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2006 Mini Cooper

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

More warning signs than most Cooper years

Owner complaints for the 2006 Mini Cooper are substantially higher than the model-year median of 40.5.

About this comparison →

How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

Compare all Cooper years →

Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

166 reports with mileage · 34 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Air Bags. Review the 111 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Steering. Review the 53 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Power Train. Review the 20 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

9 crash reports8 fire reports8 injury reports

Unknown Or Other complaints

3 reports
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141,342 miles · Oct 20, 2019
Air BagsStructureUnknown Or OtherCrashInjury

CAR ACCIDENT CAUSE PROBLEMS , HAVING PROBLEMS WITH CLUTCH / FLYWHEEL WAS REPAIRED ONE TIME DRIVE SLOW WON'T MOVE FAST. NOT STEERING , HAS LEAKAGE , DAMAGE DENTS ON RIGHT SIDE FRONT END PAINT DAMAGES, NOT RIGHT COLOR. BACK BUMPER DAMAGE SCRATCHES , HATCHBACK LOCK NEEDS BE REPLACED. WHEELS DAMAGE LT RT . ABS SYMPTOM LIGHT ON, AI…

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CAR ACCIDENT CAUSE PROBLEMS , HAVING PROBLEMS WITH CLUTCH / FLYWHEEL WAS REPAIRED ONE TIME DRIVE SLOW WON'T MOVE FAST. NOT STEERING , HAS LEAKAGE , DAMAGE DENTS ON RIGHT SIDE FRONT END PAINT DAMAGES, NOT RIGHT COLOR. BACK BUMPER DAMAGE SCRATCHES , HATCHBACK LOCK NEEDS BE REPLACED. WHEELS DAMAGE LT RT . ABS SYMPTOM LIGHT ON, AIRBAG LIGHT ON, FRONT REAR HOOD LIGHT ON PROBLEMS NOT CLOSING. IN MOTION STREET .

NHTSA ODI #11269812

30,000 miles · Oct 30, 2015
EngineUnknown Or Other

70K AND ON MY THIRD SERPENTINE BELT ,BATTERY LIGHT GOES ON AND INCREDIBLY HARD TO STEER LEFT OR RIGHT AND CAR DIES. WHEN THE BELT SHREDS OR BREAKS THE CAR DIES AND ONLY MOVES AT BELOW 5 MPH ,ONLY WARNING IS A BATTERY LIGHT ... PEOPLE BUYING THIS CAR FOR TEENS DONT ! HAD TO REPLACE TRANSMISSION AT 30 K ... IF YOU BUY THIS CAR U…

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70K AND ON MY THIRD SERPENTINE BELT ,BATTERY LIGHT GOES ON AND INCREDIBLY HARD TO STEER LEFT OR RIGHT AND CAR DIES. WHEN THE BELT SHREDS OR BREAKS THE CAR DIES AND ONLY MOVES AT BELOW 5 MPH ,ONLY WARNING IS A BATTERY LIGHT ... PEOPLE BUYING THIS CAR FOR TEENS DONT ! HAD TO REPLACE TRANSMISSION AT 30 K ... IF YOU BUY THIS CAR USED WITH LOW MILEAGE GET THE TRANSMISSION CHECKED . NOTE : TRANSMISSION CHECK REQUIRES THE ENGINE TO BE PULLED OUT AND WILL COST $500.00 OIL PAN CONSTANTLY LEAKS. IF VW IS BAD BMW /MINI COOPER IS WORSE AND GETTING AWAY WITH HIGHWAY ROBBERY . SEAT BELTS ALWAYS GETTING TWISTED AND REQUIRE THE NEED TO PUL OFF ROAD TO FIX BECAUSE THEY TIGHTEN AND WON'T RELEASE TENSION. LOOK INTO DRIVER AND PASSENGER LEATHER SEATS FALLING APART ... WAITING FOR SIDE IMPACT AIR BAG TO GO OFF BECAUSE OF POOR MATERIAL AND TEXTILE USE . IF IT'S RUBBER IT ROTS OR RATS EAT IT BECAUSE THEY CAN ENTER CAR ENGINE WITHOUT ISSUE. WITH THE CLASS ACTION SUITS ,SERVICE WARNINGS,AND RECALLS IT LOOKS LIKE MINI COOPER NEEDS A HARDER MORE INTENSE INVESTIGATION . IN REGARDS TO EXACT DATES I HAVE REPAIR BILLS ,CLASS ACTION INFO. REGARDING TRANSMISSION ...WORTHLESS AS I HAVE WRONG YEAR ,ALSO CAR IS ON A CONSTANT CYCLE OF MALFUNCTION ... BRAKE LIGHTS AND HEAD LIGHTS CONSTANTLY NEED BULB REPLACEMENT . PLEASE MAKE MINI COOPER RESPONSIBLE.

NHTSA ODI #10787265

82,000 miles · Sep 26, 2012
Unknown Or Other

LOUD AND PERSISTENT WHINNING NOISE FROM POWER STEERING PUMP, INTERMITTENT POWER STEERING FAILURE. HAD PAST PROBLEMS WITH THE POWER STEERING FAN (JUNE 2011). *TR

NHTSA ODI #10477177

Official recalls

1

15V205000 · Air Bags:frontal

Apr 6, 2015

BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2005-2006 MINI Cooper and Cooper S vehicles manufactured January 5, 2005, to November 28, 2006, and 2005-2008 MINI Cooper Convertible and Cooper S Convertible vehicles manufactured January 5, 2005, to July 31, 2008. Due to manufacturing, installation, and exposure issues, the front passenger seat occupant detection mat may not function properly and, as a result, the front passenger air bag may not deploy in a crash.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: An improperly functioning mat may cause the passenger frontal air bag to be inactive when the seat is occupied, and in the event of a crash, the air bag will not deploy, increasing the passenger's risk of injury.

Remedy: MINI will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger seat occupant detection mat, free of charge. The recall began on October 12, 2015. Owners may contact MINI customer service at 1-866-825-1525.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.