CarComplaints.com Notes: Power steering problems are a major issue with the 2004 Mini Cooper, with hundreds of owners reporting complaints to the NHTSA about their power steering suddenly failing while driving.

Some power steering failures have caused crashes & injuries. Average mileage at failure is well under 100,000 miles & the repair cost is over $1,000. Not good.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
90,874 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2004 Mini Cooper engine problems

engine problem

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2004 Mini Cooper Owner Comments

problem #6

Jul 182020

Cooper

  • 116,543 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Was driving car on 18 July 2020 and power steering quit working and made steering difficult, also coolant fan, low speed and high speed stopped working same time as power steering quit. The asc light came on and it will not turn off. No blown fuses in engine compartment or by drivers kick panel. I was driving the car on a state road when this occurred.

- Greentown, PA, USA

problem #5

Aug 062017

Cooper

  • 165,000 miles
The vehicle was hard to steer and smoke was coming from the engine. Took the car home, did not see flames, parked car in the driveway switched cars and left. Received a call from the fire department that my MINIwas on fire and I needed to return to my house.

- Davenport, FL, USA

problem #4

Mar 102015

Cooper 4-cyl

  • 82,999 miles
The engine starting cutting out and rabbiting and finally died and coasted into parking lot and could not get it started. Took to baron BMW and they said the engine was toasted because of low oil pressure from a habitual problem with their oil filter housing that they never recalled because they didn't think it was a safety issue when the car cuts out and rabbits on acceleration onto the highway and everytime you take off from a start.

- Shawnee, KS, USA

problem #3

Nov 052012

Cooper 4-cyl

  • 59,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

1) automatic transmission busted. Car stalled dangerously on the highway. 2) power steering pump busted. Steering locked dangerously on the road and could not be moved.

- Cambridge, MA, USA

problem #2

Oct 282013

Cooper 4-cyl

  • 87,000 miles
I have a 2004 MINICooper it has recently reached 87000 miles and the cvt transmission is failing. Normally you change your transmission fuel every 25,000 to 50,000 miles. My model MINICooper hatchback does not come with a reservoir to change such a fuel it was a guarantee by the manufacturer that these models would not need such a service and that the transmission would be fine throughout the lifetime of the car. What worries me is that I have not been able to drive my MINIover 50mph due to the increase of RPM's. without the speed increase it is not safe for me to drive on the highways as I normally would. A cvt transmission replacement could cost thousands. But more importantly I'm worried about my safety its possible that my transmission could fail while mobile. Thats my main concern. I recently read that there has been a lawsuit addressing these issues. It is BMW's due diligence to address this matter seeing how thousands of citizens are operating this machinery on a daily basis.

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

problem #1

Apr 062013

Cooper

  • 34,700 miles
I was driving down I80 and my car started to kick and sputter then the engine light went on and I dropped speeds and almost got rear ended by the car behind me he swerved honked his horn and gave me the finger. I took it to a shop and they told me the transmission needs to be replaced and the number three cylinder blew out and I would need to replace the headgasket and refurbish the engine. When I first bought the car it would periodically kick and stall out on me I took it back to the dealer ship they told me it was just the engine breaking in. A couple weeks later I saw the oil was a little low and again it kicked and stalled. I took it back in they said they had to reprogram the tranny.

- Strongsville, OH, USA

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