You know, the fact still remains that they fixed your car without you authorising the fix. You could have had this fixed at a greatly reduced cost for the pump via MINIMANIAUK, whilst supporting a MINI2.com sponsor!
Get an exact quote from MINIMANIAUK for the work (it will be less) and tell BMW to either:
Reinstall your original pump, at no cost to you - as you did not authorise the fix.
Mini Uk have come back to me initially offering to pay 50% parts and 50% labour as a goodwill payment. They hadn't quite grasped that my issue was not just about how much it was going to cost me to have my car repaired but the fact that I was being charged for a part that was causing problems for many mini owners and was extremely dangerous. I phoned mini Uk to explain that I have no issue with paying people for their time (mechanics, etc) I do however have a problem paying for a fault they had tried to play down as something that wasn't a wide spread issue. They agreed to pay 100% for the part and I agreed to pay 100% for the labour. If I was trying to get it for free I would have kept pushing for it, but people need to get paid for the job they do so I'm more than happy to pay a BMW / Mini mechanic for his/her time. All in all, happy with the result. Ended up costing £65 for the investigation and £70 labour for the part to be fitted.
Hi, i have my mini one, with 74000 km i changed two times steering pump, the first one, just the fist month, and the second one was dic 2007, but the last one is that my fu... transmission is broken, at 30 kmph, more or less 20mph, but i have a mystake, when they changed the steering, they unmounted some shaft? i think they dont do a good work, what do you think? thank you, what i can see when they unmount all the syste to check it? im really ungry, because it cost me 5k usd =(
Buenos dias, mi Amigo! (sorry if that was all wrong, I thought I'd at least give it a try )
It sounds like you're having a bit of a tough time. I'm afraid I don't really know anything about the transmission - perhaps you could do a search for "gearbox failure" on the forums? These are a few that seem a little relevant, particularly I think you'll want to find a deal like the third one, but more local to you:
Also (judging by your profile flag, this might be helpful), there's a Mexican forum - so perhaps someone knows a good place local to you to get the car looked at?
After a nice long 'discussion' with Bowker i ended up having to pay for a diagnostic and they removed the new pump and dumped my old one in the boot. So now ive taking it to this guy i know to see how much it will set me back. Never going back to Bowker in Preston.
Was driving into work this morning and suddenly with no warning the steering went. It was very difficult to turn corners or park. This is the second time it happened (once in January) and will get it checked out by the Mini garage in Stevenage.
Rang them and the engineer said he is not aware of this problem and will not accept responsibility for fault without diagnostic check.
Will keep you posted but really worried that this is a known issue amongst forum members but no acknowledgement from Mini.
BMW and their dealerships are very well aware of this problem - anything they claim to the contrary is simply not true.
However, whether the VOSA can do anything about this issue is another thing entirely, as explained by Adam at MiniManiaUK:
How to approach the dealership with the aim to getting financial assistance in fixing your power steering failure:
If when the steering is very heavy, you notice an absence of the MINI's characteristic whine from the engine compartment, then it's quite probably that your Power Steering Pump has failed. This is a common problem on MINIs and MINI2.com has an exhaustive list of owners who have had this problem - and how they dealt with it - right here in this very thread!
If your car is in warranty, simply tell them to fix it.
If your car is out of warranty, but still has relatively low mileage, then here is what to do:
Write a letter to your local dealer (addressed to the Service Manager), and in this letter you will want to detail the following:
You believe your power steering pump has failed (as noticed by an absence of whine from the engine compartment when the steering wheel becomes extremely heavy).
You believe that this failure makes the car dangerous to drive. You love your MINI very much and it distresses you that you are unable to enjoy your MINI ownership.
The car is only recently out of warranty and given that it is a low-mileage vehicle, you believe this component to have failed prematurely.
You are a member of a MINI Enthusiast Community and you are aware that this is a common problem with the MINI (more than half the cars surveyed have had a PSP failure - note: some had a failure after they'd already voted, me included) and that this is recognised by BMW.
To your personal taste, you may or may not want to let on at this point that you are aware BMW are in talks with the VOSA on this exact issue. It might be too strong a card to play up front - so it's your call.
You request that your dealership contact MINI UK on your behalf to arrange provisions for the repair on the basis that the component has prematurely failed.
Ring the dealer and book an appointment.
Take the car in and drop off both the keys and the letter.
When the dealer diagnoses the problem and contacts MINI UK the absolute best possible outcome for you is:
MINI UK will give you a new power steering pump for free (i.e. 100% parts cover)
MINI UK will pay half the costs for installation (i.e. 50% labour)
Having made a contribution towards the replacement of your power steering pump (about £70 seems normal, but this can be anywhere from £40-110), you will now have a 2-year warranty on the component - starting from the date of installation.
