[kateb]

Hi everybody.....

Am trying to make sense of a recent accident in our 64 mini countryman sd all4.

Brief description of incident...
Approaching tolls, foot off acc. while checking which lane to use, went to brake at the chosen lane only to find no brakes at all!!! Repeatedly pressed pedal, which had no resistance, and crashed straight into the back of a stationary car in front. The cruise control was on at the time.

Had it accessed twice, once by independent accessor and again by bmw dealer....they both say brakes working fine and no other management system issues found.

HAD MY WHOLE FAMILY IN THE CAR!!! Thank god it was not worse and only wipelash injuries sustained! Please help.....tia x

 

[The Nun]

Well strangely enough I happened to be doing some work in a MINI dealership a year or so back and they had a MINI that had failed to stop due to lost braking as reported by the driver and the mechanics said they could find nothing wrong at all, so there obviously something happening that causes it as a one off?
Cruise control should not affect the braking at all and will drop out immediately you touch the brake or clutch pedal.

Did the pedal go right to the floor with no feel at all, or still felt solid but did nothing??

The brakes are dual circuit so it should be impossible to have none at all, unless something is wrong with the ABS unit maybe where all the pipe go through??

The ABS unit is designed to release the brakes and pulse them if it detects a skid, I suppose if there was a fault there and it released the brakes but didnt pulse them then you would have no brakes??

Was the road surface dry when it happened?

 

[kateb]

The pedal went to the floor with no resistance and it was pumped repeatedly with no change. Was cold and the road was dry.

Very scary.....seems to be happening all too often. £10K damage to the mini in the crash and I don't want it back!::frown::

 

[The Nun]

Obviously a serious fault somewhere then if the pedal went to the floor, no warning light showed up?
Not much good them saying its all fine when obviously its not and like you say youre worried about driving it again in case it happens when youre in a much more difficult situation.
If they cant find the issue then I would have thought they need to replace the whole system for you as the cars virtually new still.
Next time it might mean youre not around to tell them what happened.

I dont think I would be very confident taking it away with just their say so theres nothing wrong either, have you written/contacted MINI directly to tell them about what happened?
Its hardly something they can just brush off lightly its a very serious situation youve had?

 

[kateb]

Nope...no warning lights...nothing to indicate there was a problem. It's a leased company car so it's causing all sorts of problems with communicating that we don't want it, don't want it going back into the pool for some other poor *** to drive, different people to talk to re lease, insurance etc. So to answer your question, no...as yet we have not contacted mini in writing.

 

[The Nun]

Well I think MINI need to know directly, it could be a faulty batch of components, you dont want to be driving a car around wondering if its going to stop next time do you, nobody does.
They havent found anything amiss so theres no saying it wont happen again tomorrow, next week, next year
You could end up in a situation like those runaway lorries up North mounting the pavement and knocking someone down, doesnt bear thinking about does it.

Its a brand new car, Ive heard of such a thing happening once before, and now yours, it will be interesting to see if this brings anymore to light now?

Doesnt help your situation much, but at least its a company car lease and as such they ought to have more clout with MINI say than a lone member of the public.

 

[Index]

Mr dexter

I have come across this thread as I was looking to see if anyone else had encountered a similiar problem
Last weekend I was in a motorway accident due to cruise control not deactivating when the brakes were applied
This is my partners vehicle , I don't drive it very often, and was playing with its features , cruise control
I use c c in my own vehicle all the time
This is a 2014 Mini Cooper sd, my partner only purchased in sept last year, 9 months, and I don't want this vehicle back
I too, had no resistance when pressing the brakes

 

[Index]

I have come across this thread as I was looking to see if anyone else had encountered a similiar problem
Last weekend I was in a motorway accident due to cruise control not deactivating when the brakes were applied
This is my partners vehicle , I don't drive it very often, and was playing with its features , cruise control
I use c c in my own vehicle all the time
This is a 2014 Mini Cooper sd, my partner only purchased in sept last year, 9 months, and I don't want this vehicle back
I too, had no resistance when pressing the brakes

Full version of events, I was travelling at 70mph in the outside lane when a van pulled out of the middle lane into the O/S lane
I had plenty of time to react, and when depressing the brakes, I had no reaction from the car, I just continued to gain on the van in front of me
A split second from impact with the van in front, I pulled the handbrake and ended up careering across all 3 lanes of the motorway until I hit the barrier on the hard shoulder at approx 20mph, front end drivers side, yet no air bags deployed either
It was a miracle no one else was involved
This car went back to mini after owning it for a month, with issues to parking sensors randomly beeping, and the horn not working.
I don't want my partner or child in this car once repairs are complete, yet i fear we will get nowhere after reading the above thread

 

[Index]

Hi
Please log in to your threads , I would very much like to know if you had an update to offer

 

[Index]

Can you please take a look into the below and advise?

