At approximately 35,000 miles, car made howling type noise when reached approximately 35 mph and the noise became very noticeably once it reached 60+ mph. Took the car to dealer at South bay MINItwice, both time South bay claimed that it was 'tire' noise. Took the car to los angeles downtown dealer, their comment was the noise came from the transmission, although they can not pinned down exactly where as the transmission is a closed compartment. Extended warranty (fidelity) refused to cover cost of replacement as they claimed that they need the dealer to tear apart transmission compartment and identify where the problem happened exactly. Downtown dealer refused to tear apart transmission compartment. Car is still have not fail (as of 2011-10-28) but the noise may (or may not) cause failure at anytime going forward. As an owner, I don't feel comfortable to drive the car knowing that it may fail can cause casualty to myself and others.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

I almost had a timing chain/tensioner failure. Took my '07 mcs into the MINIdealer for its 4 year service. They found that the 'timing chain tensioner is weak and needs to be replaced' or 'tensioner worn and causing excessive chain slack and chain noise'. I bought my MINInew, it now has 35464 miles and this should fall into the category as 'unusual'. this should not be a part that wears out or suffers failure with so few miles. As I checked out this failure on the web I quickly found out that this is not unusual but is happening quite frequently. I missed this being covered under the warranty by 2 weeks. My lose? maybe; maybe not, at least I did not destroy the engine. According to the service department paperwork they replaced the chain tensioner with an updated 551 tensioner, P/N: 11 31 7 607 551, @ $26.21 ($146 for installation). It appears that MINIBMW knows about the problem and redesigned the part to prevent problems in the future, hopefully. If this is true why don't they recall the cars and just take care of it. Had I had the bad luck of destroying the engine my opinion on all their products would have drastically changed. I also own a '11 BMW 335xi.

- Westminster, CO, USA

2007 MINIcooper had loud sound coming from engine compartment, sounded like a diesel engine when cold, dealer replaced timing chain tensioner at 32K miles, vehicle has been back to dealer seven times, only twice for scheduled service, now vehicle is starting to make same noise again. Vehicle was serviced @36K miles, now with 42K miles, engine oil is down 2 quarts and dealer says its my fault.

- Arroyo Grande, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2007 MINICooper S. while driving 30 mph, the clutch began to slip. The contact stated that there was no power moving to the rear wheels. Because of the failure, the vehicle would not accelerate past 10 mph. The vehicle stalled and was towed to an authorized dealer where the clutch was replaced. The VIN was unavailable. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000 and the current mileage was approximately 35,000.

- Wichita, KS, USA

Car clunks while going over rough roads. As per diagnosis from MINIdealership, the "transmission motor mount is too small and does not dampen shock from road bumps or acceleration torque" and was replaced.

- Beavercreek, OH, USA

The contact owns a 2007 MINICooper S. the contact stated that the clutch always emitted an odor of burning plastic. The engine gradually revved within a 48 hour period. While driving 30 mph, the clutch failed. The dealer stated that a new clutch needed to be installed at the estimated cost of $3,300. The VIN was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 5,000.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA