2002 Mini Cooper S

No clear pattern

1% of complaints about the 2002 Mini Cooper S arrived in its first year of service. That is an unusual figure for a 2002 vehicle, but with only 105 complaints on record the sample is too small to call it a pattern — the margin of error covers the range where ordinary vehicles sit. The figures below are reported without a verdict. The most-reported system is steering (58 complaints), typically at 9.7 yr or about 85,000 miles.

Complaints: 105
Median age at failure: 9.5 yr
Median mileage: 78,000 n=91
Crash / fire / tow: 15.2% of reports
Safety recalls: 1

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

15V660000 2015-10-15

Steering:electric power assist system

BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2002-2005 MINI Cooper and Cooper S vehicles and 2005 Cooper and Cooper S Convertible vehicles. The affected vehicles may experience temporary or permanent loss of the electro-hydraulic steering assistance.

If the vehicle experiences a loss of power steering assist, extra steering effort will be required at lower speeds, potentially increasing the risk of a vehicle crash.

In owners’ own words

Steering mileage not reported 5.1 yr in service

POWER STEERING PUMP FAILED. REPLACEMENT WAS REQUIRED AT 48,000 MILES. VIEWING THE MINI OWNERS WEBSITE REVEALED MANY SIMILAR SITUATIONS WHERE THE PUMP REQUIRED REPLACEMENT ON MANY 2002-2004 MODELS. THIS COULD LEAD TO SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUES. *NM

Steering 35,000 mi 11 mo in service

MY MINI COOPER S 2002. MY POWER STEERING LOCKED UP MAKING IT ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO STEER. VERY DANGEROUS AND THE FAN KEPT RUNNING WHEN OFF WHICH DRAINED THE BATTERY. IT IS NOT DRIVABLE NOW. *TR

Steering 8,400 mi 8.3 yr in service

THE NEW MINIS FROM BMW, RANGING FROM 2002 - 2005, HAVE CHRONIC PROBLEMS WITH THE POWER STEERING FAILING WHILE DRIVING, MAKING THE CARS SUDDENLY IMPOSSIBLE TO STEER. THIS IS NOT AN ISOLATED PROBLEM. I'VE SEARCHED THE WEB AND FOUND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT THIS VERY SAME THING. HERE'S A LINK TO A BBC STORY ABOUT IT. HTTP://WWW.BBC.CO.UK/BLOGS/WATCHDOG/2009/02/MINI_STEERING_SYSTEM_FAILURES.HTML. *TR

Air bags 62,000 mi 6.8 yr in service

2002 MINI COOPER S MODEL. AIRBAG LIGHT STAYS ON. HAS BEEN REPAIRED MANY TIMES AND STILL STAYS ON, DEACTIVATING SAFETY FEATURES OF THE RESTRAINT SYSTEM. THIS APPEARS TO BE A VERY COMMON PROBLEM WITH THE MINI. BMW NEEDS TO ISSUE A RECALL I FEEL FOR OUR SAFETY... *TR

Other Cooper S model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2002 Mini Cooper S

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other Cooper S model years

How to read this