2002 MINI Cooper S problems
The 2002 MINI Cooper S has 105 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (55%) concerns steering. Next are air bags (14%) and electrical system (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 105 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 55% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 4 and 10
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 78,000 miles 91 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 | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 10 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 13 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 22 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 24 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 12 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 91 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 78,000 miles. For steering specifically, the median reported mileage is about 84,000 miles (52 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 4 complaints mention a crash; 10 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 9th most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the MINI Cooper S with enough data (19 complaints in that window). 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.
Our mini burned to the ground. It had only been driven 20 miles and was parked when it happened. After a forensic specialist was hired by the insurance company, it was determined that the ABS unit was at fault. In later models, the fuse was changed from a 30 amp to a 20 amp. No recall was ever issued and bmw/mini never acknowledged a problem with the car. Since this happened, at least 10-15 other minis have burned. Our mini was a total loss.
The exhaust pipe on the 2002 mini cooper s I have is centrally located in the back of the bumper. The car is a hatch back, and I've ruined a couple pairs of pants and had minor burns from it. I'm not too worried about me, but I have small kids and I worry about them.
A fire was caused by the failure of the power steering cooling fan. At some point the day of the incident the fan seized and the resulting electrical resistance in the main wiring harness caused the wiring harness to heat to a point of melting some of the plastic wire insulation allowing for direct wire to wire contact and resulted in an electrical fire between the engine and the passenger compartment.
Tl* the contact owns a 2002 mini cooper s. The contact stated while entering a residential garage driving 5 MPH, the power steering failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who replaced the steering pump. There were no recalls for the failure. The manufacturer was contacted offered no further assistance. The failure mileage was 51,000.