BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Thu 26 Sep 2013 10:07

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - Sulphur Man

Anyone catch Watchdog on BBC1 last night? I don't normally make a point of watching it but I switched on after dinner to witness BMW Mini getting a serious kicking from actor Richard E Grant about the power steering failure on his daughter's car, a petrol R50/53 made in 2004.

(This was after Grant's much publicised Twitter rant, which got the car fixed free and a bouquet of flowers delivered to the young lady owner).

The program really stuck the boot in, I must say The word 'deathtrap' wasnt utttered, but with the damning safety concerns given from several industry experts, and Grant asking how any parent would feel with their loved ones driving the car, it didnt need to be!

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Thu 26 Sep 2013 11:05

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - wrangler_rover

I guess the key to how the matter was resolved is the fact that the complainant is famous and he was given prime time airtime by the BBC.

Didn't Clarkson have a lot of problems with his Ford GT40? If I remember correctly, these problems were mentioned on top gear and ford eventually resolved them to Clarkson's satisfaction.

I imagine that if you are not a celebrity and don't have a friendly ear at a major broadcaster, then you will get a less than satisfactory response from most non far eastern manufacturers.

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Thu 26 Sep 2013 11:49

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - Ordovices

It was a pretty vicious attack, but justifiable in my opinion.

The arguement that an power steering system has to be working and fault free for an MoT test, yet isn't condidered a safety related defect was reasonable.

If you were driving a vehicle with servo assisted brakes, and the servo sudddenly fails, the brakes will still operate, but not as you may anticipate. If this failure is whilst normal driving, with no indication then when an emergency arises it would indeed be critical. The same analogy could be levelled at the power steering. It could fail mid manouvre, and as this is being addressed elsewhere, why not the UK?

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Thu 26 Sep 2013 12:56

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - pd

It is part of the type approval service that a car has to be steerable and stoppable without assistance.

Basically, before a car goes on sale in the EU it is tested at high speed and the assistance turned off and it has to be able to make an emergency manouver and come to a safe stop. If it can't do that it can't be sold in the EU.

Obviously this shouldn't be happening on a regular basis! The Mini is certainly known for PAS motors packing up although to be fair they're usually making a horrendous noise well before they go pop.

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Thu 26 Sep 2013 13:13

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - Ordovices

Could be difficult to distinguish the horrendous noise if listening to a Girls Aloud or Justin Bieber cd.

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Thu 26 Sep 2013 15:59

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - coopshere

If you'd bought either of those as well as a BMW product you would need your bumps felt!

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Thu 26 Sep 2013 16:47

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - unthrottled

The emotive word 'deathtrap' is thrown around so liberally that it has become meaningless hyperbole.

People must be made to understand that any complex mechanical contraption has a finite chance of failure-and they need to be able to understand how to cope with failures.

Loss of assisted steering is only a major issue at very low speeds-which is unlikely to be a deadly scenario.

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Thu 26 Sep 2013 17:42

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - bathtub tom

Aren't Fiat and Nissan equally liable to have (electric) power steering failure, from what I read on this forum?

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Sat 12 Oct 2013 23:42

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - Taniapom

Ha ha ha ha ha, all your jokes about mini drivers very funny.

So here's my scenario see what you think, am I an idiot or are BMW being hugely risky with their mini drivers lives?

I bought my mini second hand about a year ago. I took it straight over to my mechanic because as I drove home I noticed a noise when I steered, a kind of hissing, not loud but really noticeable when my husband parked the car, radio off and window down. My mechanic told us to take it straight back, there was a problem. We did as he said. The garage said they thought it was ok but agreed if my local mini specialist said there was a problem they would sort it.

I drove straight to my mini garage. They told me not to worry it was a 'feature' of these models. So I left it.

One year on, my mechanic still disliked the noise, but no, Mini said it was ok, perfectly normal, not to worry. So I left it. Today I was turning right into the petrol station. A bus was coming my way but I had plenty of time to get accross. Or I would have done, except as I made the manoeuvre the power steering failed and I was left floundering. Luckily I made it but neither I or the bus driver were left smiling with the near miss that had just happened.

Guess what, I no longer have the hissing power steering.... I no longer have power steering at all!!! But at least I'm alive.

Think before you dismiss this as a stupid woman issue please. It's serious and MUST be sorted.

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Sun 13 Oct 2013 01:04

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - Avant

Welcome to the forum. I'm sure every sensible contributor on here recognises that this is a real and serious issue.

Your problem is going to be getting anything out of BMW when the cars involved - the pre-facelift Minis - are all over 6 years old. Manufacturers (to an extent understandably) are very reluctant to pay out compensation to cars well out of warranty, because sadly customers indulge in bandwagon-jumpery and take advantage of a precedent.

I'm certain that you haven't neglected or abused your car, but there are many who do, and are the first to lay blame when something goes wrong.

It may be worth looking on a Mini owners' forum (I've no doubt there is one) to see how others with this problem have got on.

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Sun 13 Oct 2013 01:41

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - brum

My experience indicates that modern car suspensions etc are designed with the assumption they have working brake servos and power steering systems. They are just not driveable without them. As for an emergency situation, I dont believe an emergency stop or avoidance manouever is possible without these systems operable.

The poster who says that power steering is only an issue at low speed is incorrect. I have experienced what it is like to lose power steering or brake servo assistance (not simultaneously) at moderate speed and on both occasions it was a "brown underpants" moment.

I have an engineering background and good knowledge of automotive engineering, but in both cases it took me 3 or 4 seconds to realise what was happenning, and the manual effort to steer or brake in both cases took enormous effort for my "strong male physique" to muster.

My kids/wife/many many others just would not cope as in effect it seems the steering is "locked" and the brakes appear to have become ineffective.

It concerns me that, because of modern design, we are effectively exposed to a single failure potentially causing a dangerous life threatening scenario.

One gripe I have concerns the stiff plastic vacuum pipes used in many VAG models that split with age and can cause sudden loss of brake servo. How many times have we read "the driver claimed his brakes had failed...."?

How may fatal accidents have occured when faults of this kind have occurred, but the reason was never uncovered by investigators?

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Sun 13 Oct 2013 09:35

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - dan86

You want to try and stear a fully loaded hgv when the power steering pump goes it took three of us just to get enough lock on it to get it to thecside of thecroad as it went as I pulled out at a junction.

But in a car I still believe its manageable when the rack went on a 1998 vectra I was driving power steering was lost in slow moving traffic but I managed to conteol the car untill my final destination.

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Sun 13 Oct 2013 11:37

BMW Mini R50/53 2001-2007, Watchdog BBC last night - oldroverboy.

Your problem is going to be getting anything out of BMW when the cars involved - the pre-facelift Minis - are all over 6 years old. Manufacturers (to an extent understandably) are very reluctant to pay out compensation to cars well out of warranty, because sadly customers indulge in bandwagon-jumpery and take advantage of a precedent.

Fully agree Avant, If power steering failed in warranty, get it fixed by BMW/Mini, but a majority of people will always believe what the service receptionist ( who often has zero knowledge of problems) tells them.

Note to self. Do not buy a mk 1 BMW mini or any other BMW product.

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