| This has happened to me a few times too. The first time it happened it freaked me out and i had to stop on the side of the road. I had to use so much force to turn the wheel. I took it to the dealers and they said the pumped leaked. I forgot how much i paid but it wasnt cheap.
I didnt know it was a common problem back then otherwise i would have asked for it to be fixed without charge. Since then it has only occurred on three little occasions where i had to turn the car off and on. It is pretty frustrating and dangerous. And after looking at other thread it seems to be a very common problem with over 500 people reporting power steering problems.
I would tell the dealer that it is a common problem and show them the thread. Mini really should do a recall on older mini models, otherwise there could be same bad accidents. | 
