2006 MINI Cooper S Convertible problems
NHTSA has received 53 complaints about the 2006 MINI Cooper S Convertible, and 36% of them involve air bags. Next are engine (13%) and seats (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 53 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 36% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 59,000 miles 51 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 4 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 6 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 17 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 13 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 7 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 51 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 59,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 60,000 miles (17 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a fire. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 85% of model years in our database.
It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
While driving with the driver seat heater on a burning smell and smoke began to fill the car. Additionally, began feeling extreme heat on my back. Immediately pulled over and found a small fire on the seat back which I had to pat out. No injury was sustained. The seat heater had been in operation roughly 5 minutes. This is a significant safety concern as the seat heater switches are in a location where they are easily turned on by accident.
I put the heated seat on while driving, and the driver's seat caught fire. This with less then 50,000 miles and a cost of almost $1000. I had to pull into a gas station and put out the smoking seat with water. I've complained to mini cooper USA, with no results.
The power steering would stop and it became hard to turn and steer. It came back on and has done this several times over the past few weeks. It effects steering when going slow more than fast. It does not seem to fail under any specific condition, it will just stop and after awhile it will come back on.
Passenger side airbag sensor is faulty, causing the airbag to not deploy in the event of a crash, even though there is a passenger in the car. This is a huge safety concern, and mini needs to do a recall. There are thousands out there with the same problem.
Our 2006 mini cooper air bag sensor goes on and off. The dealership indicated the entire seat would need to be replaced as is an embedded sensor. This does appear to be a safety issue but the vehicle is not one of the recalled mini coopers.
Other model years of the Cooper S Convertible
- 2027
- 2026
- 2025
- 2024
- 2023
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
- 2015
- 2014
- 2013
- 2012
- 2011
- 2010
- 2009
- 2008
- 2007
- 2006
- 2005