At about 6:40AM on September 23, 2022, the 2011 Mini Clubman car caught on fire. The car was parked in the driveway, locked with everything off, key removed and unoccupied. It was last driven the evening of September 22nd. About 6:40AM the interior behind the steering wheel and dashboard erupted into flames. The car filled with smoke and flames. The fire burned for about 5 -10 minutes and self extinguished. Just prior to the fire the headlights were reported to be on. After the fire, the windshield wipers were operating with no way to turn them off. At a reasonable time after the flames were no longer visible (10-15min), the driver's door was opened by the emergency key to vent the smoke. Upon inspection, the area around the left footwell near the driver's door was heavily charred with insulation burned off all wiring and co-located electrical devices. The hood release latch was melted. The air vent to the left of the steering wheel was missing and all the ductwork to that vent was missing. There was a large deformation and hole in the dashboard above and slightly to the right of the steering wheel and the windshield was cracked about 2-3 inches above the dashboard. It appears that electrical components and wiring inside the dashboard were also engulphed in flames but no detailed inspection of the damage occurred. Significant smoke damage occurred to the entire interior. The local fire department was called and they were able to open the hood and disconnect the battery which stopped the windshield wipers. The car was a stock car with no modifications. Reasonably maintained by professionals. The odometer reading before the fire was approximately 103,000 miles. No problems were noted prior to the incident. Insurance has considered the car a total loss and unrepairable. In general it is assumed by the writer that Mini's or any other car should not experience electrical fires when unoccupied, all devices are off, no key is present. Kindly investigate.

- Cambridge, MA, USA

The frm control module (aka: Footwell control module) suddenly failed and disabled: Brake lights instrument panel illumination blinkers emergency flashers headlights stuck on dim/low beam tail running lights stuck on (not responsive to braking) all overhead, door edge and foot cabin lights nonoperational windows nonoperational fuel cap lock nonoperational led interior lights nonoperational obd nonoperational with ignition on, car must be running to enable passenger airbag intermittently on\off very unsafe and a nonwear item like frm should not just fail. Failed when starting vehicle.

- Gay, GA, USA

This spring the right front (passenger side) sun roof drain hose came off while the car was sitting. Water poured down the front pillar flooding the electrical control box and putting approx. 2 " of water into the floor. (found this out after it broke down) the car was dried out and not knowing the cause flooded again. I read about this problem after looking on the internet and reattached the hose. Several days later my wife was driving the car through one of the worst interstate intersections in MA, RT3 and 93 merge, and the car lost power and stalled. She got the car to start again several times and eventually got to a safe place off the highway where the car was towed. First of all how is this design even allowed? BMW is well aware of this problem yet did nothing to try to correct this problem or notify us of such a poor design defect. (it took me 15 minutes to fix). The dealer wanted $2550. To repair. My wife and sister in law could have been killed.

- S. Weymouth, MA, USA

The contact owns a 2011 MINICooper clubman. While driving approximately 40 mph and making a left turn, the steering wheel became difficult to turn, the accelerator pedal failed to respond, and all of the gauges on the instrument panel went blank without warning. The vehicle was driven to the dealer and powered off. The contact rolled down the driver side window; however, both front windows began to go up and down without warning until the contact removed the key fob from the ignition. The dealer diagnosed that the battery was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 35,861.

- Mission Viejo, CA, USA