Car-B-Q

[ChrisK]

Had an interesting problem last week; my MINI burst into flames. I had been driving for about 30 minutes when I smelled coolant and noticed the temperature guage was pegged so I immediately turned on the heat to max and tried to get over to the side of the road. There had been no prior indication of overheating and I hadn't had any problems recently. By the time I was able to get to the side of the road, about 2-3 minutes, the car was filled with oily smoke and a small flame was coming out of the rear of the hood on the passenger side. Within minutes of gettin to the side of the road and getting out the car was completely engulfed.

Now I've been in cars tht have overheated and never had this happen. I have also had a history of overheating and related problems. Within the first year the power steering fan went which caused the radiator fan to also go. The next year the radiator fan went and last summer the air conditioner fan went. I wonder whether overheating caused the fire or if there was an electrical problem that started the fire and caused the overheating. I doubt the insurance company will investigate that closely so I'll probably never know,

After this long winded prelude my question is how many people have had overheating problems or problems with the various fan motors?

[Al]

Whoa!!! Too much excitement for me!!!

I've never had the temp-meter anywhere other than centered.

[dakini]

Take a look at what Salem Mini Driver had happen this past week.

http://www.mini2.com/forum/faults-fi...er-s-fire.html

The placement of your flames seems to match his. I really hope this isn't a trend developing

sorry this happened to you

[Capsaisin]

Where you driving in slow traffic?
Similar thing happened to me many years ago driving in town. The radiator electric fan actually siezed, so the radiator overheated and the coolant started to boil. At the same time, the fan was still drawing electrical current and so thick black smoke started coming out of the engine compartment. Fortunately I had the presence of mind and opportunity to immediately switch off the engine. The fan was only powered with the engine running, or I am sure it would have burst into flames.

[ChrisK]

I was in bumper to bumper traffic all the way up the entrance ramp but it was 9:00 PM and it wasn't hot out. Other than the past problems I hadn't had any overheat trouble lately. I was in a middle lane and there was no shoulder so it took me a few minutes to get over. I did shut off the engine and take the keys. The insurance company is looking at it now and I will be calling MINI USA.

I am still considering a new MINI. Mine was one of the first Cooper S to be built in '02 so I hope some of the problems I've had can be chaulked up to initial production problems. Although I don't remember checking the self immolation option at the dealership.

[SalemMINIDriver]

My condolences regarding your fire. Mine occurred two weeks ago, and MINI-free motoring has been mostly not fun. You describe very different curcumstances other than where flames first appeared from outside the vehicle. With the help of a bystander, I put had the fire put out within 30 seconds, so it is obvious that the fire originated from the ABS/DSC actuator located just underneath the vent that you mentioned. My car was parked with the ignition switched off at the time. A fire reported on NAM seems closer to what happened to my car: http://northamericanmotoring.com/for...tragedy+struck.

[ChrisK]

Here are the results of this whole ordeal.
- Decided against a new MINI although I will miss it.
- Geico was great and offerred me a very fair settlement. The MINI really holds its value.
- BMWUSA couldn't care less.

Let me explain a little more about the last point. After the insurance adjuster had looked at the car and it had been trucked to the salvage yard I contacted BMW USA Service to let them know wat happened. After establishing that no one was hurt and insurance was taking care of the car they simply said they hadn't heard of this before and that was that. I suggested that they might want to send an engineer to inspect the vehical and I was told that they normally don't do that. When I insisted they relucently agreed. It's that attitude that that really discourages me. Sites like MINI2 show how much support the MINI has among its owners and admirers. I've been to several MINI events and gushed about the car to all who asked. It's a shame that BMW dosn't care about its products as much.

[pnut_jet]

Chris, do you know the cause of the fire? How many miles were on your car? From one of your posts I gathered that it was an '02 build.

From the location you describe, it sounds like a faulty ABS control module. I also had a fire in my MINI, shortly after yours. Luckily mine was saved by a fire extinguisher and she's fine now. I just wonder how long I have until the next one strikes...

Here's my current tally of MINI fires, with links to sources where possible:

(#1) '02 MCS (Scooter) burned in CA '05, totalled, cause determined to be ABS control unit, parked, 60K+ miles; original fire thread

(#2) '04 MCS burned CA time unknown, saved by fire extinguisher, cause determined to be faulty power steering unit, parked, 34K+ miles;

(#3) '03 MCS (MyTMaus) burned VA May '06, totalled, cause suspected to be ABS control unit, driving, 90K+ miles; info here

(#4) '04 MCS burned MA Nov '04, saved, caused by faulty ABS control unit, 33K miles; info here

(#5) '03 MCS (Peanut) burned CA May '06, saved by fire extinguisher, cause determined to be faulty power steering module, 61K miles; info here, post #57

(#6) '03 MC(S?) burned NY April 29, 2006, saved by water from garden hose, cause determined to be power steering unit, parked, unknown miles (from the story it appears to still be under warranty) Jujubee's post and a little more detail here. (scroll down the page to find Jujubee's post)

(#7) '03 MC burned CA May '06, saved by fire extinguisher, caused by faulty power steering unit, don't know if it was parked but given the small amount of damage it was most likely parked, 36K miles; heard about it from my Motoring Advisor this afternoon when I stopped in to check on Peanut.

(#8) '03 MCS burned CA June '06, saved by fire extinguisher, caused by faulty power steering unit, while driving, unknown miles; see post at the top of page 6 here.

(#9) '02 MCS burned NY April '06, totalled, caused appears to be faulty ABS control unit given the location of fire, while driving, unknown miles; posted on MINI2 here.

How many more until MINI pays attention?????

[ChrisK]

Great list.

Mine had 60K miles and no modifications. With the exception of new tires and a break job I only had it serviced at the dealer. I have had a collection of electrical problems since the car was a year old. The first was the power steering fan which shares a breaker with the radiator fan so my car overheated. The next year the radiator fan itself went causing another overheat. And last year the air conditioner went and I got to enjoy a Long Island summer without AC.

Since last year I haven't had amy problems and the accident happened at night when it wasn't very hot or humid. I had been driving for about 30 minutes and had no indication of trouble until I smelled coolent and black smoke started coming out of the engine.

MINI claims they never heard of anything like this and I had to talk them into even sending an engineer to investigate. From your list and what I've found in the net it looks like it's only happened on older models so far. Hopefully they've fixed the problems on the new models.

One good thing I can say is that the car really holds its value based on what the insurance company gave me.

[wow]

YouTube - BMW Mini's Explosive Performance, Burning Man!

I had a 02 Cooper that caught alight. It was saved by a dustbin of water by there was damage to the amount of $5000. BMW said it was the aftermarket sound i had installed. I think it was because my mini was a dud.