So if you have an 02-04 can you do anything other than check for wire abrasion, buy an extinguisher, and wait?

Would an additional fuse inline with the pump buy you enough protection?

What changed with the later models to fix it?

 

Actually, these are excellent questions. I am not sure sure WHAT changes -if any- were made (or when). I have an 04 MC (10/03 build) and I am concerned even though there has only been one 04 reported in this forum.

I have an additional question for the NAM experts at large: I know smoke detectors are not recommended for garages, but is there some system we can use to monitor our garages for smoke/fire to prevent what happened to those folks in Florida?

 

For my garage, I had the security alarm company put in a heat rise detector in the attic area above it. THe heat rise detector does not have the problems with dirt that smokes do.

 

RaiderAZ - as promised, here is a pic of how I mounted my Fire Extenguisher in my MCSC.

 

Everyone who has had a problem with their MINI needs to report it to this website. My wife's Dodge Nitro had a few posted on the site and a recall was just announced. Please act on this post now.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

 

Cool, I added my incident to the list right after my fire on April 21st.

Well, everything got repaired and it's working fine. I'm still driving the car, although I did have a big urge to sell it right after I got it back. It's fine though..still motoring and having fun in the curves.

The total bill was $3700. State Farm covered all but the $1100 for the power steering pump assembly and the labor to install it. I had $0 deductable, but apparently they only cover the damage from the fire, not the actual cause of the damage. My damage was all wiring, plastics, hoses, etc. and a ton of money for labor. There was no body damage, as I was able to get the fire out fairly quickly. The work is warranted for 2 years, even though the car is out of warranty.

Hopefully there will be a recall in the future and I can recoup my costs.

It took 2 fairly large fire extingushers (from the hotel next door) to get the fire out. I was only using it directly on the fire, not spraying it all over....but it still took a lot, as it kept flaring up. I had the best luck spraying it from underneath the car. I'm not sure one of those little in-car ones will be enough, but better than nothing, right?

In retrospect, I should have disconnected the battery right away, as the shorted wires kept the fire going. There is a 10mm wrench in the Mini's toolkit in the trunk, but I keep one in the glove box now....just in case.

BTW, Brecht Mini in Escondido, CA did the repairs and were very professional and courteous. They kept me updated as the repairs progressed. Thanks Scott!

 

Hi Surfboy,

I'm glad to hear that Scott took good care of you. He's seen his share of these fires, including mine! USAA was the same as State Farm - they only covered parts and labor for incidental damage but not for the part that cause it all. I asked a friend of mine who's an insurance agent for corporate fleets and she said that's the norm in the industry. If there is a recall I will press hard to get my money back.

I kept Peanut after she was fixed and she's still doing fine over a year later. I don't even think about it that often any more. About the only thing we did at home was install a fire sensor in our garage - just in case. (We've got 2 '03s at home!)

Jenn

 

At some point I am thinking the Insurance co's will go after MINI for the claims.

Peter

 

Well,

I think this almost happened to me today. The temp was about 95F out I had the AC cranking and all of a sudden, an electrical smell permiated from under the dash, then white smoke from under the dash. The "service engine" light came on, then the ABS, ESC, and tire pressure warning lights all came on. I pulled the car into an empty parking lot, shut off the engine, and popped the hood. More white smoke bellowed from under the hood on the drivers side, a wire must have gotten so hot that it burned the insulation off. The white smoke got excessive for an instant, but then died down, and eventually disippated. I really thought the car was going to catch fire. After the incident passed, the car would not start, not lights or nothing on the instruments. Called to the tow truck and had it hauled to the local mini dealer. This is really the first incident I've had with this car, and if it is any thing like I'm reading this car will be gone by the end of next week. I'll be damned if I will own a car that has a reputation for spontaneously catching fire

by the way, it's an 02' MCS

 

#24
6/26/07, I was driving my 2002 Mini Cooper home from work. (aprox 70,000 miles on the car) I noticed the temperature gauge going up, so I pulled off the highway and into an empty parking lot. When I popped open the hood, I saw a small fire. I called the fire department but by the time they arrived there was nothing left of my car to save. It was terrible to stand in the parking lot just watching my car burn up.
I am not sure what started the fire. When I pulled into the parking lot, it felt like my power steering was gone, so maybe it was the power steering issue. I didn't even think about the power steering until I read this thread.
So no more Mini for me. At least the Mini's hold their value, so I was able to get a reasonable amount of money from the insurance company.
Hopefully Mini acknowledges there is an issue so no one else has to go through this.

