There are 3 owner-reported powertrain & transmission complaints for the 2001 MINI Cooperin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
MY 2001 330I WITH 110,000 MILES ON IT ABRUPTLY STOPPED GOING IN REVERSE. ONE DAY IT WAS FINE AND RUNNING NORMALLY AND THE NEXT DAY WHEN I WENT TO BACK OUT OF MY GARAGE IT WOULD NOT GO IN REVERSE. I RECENTLY SOLD MY OLD CAR AND BOUGHT A BMW FOR THE "RELIABILITY" AND TO GET A HIGH VALUE CAR, INSTEAD I HAVE A MONEY PIT THAT I CAN NOT AFFORD TO FIX AND NOW NEEDS A $6,100 TRANSMISSION. WISH I HAD KEPT MY OLD CAR. *TR
ON MARCH 16TH 2007 I BROUGHT MY VEHICLE TO THE DEALER TO EVALUATE A FAINT CLICKING NOISE THAT I DETERMINED TO BE A CLAMP ON THE FRONT DIFFERENTIAL BOOT HITTING THE SUSPENSION FRAME. THE DEALER STATED THERE WAS NO PROBLEM AND INDICATED IT WAS PROBABLY TIRE NOISE. I PERSISTED THAT THE NOISE WAS NOT NORMAL AND ASKED IF THEY WOULD PUT THE CAR ON THE LIFT SO I COULD SHOW THEM THE PROBLEM. THE LEFT-HAND ENGINE SUPPORT BOLTS HAD APPARENTLY BEEN BACKING OUT CAUSING THE ENGINE TO SHIFT TO THE LEFT. THE THREADS OF THE BOLTS WERE NOT DAMAGED AND THE TECHNICIAN INDICATED THAT THEY MAY NOT HAVE BEEN SUFFICIENTLY TIGHTENED. FURTHER IF I HAD NOT NOTICED THE NOISE AND INSISTED ON EVALUATION THE ONE REMAINING BOLT WOULD LIKELY HAVE BROKEN, AFFECTING THE ABILITY TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE AND RESULTED IN A SERIOUS CRASH. AS OF MARCH 27TH THE DEALERS HAS DETERMINED THAT THEY CAN NOT SIMPLY RE-TIGHTEN THE BOLTS BECAUSE THEY MOST LIKELY UN-THREAD OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS. WITH PROLONGED DRIVING, THESE BOLTS BECAME LOOSE CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE ENGINE AND SUSPENSION. THIS 2001 BMW X5 IS A SPORT UTILITY VEHICLE, AND ALTHOUGH THIS ONE HAS NEVER BEEN OFF ROAD, THIS POWER TRAIN PROBLEM REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY RELATED DEFECT THAT COULD AFFECT A NUMBER OF VEHICLES IF THE BOLTS SUPPORTING THE ENGINE VIBRATE LOOSE DUE TO IMPROPER TIGHTENING OR TORQUE FORCE. THE DEALER INSISTS THAT THIS IS NOT SAFETY RELATED DEFECT; THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN THE PROBLEM AND HAVE NO EXPLANATION HOW THIS COULD HAVE OCCURRED IN A VEHICLE THAT HAS NEITHER BEEN OFF ROAD NOR INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT. HOWEVER A SIMILAR NHTSA CAMPAIGN (NUMBER 03V475000) WAS ISSUED ON NOV 03, 2003 FOR 2004 BMX X5 VEHICLES WITH IMPROPERLY TIGHTENED RIGHT SIDE ENGINE SUPPORT BOLTS AND FRONT DIFFERENTIAL BOLTS. THIS IS THE SAME PROBLEM ON THE LEFT SIDE IN A DIFFERENT MODEL YEAR. IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THE MANUFACTURER NEEDS TO INVESTIGATE AND REMEDY THIS POTENTIAL SAFETY RELATED DEFECT. *JB
2001 BMW X5 4.4I WITH ONLY 66K MLS HAS TRANSMISSION OIL LEAK AT FRONT SHAFT SEAL TO TORQUE CONVERTER CAUSES CAR TO STALL OUT FROM LOSS OF TRANSMISSION POWER DUE TO LOSS OF LUBRICATION,EXCESSIVE HEAT AND TRANSMISSION FAILURE WHEN ACCELERATING
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026