 

[Mini15s]

Hi everybody.....

Am trying to make sense of a recent accident in our 64 mini countryman sd all4.

Brief description of incident...
Approaching tolls, foot off acc. while checking which lane to use, went to brake at the chosen lane only to find no brakes at all!!! Repeatedly pressed pedal, which had no resistance, and crashed straight into the back of a stationary car in front. The cruise control was on at the time.

Had it accessed twice, once by independent accessor and again by bmw dealer....they both say brakes working fine and no other management system issues found.

HAD MY WHOLE FAMILY IN THE CAR!!! Thank god it was not worse and only wipelash injuries sustained! Please help.....tia x

Hi I have had same problem 18May16 brake pedal went to floor and hit a building, Mini said braikes didnt fail according to computer, can you tell me more about your vehicle and disposition. Im pushing to get mini to take car back. Talking to VP Cust Relations not giving up. Can we talk?

 

[Mini15s]

Additional info on person that lost brakes at toll booth, can you contact me

Hi I have had same problem 18May16 brake pedal went to floor and hit a building, Mini said braikes didnt fail according to computer, can you tell me more about your vehicle and disposition. Im pushing to get mini to take car back. Talking to VP Cust Relations not giving up. Can we talk?

Can you contact me [email protected] I want to use your experience to convince BMW MINI this problem exists.

 

[J Houghton]

Can you contact me [email protected] I want to use your experience to convince BMW MINI this problem exists.

Hello I have had 2 major brake incidents in my 2014 Mini Cooper. The first incident was April 2015 I was driving at slow speed and pressed the brake pedal to stop at the junction. The brake pedal went straight to the floor without any resistance and I had to stop the car with the hand brake. Mini roadside assist took my car on a transporter to the dealership and on inspection they informed me that the brake pipe had completely severed, they said they had never heard of any other incident like this. They replaced the brake pipe and told me that it must have been severed by a stone. I disagreed so they then suggested that a rodent may have chewed through the pipe while parked on my drive. How ridiculous I argued but they said BMW had inspected the pipe and this was their response. On the second occasion(May 2016) I was driving at 30 mph in a built up area and again my foot went right to the floor and god knows how but I stopped the car on a side road using gears and the hand brake. Mini assist took the car on a transporter and the MINI dealership manager came out while I was waiting for the transporter. The dealership said they have never known any such problem and cannot believe this has happened to me twice. I am currently driving a BMW mini loan car and they have had my car in the garage for 10 weeks. The brake pipe is currently somewhere in Germany under forensic investigation. I am still waiting for their final report/decision as to what caused this to happen to me twice. The manager of the dealership has no further information until BMW they send their report.

 

[ahfa1987]

This thread is very scary stuff and very disturbing to hear. My wife and I recently purchased a 2014 cooper S and I am extremely concerned now. Mine if I ask are you guys driving automatic or manual (to the ones that this disaster is happening to). Also it seems to me that no one really got a satisfying outcome and resolution to this.

 

[Leebob]

Hi everybody.....

Am trying to make sense of a recent accident in our 64 mini countryman sd all4.

Brief description of incident...
Approaching tolls, foot off acc. while checking which lane to use, went to brake at the chosen lane only to find no brakes at all!!! Repeatedly pressed pedal, which had no resistance, and crashed straight into the back of a stationary car in front. The cruise control was on at the time.

Had it accessed twice, once by independent accessor and again by bmw dealer....they both say brakes working fine and no other management system issues found.

HAD MY WHOLE FAMILY IN THE CAR!!! Thank god it was not worse and only wipelash injuries sustained! Please help.....tia x

Hi,

Just had a similar incident last week, 2012

Hi everybody.....

Am trying to make sense of a recent accident in our 64 mini countryman sd all4.

Brief description of incident...
Approaching tolls, foot off acc. while checking which lane to use, went to brake at the chosen lane only to find no brakes at all!!! Repeatedly pressed pedal, which had no resistance, and crashed straight into the back of a stationary car in front. The cruise control was on at the time.

Had it accessed twice, once by independent accessor and again by bmw dealer....they both say brakes working fine and no other management system issues found.

HAD MY WHOLE FAMILY IN THE CAR!!! Thank god it was not worse and only wipelash injuries sustained! Please help.....tia x

Hi, had the same type of incident this week, 2012 Mini Countryman Cooper D, Manual, playing with the cruise control on the motorway, but the cruise control would work, the green light came on indicating it was active, though nothing of it just carried on.
Came off the M6 at the next junction, pulled to the right hand lane towards a parked car at the lights,, pressed the brakes, nothing, peddle went all the way to the floor, only at 20mph, but hard impact and both cars are now written off.
Questioned myself all week about if I pressed the clutch peddle, but would have to have crossed my feet to do so.
At the time just made sure everybody was OK, we needed an ambulance for my partner, so this was my main concern.
The reason I questioned myself was i had recently purchased another car which was automatic, hence me thinking i pressed the clutch, but this seems impossible, with my other foot being in the way
Reading through this forum, it seems to be related around the cruise control
Any advise what to do next ?

