What 22 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman

ON OCTOBER 7TH, 2014 THE KEY WOULD NOT COME OUT OF THE KEY SLOT. THE KEY IS NOT REQUIRED TO BE INSERTED TO START THE CAR BUT SIMPLY WITH YOU. HOWEVER, MY DAUGHTER HAD BORROWED THE CAR AND INSERTED THE KEY SO I HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING IF THIS FAILURE OCCURRED ON THE DATE MENTIONED OR EARLIER. IT WAS IN FOR SERVICE ON AUGUST 25TH, 2014 SO SOMETIME BETWEEN THE TWO DATES THE FAILURE OCCURRED. I TOOK IT TO OUR LOCAL DEALER, MINI OF DES MOINES, AND THEY ALSO COULD NOT REMOVE THE KEY. THEY NOTICED THAT WITHOUT THE CAR RUNNING AND THE BRAKE PEDAL NOT DEPRESSED THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SHIFTER COULD BE MOVED TO ANY POSITION. THEY DID NOT KNOW IF THIS WOULD OCCUR WITH THE CAR RUNNING, I.E. INADVERTENTLY HITTING THE SHIFTER INTO REVERSE OR PARK WHILE DRIVING. THEY ALSO DID NOT KNOW IF THE CAR WAS ACTUALLY IN PARK WHEN INDICATED SO. I LEFT THE CAR, WAS GIVEN A LOANER, AND WHEN THEY CALLED ME THE DIAGNOSIS WAS THAT LIQUID HAD SPILLED IN A CUP HOLDER AND LEAKED THROUGH THE UNSEALED SCREW IN THE BOTTOM ONTO AN ELECTRICAL COMPONENT CAUSING THE PROBLEM. I AM WELL AWARE OF LIQUID SPILLING INTO THE CUP HOLDER AS THIS HAPPENED A COUPLE OF TIMES WHEN I FIRST GOT THE CAR DUE TO THE SPRING LOADED HOLDERS IN THE SIDE OF THE CUP HOLDER THAT I THEN REMOVED . THEY ARE ENGINEERED INCORRECTLY AND ALTHOUGH THE MANUAL STATES TO USE "LIGHTWEIGHT, NON-BREAKABLE CONTAINERS" THESE SPRING RETAINERS WILL POKE A HOLE IN STYROFOAM CUPS AND WILL COMPRESS A PAPER CUP, LIKE STARBUCKS, ENOUGH THAT LIQUID WILL EXPEL THROUGH THE TOP VENT HOLE AND DRINKING SLOT. IN ADDITION, WHILE ONE WOULD ASSUME THAT LIQUID WOULD OCCASIONALLY BE SPILLED IN A CUP HOLDER, AN ADDITIONAL ENGINEERING ERROR WAS MADE WHEN NO SEALING WASHER WAS USED ON THE RETAINING SCREW IN THE BOTTOM AND ANY LIQUID THE WOULD LEAK ON TO ANOTHER UNSEALED COMPONENT AND CAUSE THIS FAILURE. A $1,100.00 REPAIR COST FOR BMW'S INEPT ENGINEERING???

NHTSA ODI 10658584

WITH JUST OVER 16000 MILES ON MY 2011 MINI COOPER S COUNTRYMAN, MY CLUTCH IS BURNED OUT! HAVING IT TOWED TO THE CLOSEST MINI DEALERSHIP AT 70 MILES AWAY, THEY ARE SAYING THE FAILURE IS DUE TO ABUSE AND IS NOT COVERED BY MINI USA WARRANTEE. I HAVE BEEN DRIVER FOR OVER 40 YEARS WITH MOST OF MY CARS BEING MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS AND HAVE NEVER HAD TO REPLACE A CLUTCH. AFTER SOME RESEARCH ONLINE, THE CLUTCH SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE 2011 & 2012 COUNTRYMAN MODELS AND NOW HAVE SAID...'AS PART OF THE CONTINUAL REFINEMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF MINI VEHICLES' THEY WERE MODIFYING THE CLUTCH ON THEIR 2013 MODELS! I AM STILL IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH MINI USA ON WHO WILL PAY FOR THE REPAIRS ON WHAT I SEE AS DEFECTIVE PARTS THAT SHOULD HAVE A RECALL ON THEM.

NHTSA ODI 10538114

VEHICLE STALLS FROM 1ST GEAR WITHOUT THE ASSISTANCE OF THE "SPORT" BUTTON (REGARDLESS OF TERRAIN). COMPONENTS IN THE DRIVE LINE COMBINED WITH THE STANDARD MINI CLUTCH LACK THE FEEL TO THE POINT OF CLUTCH ENGAGEMENT OFTEN CAUSING IT TO STALL. BMW/MINI DEALERSHIPS DENY ANY PROBLEM OCCURRING / EVER HAS OCCURRED. THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT NEEDS TO REFLECT VEHICLES WITH THE SAME ISSUES ALREADY IN OPERATION BUILT PRIOR TO THE LISTED DATE. OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM MINI USA: "AS PART OF THE CONTINUAL REFINEMENT AND OPTIMIZATION OF MINI VEHICLES, WE HAVE IMPROVED THE TAKE-OFF CONVENIENCE AND PERFORMANCE OF ALL OUR MINI COUNTRYMAN CLUTCHES BY IMPLEMENTING SOME SOFTWARE UPDATES AS WELL AS CHANGING THE CLUTCH FACING MATERIAL TO IMPROVE THE FEELING OF THE CLUTCH ENGAGEMENT. WE ARE SURE THAT THESE CHANGES WILL EVEN FURTHER IMPROVE THE CONVENIENCE OF OUR MINI COUNTRYMAN MODELS, AND WILL BE RECOGNIZED AND APPRECIATED BY OUR CUSTOMERS. THESE CHANGES COINCIDE WITH THE START OF PRODUCTION OF OUR MINI JOHN COOPER WORKS COUNTRYMAN AS OF NOVEMBER 2012." *TR

