, and the only electrical problems we had with it during the 9 years we owned it was the electric power steering pump, plus the drivers side window motor, which are both well known issues. We never experienced any problems with the audio system, and it was working as well as new when we sold the car in 2012 with more than 150k miles.

 

Argh, I thought we were done with this after receiving a check for parts from MINI USA (thank you!). However now we've just discovered a bad leak in the replacement pump. Unfortunately we used remanufactured parts so I have to see what kind, if any, warranty we have.

 

My wife's 2006 MCS Conv. We've had it 6 months. Recently noticed a slight leak from what appears to be the hose(s) from the PS Reservoir. And, she has reported to me (and I have verified) that after initially starting the car, especially when cold, the steering is VERY stiff for a few turns of the wheel in either direction, e.g. backing out of parking space and turning the wheel.
I have the big Bentley manual, and I am a certified aircraft mechanic, so no worries about working on it. So, I have scoured these forums, found out all about the ext warranties etc. No Mini dealer here in Wichita. I found the fuse F40 blown, replaced it. Back up sensors work now. Ran the engine to temp. Radiator cooling fan comes on, the PS cooling fan did not. Checked the fuse, blown. OK, PS cooling fan is stuck. Yep. Pulled it, cleaned it as best I could. Got it spinning on 12V supply. Installed it. Replaced fuse, it works OK now.

Now for my request for help. Since the PS pump description does not really go into too much detail, would a small leak in the system cause the initial stiffness I am seeing? What I mean is, does the system need to internally pressurize to get the 80% pressure. Then to 100% pressure when demanded, i.e. turning the wheel.

I hope its not a PS Pump on it's way out, I don't know if our 06 is covered or not.

Cheers.

 

Having a history of only one pump problem, my experience was it was either working or it wasn't working - meaning when it went out, it went out suddenly and while I was driving it. Once was in town and it was just sudden stiffness but I was only going about 25mph so control wasn't a problem. The second time I was at speed in the mountains and I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to pull the car in on a curve - took major effort. After both instances, cycling the engine power off (never happened when I started the car) and restarting the car restored the function.


In the six months previous, I had the power steering cooling fan go out and replaced. This was before the warranty extension and the mechanics didn't detect (or report) any leakage of the pump itself.


I change my own oil and never spotted any signs of leakage of any fluid under the car.

 

After reading this whole thread I'm a little confused. I just bought my wife a used 05 MCS and the PSP fan is now running constantly, even after she shuts the car down. I'm concerned with it killing the battery and leaving her stranded. My question is: If I take it to the dealership will I be charged for new fan and pump? I'm fully capable of doing it myself but if MINI knows its an issue and will take care of it , then why not let them. Ive already replaced the junky plastic coolant reservoir. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

 

Call the dealer and ask whether your R53 is covered by the extended warranty campaign; not all R53 are. If covered, let them do it.

 

Not covered...darn it! Oh well, looks like I have some wrenching to do. Any suggestions on how to keep it from failing again?