Vehicle was in motion at 55-60 mph. Vehicle cut off and would not start or turnover. 15 minutes of rest and car was started and rpms were fluttering. MINIcooper of grand rapids stated the timing chain was "most likely" "out". they also stated no goodwill assistance could be provided while acknowledging the window, for a previous lawsuit involving thee 2009 MINICooper S, was closed and the defective tensioner and guide rails (to include engine design) were still in my MINIcooper. Car has started once since but will not stay running. Other cases of fuel pumps failing on said model were acknowledged but "no recalls have been issued" said MINIthus not warranting any repair or concern for my failed MINIRepair estimate was 3,985$. after mentioning the previous lawsuit during 2015, a 'random' discount was announced of 10-15% to bring said total to est. 2,900$. my 2009 MINICooper S has had idle and RPM issues/fluctuations for a couple months after previous owner had just replaced the timing chain assembly in January of 2019 with genuine MINIreplacement parts (factory parts causing the same factory defect)

- Holland, MI, USA

Light is coming on and transmission shifts smoothly but when you decelerate it bucks down. It happens anywhere on the roads when driving and you decelerate. The light that indicates issue with transmission, in the book it says I won't be able to shift out of park but there is no issue shifting out of park, so not sure if it is considered electrical or if it is powertrain

- Taunton, MA, USA

Car went into limp gear mode on freeway, high RPM at 40 mph. Vehicle shipped to MINIdealer 05/09/17 saying there was a transmission error code. Dealer said they tested vehicle and it wasn't the transmission it needed a water pump and cylinder need valve cover. 67,117 miles on odometer. Also front cv axle boot leaking. Had repairs done ($1692.58) after discount. At time of pickup, dealer asked to keep the vehicle a few more days to double check the transmission. A few days later they say yes there is a transmission error with the car going at higher highway speeds and it will need a new transmission! cost ($9000) I did not have this done.the service advisor told me the vehicle was not safe to drive! this vehicle is driven by my 16 year old daughter to and from school!

- Columbia, SC, USA

I purchased a brand new MINICooper S in 2009 w/ standard 3 years of factory maintenance and I later added on an extended warranty a few years later. 2014 I entered into a 3 year lease on a BMW. Aside from maintenance, the MINIwas mostly garaged except for maintenance until th after a month of driving it, I heard a ticking sound that made me think it needed oil added, despite having one about 2 months prior. I added the MINIsynthetic oil to the car and the ticking sound stopped for a week or two. Then it started rattling and shaking severely when driving low speeds or at an idle. I checked the on board diagnostic systems, which is supposed to check oil levels and the general health of the car. No issues came up but I stopped driving it because I saw the oil light come on, and I know that couldn't be good, especially since oil was added between changes. I had the car towed to an independent MINImechanic, they told me that the timing chain needed to be replaced, there were holes in the turbo line and some various oil leaks. Their estimate was roughly $2500 to make the car drivable again. Spoke to MINIcorporate, urged me to take it to MINIdealer for diagnostics so corporate to see what help they'd offer me on these issues because they knew the timing chain belt was an issue and they knew the car burns through oil 50% faster than their electronic system and owners manual says. They were aware of this in 2008 and it affected several MINIcoopers to the extent of blowing out their entire engine. A class action lawsuit was filed because MINIfailed to issue a recall, warn buyers, or notify current ones. They extended the timing chain belt coverage to 7 years or 80K after the suit. My car has 73K but it's 7 years going on 8. the dealer confirmed diagnosis but MINIwon't offer any help on the 3-4K repairs. If this happened 9 months ago, they would cover it.

- Santa Monica, CA, USA

On 8-28-16 the timing chain failed on the engine of my 2009 MINICooper S, which lead to catastrophic engine failure, requiring the engine to be replaced. At the time of failure I was driving at full speed on the highway. There was sudden power loss and I had to avert traffic to safely pull over. During power loss there was lots of smoke pouring out of the car. Timing chain failures are a known issue with MINIand the subject of a recent lawsuit against MINISee info regarding a settlement due to timing chain failure: www.timingchaintensionersettlement.com/ the lawsuit settlement extends the engine warranty to 7yrs/100,000mi. My MINIis at 86K mi, and a few days over 7 years. MINIusa refuses to assist me in solving this known issue.

- Westborough, MA, USA

Since I get my until now I repair two times. The first time I was change the part of the top of the motor I don't remember the name. But this one that is the most strage I was driving and in the middle of the road the motor stop intanly. The most strange is 10 minutes after drive the car all this happen so that mean is no safe. And now what I have to do....

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

Purchased a used 2009 MINICooper S hardtop with 27,000 miles on it and within 20 days the clutch was slipping upon light acceleration and caused very unsafe driving conditions. It was replaced by the carmax warranty given under the first 30 days, my vehicle now has 32,000 miles and is starting to feel similar to the previous symptoms.

- Fresno, CA, USA

My timing chain has now started to fail for the 4th time on this car. The timing chain tensioners fail and MINIdoes nothing to correct the issue past the warranty period.