 

Thanks for your additions d_r and glo. I will add them to the list when I've got a moment. I'm glad no one was hurt.

d_r, where are you located? How many miles on the car?

glo, please keep us informed what happens with your insurance company and MINI.

Both of you, please go to nhtsa's site and file a complaint. MINI won't take this seriously until people start raising their voices. There is already an investigation underway and the more nhtsa heres from owners, the better off we'll all be. BTW, if you're using a Mac, the complaint form doesn't work with Safari but it does work with Firefox.

Jenn

 

Keep up the good work, folks.

As for my '03 MCS, no fire yet, but a week ago my power steering started failing, but ONLY after starting the car when the engine is hot. That tells me it's an electrical problem, and electrical problems cause fires.

No problem when cold starting.

I'll be calling the dealer tomorrow.

 

Greetings all,

I just found and joined this forum. I was driving our 2003 MCS (60,000 miles) about 40 mph on Tuesday, when the power steering seemed to feel odd. I came to a stop sign and turned the wheel - no power steering. Just then I noticed some smoke out the side of the car and pulled into a parker lot. At this point, smoke was pouring out the hood scoop. I raised the hood and there was a ball of fire in the back of the engine compartment. I was able to get some water from a restaurant and put it out.

After that, the car would start, but the "battery" indicator light was on and there was no power steering. Everything else seems fine.

There was NO warning this was to happen - no previous problems at all.

I have filed this with the NHTSA. This is a VERY dangerous situation - what if I had been driving 70 and started to take an off ramp? Or, what if I had not been able to get water in 30 seconds?

Thanks for anything you can do to bring some attention to this issue. I have not decided what to do about repairs yet.

 

Oops...sorry - it posted twice.

 

How do you start a class action law suit over these issues. It seems the common link is the electronic power steering pump and fan, and I it appears that they have done things to improve the fans durability, however they still fail, therefore the company does know that a problem exists with this component. I was lucky, my car didn't burn to a crisp like others I have read about, however for those who burned totally out, i would think they have a great case. I might take a long time for resolution, however for the guy who had the house fire, he could probably go after punitive damages.......

 

sticky

 

I guess this is another one for the list (from you tube)

Edit: not mine by the way (thank god).

 

Mini Cooper 03. In Sweden.

Just come back from shopping trip. Unpacked all the bags and in kitchen putting all the stuff away when I smell an electrical fire. Then out of the kitchen window I see blue smoke billowing from under the bonnet of my car.

Rush out, get the garden hose going and carefully open the bonet. A big cloud of blue smoke comes out from low down behind the engine. I pour water from the hose down. After about 10 mins the smoke has stopped. I have an extinguisher but that was the reserve in case the water didn't work.

Shaking slightly and smelling of an electrical fire I googled "engine bay fires mini cooper" and found this thread.

After recovering a bit I started the engine and sure enough the power steering is dead.

We are selling the car and there are a number of people who were coming to look at it at the weekend.

Thank GOD i caught it, the car is parked near my house and who knows what could have happened if it had been at night and I'd gone straight to bed?!?!

I called my dealership, who sell about 4 minis a year... and they, predictibaly said "well that's never happened before"

Have BMW said anything about all these fires????

This is going to cost me money I can ill afford, but it could have cost me my house.

Phil

 

Wow im sorry to hear that... yeah i told once a mini representative about the fires and he was like, uh? never hear about that ... how many miles on the car?

