2007 MINI Cooper S problems
The 2007 MINI Cooper S has 300 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (58%) concerns engine. Next are air bags (9%) and drivetrain & axles (7%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 300 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 58% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 20
- Injuries and deaths
- 11 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 52,000 miles 287 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 | 42 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 56 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 72 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 66 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 30 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 15 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 287 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 52,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 52,000 miles (166 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 20 complaints mention a fire; 11 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2007 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 12 model years of the MINI Cooper S with enough data (189 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 safety recall campaigns.
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.
Car crash may 30, 2017, driver's air bag did not deploy causing great bodily injury to driver.. Driver was traveling 25 MPH in town at around 10:30 a.m.. Driver had a stroke, passed out, crossed over to opposite side of road and hit an unoccupied parked car. That car hit another parked vehicle and chain reaction left four cars in the accident. State farm or gene's auto body shop have photos.
The center pillar heat rises to an extremely high temperature in my car. This happened in the summer when temperatures were very hot.(100+) it's hot enough to startle a driver or burn them; this could cause them to react by moving their foot on the accelerator in an unpredictable way, which is quite a safety hazard. It burned my right ankle. I'm writing now because I really didn't know any better then, plus I didn't know about this website. Now there are reports of mini cooper ss catching on fire. I am concerned.
Under normal driving conditions, the car's center pillar area (directly adjacent to the gas pedal) reaches average temperatures of 115-120 degrees. I have burned myself on this area while wearing shorts, leaving a red welt. I've also jerked my foot from the gas pedal on several occasions when the hot surface catches me by surprise.
The car has a loud rattle sound when started when cold , or the first time after sitting overnight. Noise will subside as engine comes up to running temperature. Has developed into a hard starting issue over time. At times it takes as many as ten attempts cranking the engine to get it to start. When researching online, I have found a forum on mini cooper problems that describes the issue exactly and also has a video with sound that exactly matches my cars problem.
While driving in my neighborhood I noticed a burning smell and a little smoke coming from under the hood. I pulled into my garage and popped the hood to find the oil feed line to the turbo had leaked oil all over the turbo and was burning off. I know the problem is a faulty line that uses rubber washers and over time heat from the turbo causes them to fail. In 2010 mini put in a heat shield to protect the line, acknowledging the problem.