2007 Mini Cooper

PASSENGER SEAT AIR BAG LIGHT STAYS ON MOST OF THE TIME. LOCAL DEALERSHIP DIAGNOSED PASSENGER SEAT SENSOR MAT DEFECTIVE AND MUST BE REPLACED. ON JANUARY 12, 2016, I PREPAID THE COST OF THE REPLACEMENT PART AT NEARLY $1,400 DOLLARS. ON JANUARY 21, 2016, THE DEALERSHIP INFORMED ME THAT THE PART IS ON NATIONAL BACK ORDER. ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL IS MAY 2016. WITH LAST YEAR'S RECALL OF 2005 AND 2006 MINI COOPER HARDTOPS AND 2005- 2008 CONVERTIBLES FOR THIS DEFECTIVE SAFETY PART, I AM SHOCKED AND DISAPPOINTED THERE IS A BACK ORDER AND SUCH A LONG WAIT TIME FOR THE REPLACEMENT PART TO ARRIVE.

FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AIR BAG INDICATOR LIGHT STAYED ON FOR LONG PERIODS AND SOMETIMES WENT OFF. YESTERDAY BMW/MINI DEALERSHIP DIAGNOSED SEAT SENSOR MAT SENDING FAULT CODE. DEALERSHIP WOULD NOT LET ME HAVE COPY OF DIAGNOSTIC REPORT AND I ASKED SEVERAL TIMES TO HAVE A COPY. PART MUST BE DEFECTIVE. MY OUT OF POCKET COST TO REPLACE DEFECTIVE SENSOR MAT IS $1,371.00 FOR THE PART WHICH I HAD TO PREPAY BEFORE DEALERSHIP WOULD ORDER IT. LABOR TO INSTALL AND PROGRAM NEW PASSENGER SEAT SENSOR MAT IS ESTIMATED AT $505.00. MILEAGE AT TIME OF FAILURE AROUND 22,000. CAR IS ON AN ISLAND WHERE YOU CANNOT DRIVE LONG DISTANCES. I MUST REPLACE THE SENSOR MAT NOW, AT MY OWN EXPENSE, IN ORDER TO PASS STATE OF HAWAII ANNUAL AUTOMOBILE SAFETY INSPECTION. MINI COOPERS MANUFACTURED IN 2005 AND 2006 WERE RECALLED LAST YEAR FOR DEFECTIVE PASSENGER SEAT SENSOR MATS. I THINK THE 2007 MINI COOPERS SHOULD ALSO BE RECALLED FOR SAME DEFECT. MINI COOPER 2007 CONVERTIBLES WERE RECALLED FOR DEFECTIVE PASSENGER SEAT MAT SENSOR. WHY OMIT 2007 MINI COOPER HARD TOPS FROM THAT RECALL? IF MY CAR IS RECALLED IN THE FUTURE FOR THIS DEFECT, WILL I BE REIMBURSED BY BMW/MINI FOR MY OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES??

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 BAG LIGHT TURNED ON. PERFORMED A FAULT SURVEY AND FOUND THERE IS 1 RELATED FAULT CODE IN THE MRS CONTROL UNIT. PASSENGER SEAT OCCUPANCY SENSOR, NOT CURRENTLY PRESENT, OCCURRED 12 TIMES. NEED TO REPLACE THE SEAT OCCUPANCY SENSOR AND RE PROGRAM THE MRS CONTROL UNIT. TOTAL REPLACEMENT COST: $1,164.47 CALLED MINI HEADQUARTERS AND WAS TOLD THERE WAS NO WARRANTY OR RECALL FOR MY SPECIFIC CAR. HOWEVER, THEY TOLD ME THAT THE 2005, 2006 MINI COOPER HAD A RECALL FOR THE SEAT SENSOR. THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM AND SHOULD BE RECALLED FOR THE 2007 MODEL AS WELL.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 MINI COOPER. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE STEERING WHEEL BECAME DIFFICULT TO MANEUVER AND THE POWER STEERING WARNING SIGNAL ILLUMINATED. THE FAILURE RECURRED CONSTANTLY. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 94,000.

MY 2007 MINI COOPER HAS 117K MILES AND WAS WORKING WELL UNTIL THE LAST MONTH WHEN IT STARTED BURNING OIL AND BLOWING BLACK SMOKE. THEN THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT STARTED COMING ON BRIEFLY SO GOT MY MECHANIC TO CHECK IT OUT TODAY. THE ERROR CODE INDICATES THE TIMING CHAIN NEEDS REPLACING. COSTLY REPAIR AT $2,000 AND 2 WEEKS OUT OF COMMISSION. IN GOOGLING ONLINE THIS IS A REPORTED ISSUE WITH MY MODEL MINI FOR THOUSANDS OF FOLKS YET BMW /MINI HASN'T ISSUED A RECALL NOTICE.

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).