My son (10 weeks) and I were in town enjoying a cup of coffee when man came in anouncing that a MINI Cooper parked outside was smoking badly. We quickly got outside and opened the bonnet to see white smoke coming from the ABS actuator. I sent a bystander back inside to call the fire department and to get an extinguisher. I disconnected the battery with needle-nosed pliers borrowed from the coffee shop (The Little Dog, Brunswick, Maine, USA), and watched as smoke turned to flames. The flames were quickly doused thanks to the availability of a fire extinguisher courtesy of either The Little Dog or the Adjacent Midcoast Multi Sport (triathalon equipment). the fire department arrived shortly thereafter and soaked the ABS unit with water to bring the cool the unit down fully.
The only external bodywork affected was the cowl/scuttle(?) panel, the cowl vent, and the windscreen surround. I didn't have a camera with me but I did get two pictures on my phone. I'll happily post them if a more tech-savvy MINI2er would lend guidance on how to do this.
MINI Roadside Assistance arranged for collection of the vehicle, which took place well within 30 minutes. With 33K miles on the clock, the car is happily still under warrantee.
I'll answer two questions before they are asked: (1) the car is UNmodified, save for the addition of an ICE-Link unit, and (2) Yes; I'd buy another one in a minute if I had to do it all over again.
So, has anyone out there heard of this occurring? If so, what was the end result? I'd love to think that I've got a brand new car coming to me, but my assumption is that MINI will choose to repair it (should have let it burn a bit longer).
I will certainly start carrying an extinguisher in all vehicles, and will either install quick disconnect switches or carry an appropriately sized wrench to facilitate battery isolation. The remotely located battery of the MCS proved to be very beneficial feature today.
UPDATE: A poster on NAM referred me to the following thread:
From the photos it appears that their fire originated from the same location. Their insurance provider has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make things right for them, though sadly MINIUSA has fallen short of their expectations. We have our car insurance through the same company.
UPDATE #2: Photos added courtesy of GBMINI. Located further down on this page.
Last edited by SalemMINIDriver; Apr 25th, 2006 at 05:15 PM.
I remember hearing a while back some issues with Mini's catching fire in the engine bay. It was featured on a consumer programme over here called Watchdog. I don't remember the details but I believe it was to do with dodgy servicing or repairs where technicians hadn't properly reconnected cables. I could be wrong on this so anyone out there with a better memory than me, feel free to correct me.
Thanks for the reply. The fire originated in and remained isolated to the RH cowl vent area. The ABS/DSC hardware was clearly at fault, and, to my knowledge, has not been serviced.
looks like yours and others quick decisive action stopped a bad problem becoming an utter disaster.... well done.
Not heard of this kind of problem before - but then again perhaps any other mini that sufferred it was destroyed and therefore it wasnt issolated as the cause...?
If your phone has bluetooth on it you could connect via bluetooth to your pc with a usb bluetooth device or if you have alptop with builtin bluetooth transfer it straight away.
a second optios is the same as the above but with infared
a third option is to connect the phone to the computer directly via a cable, phone would either have come with one or ther might be one availale in your local phone store.
Sorry to hear about the fire. I'm amazed and glad you got it under control. My parents had a car (american piece of junk) catch on fire, carburator, and it engulfed the engine compartment within ten minutes. It's pretty scary!
can't say i've heard about mini fires. and glad this was a small one.
For getting the pix off your phone, send a text message/multimedia message with the picture attached to your email address. It might come through as a mime attachment. just rename it .jpg and you're ready to go ... or at least, that's how i save my phone pix from my cingular phone
Well done for acting so quickly, this is the reason all my cars carry a fire extingiusher.
If you are looking out for an extinguisher then the best to go for are Marine Extinguishers, they are good on electrics and fuel (powder type), I can vouch for the fact they put out an alight gas canister and a friends leg (don`t ask).
Chris asked me to visit his car at MINI of Peabody and take some pictures, which I was happy to do.
Because Chris was able to extinguish and mostly "save" the car, it's very easy to see where the damage originated ...
Are you kidding? It was the perfect excuse for Ian to run over to MoP for his daily visit.
All joking aside, those are some scary pictures. I'm sorry to read/see this and am happy that neither you nor your son were in the car or injured. Very lucky indeed. You'll be in good hands at Peabody.
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I'm sorry to read/see this and am happy that neither you nor your son were in the car or injured. Very lucky indeed. You'll be in good hands at Peabody. 
