Mini Cooper Defective Steering Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit claims BMW has been selling 2002-2009 Mini Coopers with a defective steering system that makes the Mini “virtually uncontrollable in traffic and starts a potentially catastrophic fire in the engine compartment.”

The BMW Mini Cooper class action lawsuit, filed October 12 in Newark Federal Court, claims that the vehicles have an inherent defect that compromises and diminishes the quality, safety, durability, craftsmanship and performance of the Mini Cooper. The lawsuit claims the defect manifests in the steering pump of the vehicle and causes, among other things, the complete loss of power steering and control of the vehicle while it’s in motion, and often results in the ignition of a fire in the engine compartment.

According to the Mini Cooper class action lawsuit, internal BMW documents show the company knew about the problems with the power steering and/or power steering pump in the cars, but failed to correct the problems and continued to sell the Mini Coopers without telling consumers the full truth about the dangerous defect.

The National Highway Transportation and Safety Agency (NHSTA) opened an investigation into the matter in April 2007 after it received over 32 complaints about loss of power steering and fires in 2002-2004 Mini Coopers. In response, BMW acknowledged that the defect’s primary cause was an insufficient seal of the power steering pump ground cable at its attachment to the chassis, which results in water ingress that corrodes the power pump power cable connector and leads to loss of power steering and “localized smoldering.” The NHSTA closed the initial investigation after BMW claimed to have fixed the defects, but NHSTA opened a new investigation into the later Mini Cooper models after it received numerous complaints from car owners about the same problems.

The BMW Mini Cooper class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of a nationwide class of persons who purchased and/or leased a 2002-2009 model year Mini Cooper. It is seeking damages and restitution for class members, attorneys’ fees, and an order prohibiting BMW from selling, marketing or advertising the Mini Coopers without a detailed warning about the defect.

A copy of the BMW Mini Cooper Defective Steering Class Action Lawsuit can be read here.