Other engine problem on the 2005 MINI Cooper
3 fires 3 of the 10 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When other engine problem gets reported
Owners of the 2005 MINI Cooper report other engine problem at a median of 45,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 95,000 miles. It is the 8th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 2,200 miles at the tenth percentile to 105,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 103,435 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
38% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,175 miles | 11,513 miles | 44,984 miles | 66,325 miles | 105,610 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 3 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $300–$4,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 14 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2002, at a median of 10,000 miles, and latest on the 2004 at 80,000 miles.
By volume the 2008 carries the most reports, with 19; the 2005 has 10. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Started vehicle in the evening when leaving work then drove out onto the street and the vehicle stopped. The throttle would not do anything and the car wouldn't move. The dealer said a temperature sensor told the computer it was out of range and sent the automatic transmission into a limp mode. After pulling over and restarting the car it was possible to drive it home, but the service engine light was on. The vehicle was only 1 month old. The dealer has replaced two map sensors and an electronic throttle motor, but it's not supposed to be fixed until they correct the software. There are 7 mini cooper s automatics with the same problem at this dealer and many more throughout the u.s.
On 3 different occasions after traveling a few hundred yards or so our mini would suddenly lose power and go into a "limp mode" as we move from either a stop sign or traffic signal. This would cause the vehicle to stop in the intersection causing a potentially hazardous condition. The vehicles ses check engine light also comes on. We have taken our vehicle in for service three times to get this defect addressed. Mini states that it is a "known" problem with the current software. I now have a third version of the software, but we are afraid to drive the car to "test" it out. I hope either mini or the NHTSA will post a recall on this dangerous condition. *jb
Our 2005 mini cooper s has been plagued with an engine problems since we first purchased it in july of 2005. While driving, the engine suddenly loses power causing the vehicle to stop suddenly. This problem has occurred while driving at a speed of 65 MPH on a major highway. We've contacted the dealer a number of times and requested service appointments. We have been told each time that it is not necessary to bring the car in and that the problem is being caused by a loose gas cap. Living in the state of nj where you cannot pump your own gas, we consistently remind the gas attendant to properly attach the gas cap and we check the cap after getting gas. The problem is still occurring. However, regardless of whether or not the problem is being caused by the gas cap, this is a huge safety hazard. My wife was 8 months pregnant and driving the car on the highway one of the first times this occurred. She was stuck in oncoming traffic for 10 minutes while trying to get the vehicle restarted. If this problem is not addressed very soon, someone is going to be seriously injured. *jb
Also reported on the 2005 MINI Cooper
Other steering problem
Power steering pump or fluid leak
Loss of power steering
Airbag warning light or occupant sensor fault
Cooling fan failure
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 10 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other engine problem happen on the 2005 MINI Cooper?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 45,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 10,000 miles and a quarter after 65,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other engine problem on the 2005 MINI Cooper?
10 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.9 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed