Today a drive shaft dropped out of my 05 MCSa. It has less than 5K miles. The dealer told me that he had priviously been asked by MINI if he had any experience with this happening....up until today he had not.
It occurs to me that this is a very dangerous condition. The car stops dead and cannot be moved. Had this happened in traffic the result could have been tragic. If MINI was aware of a potential problem they should have voluntarily sent out a safety recall.
I recommend that If you have a MCSa you contact your dealer immediately and inquire about this potential hazard.

 

I haven't heard anything but it is something worth asking the dealer about.

 

yikes... news to me! glad you're ok - hope it all works out for you.

 

Whoa! Please keep us posted on what happens with this.... Our MCSa is my wife's car...and the car we now use for trips! not what i want to hear...

-jac

 

Are you implying that there is some known problem?

At this point, you don't even know what happened. Urging others to action seems pointless. I understand you're upset, but come back when you know something.

 

it sounds like there is a problem and mini hadnt issued a recall

 

whoa....everybody chill. let's not start a panic!

really sorry to hear about this, but let's wait and see what the dealer says after they fix your car before we starting raising the red flags!

- drew

 

All I'm saying is that the dealer had been asked by MINI if such a problem had occurred in his dealership. This sort of implies to me that they were at least aware of a potential problem.
As an update on repair: The shaft dropped out on the wheel side & the service manager assures me that the tranny is OK.
The dealership has been extrememly cooperative in fixing this problem & the car should be ready today.

 

The same thing happened to a local member (driving an MCSa) during an AX run about two months ago. When it popped out at the finish line he free-wheeled it back to parking. No power to the drivetrain at all. The dealer had never seen nor heard of the problem before that. These are the only two incidents I've seen on any of the forums.

 

You don't know what happened, it's 3rd+ party info to you. Unless you had the conversation you are simply starting a rumor.

There may be a problem, it may be very unusual. There's no point in making assumptions or stating incorrect facts.

 

Is there any reason to believe this problem is specific to the MCSa? As in it hasn't happened in a MC or MCS?

 

As I have said before I had a loss of power happen five times in a 2005 MCA. It was scary but no parts fell out. I got a recall letter from Mini last week on this but I had my car in for service two weeks before and they did the fix. I have not had any more repeats so far. I read on another forum that the loss of power may be caused by hot climates. I live in one. I would drive out of my open parking lot at work one block (after often sitting all day in 100 degrees or more) and suddendly the car would not move. Fortunately if I turned the motor off and then on again it would move and i could make the 45 minute drive home okay. It never happened in the city in which I live but I park underground so my car is not hot when I drive out of that lot. ski

 

Remain Calm! All Is Well!

Remain Calm! All Is Well!



Remain Calm! All Is Well!

Remain Calm! All Is Well!

 

But you said this on another thread.

 

You say the drive shaft poped out on the wheel side? the boot must have come apart... is there any difference in the driveshafts of the manuals and autos?

 

what is the latest with the crispy mini? Have not seen any updates on your site.
Thanks, Just Curious!
Bill

 

down here i mini land this is news to us haven't had any cars come in like that yet there is a recall for a loss of power issue with the mcsa to do with programing u should of got a letter if u are in the vin range

 

Sounds no worse than busting a C/V joint, and that has happened to me.

Just glad to hear that you were not in traffic at the time.
Cheers

 

As it turns out, it was the passenger side output shaft that had popped out of the transmission through the bearing carrier.
This was repaired immediately by the dealer and the car is now "as new" again.

 

How'd it slide through the carrier bearing? That seems really odd... have to check mine more closely as I'm putting it back together (front end is all out right now for a clutch and steering rack replacement. That carrier bearing looks pretty solid and I wouldn't have thought the axle could slide through it to fall out.... weird...

cheers,
Lloyd

 

Racoman,
Add me to the list of MCSa owners that has suffered a passenger side axle popping out in my 05 Cabrio S. It occurred with less than 1,500 miles. See my thread, https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ission+failure

The Service Advisor emailed me today about what the problem was. Now my concern is, "will it occur again?" Good call, racoman!

Charlie

 

Charlie,
That was my concern too. The service manager assures me that it will not happen again. As noted in my previous post, I suspect that MINI knew of a potential problem & just fixes it as needed. I think we'll be OK.

 

Not to be alarmest, but what if you or a family member pulls out in front of that big truck coming down the street & the axle goes pop??? Seems like a pretty serious saftey issue to me. I'd recommend that you let NHTSA know about your problem. If enough people let them know BMW would have to fix it on all cars not just of cars with failed axles.

Just my .02 here & worth every penny you paid.

Chuck

 

Dang...I drive my MCSa like a nun* already and now I have to worry about this?

Seriously, gives me the worries that I'll be trying to get out of some semi's way and my car will lock up / lose power.

/gary


[*admittedly, a psychotic nun high on meth but a nun nevertheless]

 

[*admittedly, a psychotic nun high on meth but a nun nevertheless][/QUOTE]
Ha...love that. My husband says I drive like a gnat on crack, I have never seen a gnat signal though...I always signal.

(sorry to get off topic)