NHTSA ODI 10508465

AT 18XXX MILES THE CLUTCH IS GONE. TRANSFER CASE FOUND DEFECTIVE. THE CLUTCH HAS BEEN FAILING ON THE ALL4 MODELS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND DEALERS ARE BLAMING USER ERROR, EVEN AS FAST AS 1500 MILES. $2500 FOR A NEW CLUTCH ON A BRAND NEW VEHICLE IS ABSURD. *TR

NHTSA ODI 10477412

2011 MINI COUNTRYMAN S ALL4 MANUAL TRANSMISSION AFTER REPEATED INCIDENTS OF THE CLUTCH "SMOKING" UNDER HEAVY USE, AND REPORTING SAID INCIDENTS TO THE DEALER, AND HAVING THE DEALER INSPECT THE CAR AND CLAIM ALL WAS FINE, THE CLUTCH FINALLY WORE DOWN SUFFICIENTLY AND REQUIRED REPLACEMENT AT ONLY 4965 MILES. WE ARE VERY EXPERIENCED DRIVERS OF MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS AND DID NOT ABUSE THE CLUTCH IN ANY WAY. MINI USA COMPLETED THE REPAIR UNDER WARRANTY AS A GOODWILL MEASURE. THERE ARE NUMEROUS ACCOUNTS OF PREMATURE CLUTCH WEAR/FAILURE ON MINI ENTHUSIAST WEB SITES AND EVEN NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE PUBLICATIONS EXPERIENCED SAME (AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINE'S LONG TERM TEST CAR HAD CLUTCH FAILURE AT 15K MILES). *TT

NHTSA ODI 10462518

WHEN ACCELERATING, THERE APPEARS TO BE A 1-1.5 SECOND DELAY FROM COMPLETE STOP POSITION TO START WHEN DEPRESSING THE ACCELERATOR. THIS DELAYED ACCELERATION IS PROBLEMATIC ONLY FROM COMPLETE STOPPING POSITION. EXAMPLE, AT PERPENDICULAR INTERSECTION WAITING TO TURN LEFT (PULLING OUT OF A GAS STATION OR MERGING INTO TRAFFIC, THE VEHICLE REQUIRES A ROLLING OR MOVING START BEFORE THE VEHICLE WILL ACTUALLY ACCELERATE OR AT A SAFE ENOUGH SPEED TO PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC. WHEN I AM AT A COMPLETE STOP AND TRY TO ACCELERATE BY PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR FIRMLY FROM ANY COMPLETE STOP POSITION IN A SAFE ENOUGH SPEED TO CROSS TRAFFIC WHEN TURNING, THERE IS ALWAYS A DELAYED REACTION FROM THE TIME I DEPRESS THE PEDAL AND THE TIME THE VEHICLE TAKES OFF. THIS DOES NOT TO APPEAR AS A PROBLEM THAT HAPPENS ONLY ONCE IN A WHILE, BUT APPEARS ALL THE TIME AND TO BE A MANUFACTURER ISSUES WITH THE ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION AND GEAR CONTROL. I CONTACTED THE DEALER AND WAS TOLD THAT I SHOULD ACTIVATE THE SPORT BUTTON AND DE-ACTIVATE THE DCS CONTROL WHICH CONTROLS THE "SPIN-OUT" ACTION ON THE COUNTRYMAN. I HAVE TRIED THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE PROBLEM STILL EXIST. THIS IS NOT ONLY THE PROBLEM. THERE IS ALSO AN ISSUE WHEN I AM SIMPLY IN THE DRIVEWAY. WHEN STARTING THE CAR AND PUTTING THE VEHICLE IN REVERSE, THERE IS ALSO THAT "DELAYED" REACTION AFTER THE CAR IS ALREADY IN GEAR, ALMOST LIKE THE VEHICLE HAS TO THINK ABOUT MOVING BEFORE IT ACTUALLY DOES. THIS OCCURS EACH AND EVERY TIME WHILE IN THE VEHICLE. MY VEHICLE IS AN AUTOMATIC. I HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH BOTH AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL TRANSMISSIONS AND HAVE OVER 25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND HAVE PURCHASED OVER 15 CARS IN MY DRIVING CAREER AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT I HAVE EVERY EXPERIENCED THIS TYPE DRIVING EXPERIENCE WITH AN AUTOMATIC.

NHTSA ODI 10411228