 

Just added MitchGriffin and BigPhil to the list. That brings it up to a round 25 known incidents. How many more until BMW acknowledges the problem and does something about it?

 

A little update, I contacted BMW Sweden direct and they are "taking it very seriously" they say... My insurance co. says "if it's a manufacturer's problem we won't cover it, but we will get out technicians to inspect your car and we will persue the case with BMW if necessary.

Consumer protection is pretty good in Sweden, I have a 2007 cooper on loan while they inspect mine, it'll be interesting to see what they do next.

The irony is that I had LITERALLY just picked up the car after having the second boot hinge replaced after it had broken and dented the roof, the first one went a year ago and left me with the boot hanging in the air on one hinge and the gas struts. Again both my dealer and BMW denied this had ever happened before, see here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ighlight=hinge
We had a major row with BMW and our dealership about this and they finally agreed to cover all the costs.

I found this thread after the fire...

Oh, they had also just diagnosed the leaking rear light after about 6 months of me complaining:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/faults-fi...ml#post2674541

And then the car burst into flames...

The car is an 03, bought new by me from an authorised dealer and serviced by them according to the book, it has done just under 49k miles, mostly longish runs to and from work on main roads at around 110kph or so.
There have been a number of warrany issues witht he door locks and the windscreen suffered a stress fracture which the insurance covered.

A real shame as I love driving this car and was very close to buying a new S last year, until I realised how many problems we'd had with our car. I looked hard at a Civic R, but DIDN'T go that route...

We're going to sell this car and buy a used Saab until we decide what other expensive troublesome car to buy next

I read a case inthe UK where BMW paid all costs without protest.
UPDATE

My car has been returned by the dealership on the instructions of BMW Sweden. According to the dealership they have "only" replaced the servo, though I suspect that the loom was trashed as well. FOC so far.

BMW say that they are "investigating the cause of the problem" and will contact me in due course. My insurance Co. is very interested to see how BMW process this.

 

There must be a way we can contact BMW in the Uk, were they're made, or in Germany to raise this. It's just a question of time before someone gets hurt, a house gets destroyed of someone dies.

When we were considering buying a new MCS last year my mother in-law asked if she could buy ours. We didn't buy the S because of all the trouble we'd had with our car, BUT, my mother in-law's garage is in the basement of her house. The house is made of wood, as are a lot of houses here in Sweden. I shudder to think what would have happened if this had happened if the car had been in her garage.

I suppose BMW have made the calculation that paying damages on an individual basis is a lot cheaper than doing a recall.

 

Here are some more, search for "fire" on the page on the link.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/mini.html

Scary stuff.

 

I had just parked my 2003 Mini Cooper on the side of the road and was walking away as a friend said, "your car is smoking." I turned around and saw there was smoke billowing out from under the hood. I popped the hood and watched as smoke flew out for about 20-30 minutes. I had the car towed to the Princeton MINI dealership to ck the problem. I was told that my power steeering pump had leaked which melted the engine harness and power supply cables and power steering fan connectors. they had to replace all those parts, and while doing so, also found that the main cooling fan was not functioning properly. When all was said and done, it cost over $3400 to repair. I questioned why this could have happened and how come there were no warning signs, but they had no answer for me. The service representative, who I have a good relationship with, did not even attempt to answer my question. He gave me no indication as to why that would happen or how i could prevent it from happening again.

I want to know that my car is safe to drive and that if I were to buy another MINI, that I would not be in danger of it catching fire. I am going to do everything in my power to ensure that MINI realizes this is a problem and does something about it.

Shawn
New Jersey Mini Owner

 

All MCS owners should check the heat shield that surrounds the starter, this is the most stupid design I have ever seen, the terminals to the starter are bare and the heat shield that covers this area is metalic, the heat shield is rubber mounted at the starter and screwed in at the oil filter assembly, if that screw is loose and the heat shield moves it comes in contact with the bare hot terminal at the starter and starts to smoke. Found this out when I was changing my header recently. I have since insulated the area of the heat shield that can come in contact with the terminal wires, no more shield to bare hot wire contact.