Handbrake Failure

[iantowers]

Has anyone ever had this happen?
Our mini is 6 days old and this morning when my good lady dipped the clutch to start the car it rolled back into the house making a real mess of the back of the car. we tried the handbrake but it could not be pulled on anymore yet it seems fine now. the car had been driven 7 miles before it was parked and has only done 120 in total.
IS THIS COMMON........................ Really upset as it is 20 years since my 1275 GT was sold and looking forward to this one, Cooper S model if it makes a difference
Thanks Ian

[Restyle]

This is a pretty common complaint but Not just with MINIs.
You just cant trust the handbrake alone to hold the car on a slope.
When you parked up & applied it, the discs were probably hot & in an expanded state.
When they cooled down & contracted, the pads would not be touching them with as much force & so releasing it out of gear would make it roll.
With just 120 miles on the clock the brakes would not have had time to bed in properly which makes it even more prone to happen.
I always hold the car on the clutch when releasing the handbrake to prevent any such roll.

However, those points aside, I`d get on to the dealer & complain about the poor HandBrake & demand they put right the damage

Welcome to MINI2

[MetalMini]

Hi Ian

Yep, happened to me in my new 07 Cooper S manual, after the car having done just 400 miles. Parked it up at work at 9 am, about 4 in the afternoon some guy came and fetched me, and told me my mini had decided to nestle itself into a huge great stack of wooden pallets!!, happened right in front of his eyes, after being parked for 7 hours on an incline
Unbelievably lucky though, only caused miner bumper damage, if the whole stack had fallen,the car would probably be wrote off......
As restyle has quoted, its not just Mini's that suffer from this problem. All i can say Ian, is leave it in gear,dont trust the handbrake, i know that sounds daft but i didn't and nearly paid the ultimate penalty, the arguments about leaving it in gear or just relying on the handbrake, can be discussed until the cows come home (and have been loads of times on the forums), but at the end of the day, i was in the camp that the handbrake should do its job, and you shouldn't need to leave it in gear, but not anymore, it took me a while to get used to leaving it in gear, as i have never done it before, but its like second nature now.
Hopefully something positive for you though. I took the car back to the dealers, and they were superb, they checked the handbrake out, couldn't find a thing wrong with it , but said they would repair the damage as a goodwill gesture, so if you want something positive, my experience with the dealer was a good one, and fingers crossed hopefully your will be...

Good luck!

[SiBradbury]

Yep. There have been loads of really heated arguements here about handbrakes!! Sadly at the end of the day, you can't beat the physics of expansion and contraction so get in the habit of leaving your mini in gear. And even more importanty, the habit of taking it out of gear when you start your car!!

[KenL]

It says in the R56 manual to leave the car in gear.

As you cannot start the car without pressing the clutch, leave it in gear

[iantowers]

Thanks everyone, the car was in gear but when it was started the clutch was pressed down and whilst trying to look for the button it rollled on the sly!
No nice offers from the dealer tho just a quote!
Its at a different bodyshop now and I shall ask Mini direct for a contribution

[SiBradbury]

Quote: Originally Posted by iantowers (original)

Thanks everyone, the car was in gear but when it was started the clutch was pressed down and whilst trying to look for the button it rollled on the sly!
No nice offers from the dealer tho just a quote!
Its at a different bodyshop now and I shall ask Mini direct for a contribution

I think if someone was actually in the car at the time you'd be unlikely to get any offers from the dealer to be honest! They'll probably just say "erm, its the pedal in the middle mate" or something like that

[KenL]

Did the person not notice the car rolling and stamp on the brake?

[mdesmond]

With the handbrake fully engaged and the car in gear (I have witnesses), my 2009 mini S rolled down a light hill, in a school parking lot, and hit another car.
There is extensive damage to the mini and minor damage to the other vehicle. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

If this has happened to other U.S. residents, please report this to the U.S. Safety Admin. They have a web site at: Recalls & Defects | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

This is for everyone's safety.