2007 MINI Cooper problems
Owners have filed 159 complaints about the 2007 MINI Cooper with NHTSA. Air bags account for 30.8% of them — the clear leader, ahead of engine at 18.9%.
Complaints159
Crashes4
Fires16
Injuries2
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Air bags 30.8% · 49
Engine 18.9% · 30
Electrical system 16.4% · 26
Engine and engine cooling 6.9% · 11
Seats 5.0% · 8
Seat belts 5.0% · 8
Fuel/propulsion system 3.1% · 5
Power train 3.1% · 5
Severity
Of those complaints, 4 describe a crash, 16 describe a fire and 2 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Across the 10 model years of the MINI Cooper in this data, 2007 sits 7th by complaint volume. 2005 draws the most.
Filings are rising — 24 in the last three years against 14 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 70,000 miles.
In owners' own words
I have been told that my MINI Cooper airbag system has had a mechanical failure which has caused the car to disable the airbag system. There is currently a recall however my vin number isn't included- I would suggest perhaps looking into where mine was produced to see if those are also affected by this recall. An airbag system shouldn't just disable itself- that definitely seems like a manufacturer defect. Air bags · reported at 60,000 miles
Restraint System Malfunction Fault in passenger-restraint system effecting airbag, belt tensioner or belt-force limiter. Having to replace passenger seat or sensor to indicate I have a passenger so the airbag will deploy. It looks like there may have been a recall for this in the past according to an article I found, but my VIN does not come up as needing this item replaced. Cost is approximately $800. Air bags
Having exact same symptoms as detailed in a similar recall (nhtsa campaign number: 15v205000 -- front passenger seat occupant detection mat), in addition to having got a 93c3 fault code (seat-occupancy detector, passenger). Seems obvious that the defect is the same despite the sub-model not being the same (mine is a 2007 r56 MINI clubman, closest recalled model is 2007 r52 MINI convertible). Air bags · reported at 60,000 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…