Drive home happy.
If your dealership says that MINI UK rejected your claim (i.e. wandered out into a back room and came back 10 minutes later), some on here have suggested that it is a good idea to contact MINI UK directly yourself and see if a technical claim was actually processed on your car by the dealership. It actually takes time for MINI UK to review each case and decide whether or not to make an offer of assistance with the fix. If your dealership hasn't processed your claim to MINI UK (dealerships earn more from work that isn't partially covered by the manufacturer - as the manufacturer pays a greatly reduced rate to the dealership), you can go back to your dealership knowing exactly what actions they did (or didn't) take.
MINI UK won't help me, what should I do?
If there is absolutely no way you can get a claim processed through MINI UK then there are cheaper options for repair than using the main dealerships for parts and fitting. I recommend the MINI2.com sponsor MiniManiaUK (run by Adam) as not only are their prices excellent, but the after-sales service is superb. MiniManiaUK Power Steering Products:
Power Steering Rack - reconditioned (click here) Power Steering Pump - reconditioned (click here)
And this additional related product also looks like it would be helpful:
At this point, I need to call upon someone more technically-minded to advise us on the distinction between the power steering rack and power steering pump - as I had previously thought the names were interchangeable and referred to the same component. So here we go:
Is there anything I can do myself to stop the pump from failing again?
I'm glad you asked - yes there is!
For a detailed description on how you can maintain your power steering pump to ensure longevity in your new pump, here are some fabulous instructions, again from Adam at MiniManiaUK (gathered into one post by me, but follow the links there to the originals, which include pictures):
I dont quite understand the £65 "diagnostic" charge - You take your car in with a power steering pump intermittent failure and the dealer tells you that the power steering pump is intermittent??? then charges you £65 for it !!!!!
What exactly are they diagnosing? if the fluid has not dropped level and the fuse is ok (2minute job to check both) then what are they diagnosing?
If the wiring was burnt out -it is due the pump failing
if the fuse was blown -it is due the pump failing
if the steering rack seals gone -it is due the pump failing
if it is noisy-it is due the pump failing
If you were unfortunate enough to have a leak on the steering rack pipes and or unions -lost all your fluid and was running the pump with no fluid -then guess what happens to the pump ?
it fails!!!!
Someone could start a telephone diagnostic service for MINI power steering failures- you ring up and an answer machine says "its your pump" ,"that will be £5 "
Has anyone actually had a PAS pump failure that wasnt the pump?
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to MINIMANIAUK For This Useful Post:
Good news! Got my car fixed yesterday by Mini and they agreed to pay for the part and 50% of the labour costs. I agreed to pay towards it as now the part it is under warranty for 2 years.
52 plate Cooper, 85K on the clock, 1 screaming row with MINI UK, 1 diagnostic at local dealer, one goodwill request from them...
1 p*** poor offer of 50% of the parts, 1 far more reasonable conversation with MINI UK and now free parts!!
Now, its also worth noting that my service rep tells me that the wiring harness is corroded - this ties up with previous poster's service rep that says that this is actually the fundamental cause of the problem...
My tips? Have you had any of the other common failures (like I have)? So gearboxes, the airbag warning light thing? Make sure you mention those too, let them know that you know your stuff.
Be sure to hint that you either know about the VOSA investigation or have even contacted them directly (I emailed them and haven't had a response yet, so telling them I'd been in contact wasn't technically a lie...)
Remember that there are reconditioners out there (about 180 quid on ebay), second hand parts (I've only spoken to one breaker and was quoted £125) and, having the odd contact or seven in the aftermaket industry I'm waiting on information about supply of OEM standard parts from the factors - I'll keep you posted!!
So all in all, the message is - MINI *will* roll over if you keep on at them *regardless* of the age of the car or its mileage. DO NOT GIVE UP!!! Keep pestering them until they give you the deal you want.
I reckon that if I had the time and effort to expend on them I could get the lot for nothing but I can't justify the effort and the ache in my arms...
Good luck to all others who have this failure... I just wish I had tried it on with the gearbox... they quoted me about 3 grand and just laughed and walked out and got a recon one for 495 fitted by my trusted indy for 400...
Wow - I'm surprised you did so well considering the age and mileage on your MINI! Congratulations!
However, I would advise the MINI2 community against having a "screaming row" with your Dealer or MINI UK. If I was in their shoes, a polite-but-firm and well-informed customer would get a better response than one who screaming at me.
LinkBack to this Thread: http://www.mini2.com/forum/first-generation-faults-fixes/49527-important-have-you-had-power-steering-pump-failure-please-vote-yes-no.html
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Not good from the Dealership - well, at least now you're clear of them. Here's a good place to source parts and support a MINI2.com sponsor:
The Up-to-date Power Steering Pump Advice Post 