- Dallas, TX, USA

I was driving my MINIcooper on I-95 when the I noticed a very strong burning smell and the clutch was giving me difficulty changing gears. As I was getting off I-95 the gears were not responding and the car began to slow down. I got off I-95 and just made it to a main blvd. When the clutch gave out and the car would not move. I could see the cars in the rear view mirror coming at full speed and honking at me to move out of the of the way. I called 911 and asked for a patrol to spot traffic and then tried to get out of the car to ask for help but almost got ran over by cars passing by. I thought I was going to get either hit or killed. Two man in a van stopped and pushed my car out of the way until the truck stopped. The police car never showed up. A West palm braman MINIcooper service man was driving by and told me the clutch was completely burnt out and to tow the car to his facility. I did and MINIcooper refused to fix it even though they are aware of the defect and the many complaints. They tried to tell me the clutch was worn out but the car only has 13,000 miles, they also tried to blame it on aggressive driving or that I did not know how to drive a standard transmission. I told them I drive very slow and have been driving standard transmission my entire life. They just refuse to acknowledge the manufacturing defect. Please make sure that someone looks into this so that no one has to face the same danger I did or even worse, be killed.

- Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA

During light acceleration at interstate speeds, the engine lost some power and the service engine light came on. The dealer first replace the vacuum hoses. It happened again, the dealer replaced the vacuum pump. It happened again immediately, the dealer replaced the turbocharger unit because the wastegate won't close completely. The turbocharger and wastegate should last much longer than 5 years (the car was delivered in April 2009) or 70,000 miles.

- Denver, CO, USA

Engine all of a sudden starts making a rattling noise. Took it in to dealer, timing chain guides had broken and chain was stretched. Was informed there was a MINIcampaign about this but my vehicle was not included. Expensive repair and potentially dangerous situation if chain had broken. Was informed after work was done that clutch was bad as well. Had driven the vehicle the day before without issue but after only 10 miles from the dealership car would not move from stopped since clutch would not engage. Extremely early for this amount of repairs to be needed, I question the durability of these parts and this brand. Both of these sudden wear failures could have been extremely dangerous if they had occurred on the highway.

- Englewood, CO, USA

Noticed decreased acceleration performance and visibly noticed leaking oil from the top of the turbo system next to the heat shield after returning home after a drive on the freeway. MINIdealer identified the problem as a turbo oil feed line leak. Noticed on NHTSA forums that this is a common issue with MINIowners and could become a fire hazard under the hood if not detected and quickly repaired.

- Costa Mesa, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2009 MINICooper S. the contact stated that while driving 20 mph, the clutch slipped as the rpms increased to 6000. The contact did not take the vehicle to the dealer for inspection or repairs. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 45,000.

- Moore , OK, USA

The timing tensioner on my MINICooper S backed out, resulting in a massive oil loss while at highway speeds. This is apparently a known issue by MINIbut no known recall has been issued at this point.

- Miami, FL, USA

Vehicle was taken to dealership in Feb 2012 for a rattling noise. Service center at braman miami said that they could not duplicate the noise, so it was assumed they found nothing wrong with the vehicle. Prior to this, the vehicle had been in the shop 2-3 times due engine malfunction light, rough idle at cold start and loss of turbo power due to leakage in turbo oil feed lines. This was repaired in early 2012/late 2011. In December of 2012, while driving the rattling noise of the complaint in Feb 2012 intensified and oil light illuminated while driving. Car was pulled over to safe location. Once car was stopped, the engine malfunction light also illuminated. Driver checked oil level, which appeared low but within the marks on the dipstick. Oil splatter was observed on the hood and on engine. Rubber gasket feeding to engine was observed to be displaced where oil appeared to have leaked out. Vehicle was towed to braman miami. Service department reported that failure was caused by timing chain/tensioner issue. Service dept is charging 17K usd for repairs as it is not found to be under the scope of warranty of previous repairs to the turbo oil feed lines. MINIhas been contacted to see if any relief can be provided as this seems to be a common issue with these vehicles.

- Miami, FL, USA

The timing tensioner on my MINICooper S backed out, resulting in a massive oil loss while at highway speeds. This is apparently a known issue by MINIbut no known recall has been issued at this point.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

Timing belt failure due to restrictor belt defect.

- Davis, CA, USA

While driving vehicle, oil started to drain in large quantities over the street. Steady stream about 2 inches wide was visible on the street once vehicle was stopped. Oil light came one approximately 5 minutes after oil spin was noted. Car was moved to safe location once oil light came on. Engine would not restart. Notes from knauz MINIservice manager: Found timing chain tensioner walking out of position causing oil to come out of cylinder head. Cleaned oil residue and replaced timing chain tensioners. Due to lack of proper tension of timing chain tensioner checked timing.

- Lakemoor, IL, USA

While driving the vehicle the abruptly halted causing me to veer off to the side of the road so that it could be stopped somewhere safe. Vehicle would not restart, no warning lights of any sort were present prior to this incident. Vehicle needed to be pushed to a location to allow it to be towed. Details of service provided from knauz MINIas follows: Found car not starting, during fault inspection found fault for exhaust cam sensor not reading. Found exhaust cam not moving through oil cap on valve cover. Removed valve cover for cylinder, found timing chain to be broken causing exhaust cam timing chain sprocket to break off exhaust cam. Found the timing chain breaking causing damage to complete engine due to timing chain breaking in two pieces. Found lower crank damaged from timing chain wedging in between block and timing chain cover area. Removed complete engine and replaced, note during removal of sub-frame bolts on rail found treads to be damaged from factory (subframe never removed before) while being installed. Re-tapped treads and replaced both bolts. Test drove car with new motor overnight no further problems found.

- Lakemoor, IL, USA

2009 MINICooper. Consumer states that clutch was compromised and the vehicle needed to be towed. She would like this issue to be looked into. She paid to have the flywheel replaced. The flywheel was replaced twice within three months. The second time the flywheel was replaced, the consumer was informed it was burnt and not covered under warranty.

- Tuckahoe, NY, USA