Mini Recall - Information & Updates

BMW, Mini and BMW-tuner Alpina have been hit by a wide-ranging recall. According to a federal government recall notice, 26,491 BMW, Mini and Alpina vehicles sold between 2022 and 2024 have a manufacturing defect that may cause signal interference in the electronic braking systems, impacting a driver’s capacity to fully administer their brakes. 

High performance versions of the Mini Cooper are being recalled worldwide to fix an engine problem that could potentially start a fire.More than 235,000 of the turbocharged Cooper S models built between 2006 and last year are being recalled worldwide to remedy a secondary water pump fitted to cool down the turbocharger.The company has global reports of just over 80 water pump failures and four fires as a result, but BMW Australia and local authorities have deemed the program here to be a technical service campaign,Mini Australia spokesman Piers Scott says just over 3700 Cooper S (of which one may have experienced the smoldering engine bay issue) and John Cooper Works vehicles built between 2006 and 2011 are effected in Australia."This was deemed to be a technical campaign, in-line with similar campaigns conducted in the past," he said.Mr Scott said the use of the term `recall' overseas to describe the issue."It is the Department of Infrastructure and Transport that we liaise with locally and they would advise us if it were to be a safety Recall.""There is no less urgency under a technical campaign - replacement parts are now in the country and Mini Australia has already begun contacting affected customers," he said.The worldwide recall of 235,000 cars includes 29,868 in the UK and 89,000 in the US and involves replacing the water pump free of charge.The company head office said that the turbocharged engines are fitted with an additional water pump to remove residual heat from the turbocharger after the engine was switched off."Under high operating temperatures an electro-migration can occur at the circuit board installed in the additional water pump," it said."This can lead to a failure of the additional water pump or smoldering and even a fire cannot be excluded."More than 200,000 Minis are built each year at the company's Oxford plant, where production started in 2001and recently passed two million vehicles built - the car is exported to more than 90 countries.The turbocharged engine is shared with Citroen and Peugeot, but both French companies said there engines employed different electrical systems.

The recall notice is for 329 of the Mini Countryman diesel and Paceman diesel sold between August 1 2010 and March 18 2013.Mini’s parent brand, BMW, says the defect means moisture can penetrate the plug-in connection of the adapter cable on the electric power steering, causing corrosion on the contacts and in some cases lead to the car catching fire – although there have been no occurrences so far in the local market. "There have been no reported incidences on this current recall in Australia," BMW spokesperson Lenore Fletcher said.The recall on the Mini models follows a larger one last week in which BMW recalled six diesel models: BMW 5 Series E60, BMW X5 Series E70, BMW X6 Series E71, BMW X3 Series E83, BMW 1 Series E87 and BMW 7 Series F01 & F02 – built between August 1 and November 30, 2009.The earlier recall notice cited a defect that means the electric contacts of the diesel fuel filter heating unit could short-circuit, leading to the risk of the vehicle catching fire – also with no local incidences reported.  However the notice also explains that the diesel fuel filter heater unit only operates at temperatures below -1° Celsius.BMW says owners should contact an authorised BMW motor vehicle service centre, or call the BMW Group Australia Customer Interaction Centre on freecall: 1800 813 299.