Thanks Lee

 

[Leebob]

Hi,

Just had a similar incident last week, 2012


Hi, had the same type of incident this week, 2012 Mini Countryman Cooper D, Manual, playing with the cruise control on the motorway, but the cruise control would work, the green light came on indicating it was active, though nothing of it just carried on.
Came off the M6 at the next junction, pulled to the right hand lane towards a parked car at the lights,, pressed the brakes, nothing, peddle went all the way to the floor, only at 20mph, but hard impact and both cars are now written off.
Questioned myself all week about if I pressed the clutch peddle, but would have to have crossed my feet to do so.
At the time just made sure everybody was OK, we needed an ambulance for my partner, so this was my main concern.
The reason I questioned myself was i had recently purchased another car which was automatic, hence me thinking i pressed the clutch, but this seems impossible, with my other foot being in the way
Reading through this forum, it seems to be related around the cruise control
Any advise what to do next ?

Thanks Lee

Sorry,

Just read through my thread, the cruise control didn't activate, just the light came on, just thought it was faulty and thought nothing of it.

 

[Jedi-countryman]

Hi everybody.....

Am trying to make sense of a recent accident in our 64 mini countryman sd all4.

Brief description of incident...
Approaching tolls, foot off acc. while checking which lane to use, went to brake at the chosen lane only to find no brakes at all!!! Repeatedly pressed pedal, which had no resistance, and crashed straight into the back of a stationary car in front. The cruise control was on at the time.

Had it accessed twice, once by independent accessor and again by bmw dealer....they both say brakes working fine and no other management system issues found.

HAD MY WHOLE FAMILY IN THE CAR!!! Thank god it was not worse and only wipelash injuries sustained! Please help.....tia x

 

[Jedi-countryman]

Hi -this past month we experienced a brake failure in our 2015 SD all4 countryman. Approaching a roundabout brakes did not respond at all. Got car picked up to local garage. Very experienced mechanic there eventually said issue likely to one or both of the vacuum pump / brake servo. He did say that he had never seen such a young car with low mileage (24k) have such an issue! Had to get car moved to mini Stirling. After a week they diagnosed the failure to be in the brake servo. Repair would cost ~£850 with mini paying just over 50% good will given unlikely nature of failure. While fixing this, mini Stirling found the vacuum pump had failed and had contaminated the brake servo with oil - which was there root cause of that failure. The bill increased to over £2500!! Mini offered £1000 for parts (of course they cost mini much less money!) but I am fighting this as they refuse to pay any labour. The fault could have resulted in a very bad situation just as other posts tk this thread have shown, or even worse. The service manager I am dealing with at mini Stirling says he has not seen this in his career. The experience mechanic I mentioned previously has seen it but in cars over 12 years old and with well over 100k miles. This is a significant safety issue. These parts should not be failing. Apparently the parts are a nightmare to fit (dealer comments). I intend to take this matter to motoring press and through legal route.

 

[MiniOrange]

3 times the brakes have failed in our 2017 Mini, pedal straight to the floor. First two in slow moving traffic, small bump into the car in front. The last one, yesterday was moving faster but luckily with very little traffic, releasing and reapplying activated the brakes.

 

[JaneDulwich]

Hi everybody.....

Am trying to make sense of a recent accident in our 64 mini countryman sd all4.

Brief description of incident...
Approaching tolls, foot off acc. while checking which lane to use, went to brake at the chosen lane only to find no brakes at all!!! Repeatedly pressed pedal, which had no resistance, and crashed straight into the back of a stationary car in front. The cruise control was on at the time.

Had it accessed twice, once by independent accessor and again by bmw dealer....they both say brakes working fine and no other management system issues found.

HAD MY WHOLE FAMILY IN THE CAR!!! Thank god it was not worse and only wipelash injuries sustained! Please help.....tia x

Hi there

Very worried to see these posts...after having a very similar and frightening experience in my 2018 Mini Cooper yesterday. I was driving in quite heavy traffic yesterday when I pressed the brake and it met no resistance at all and went flat to the floor with no effect. I swerved to avoid the car in front but hit the curb and tyre blew

Police who were in a police car that happened to have been right behind me told me this could have resulted in me being disqualified for dangerous driving ...because when they sat in the car afterwards and tested the brake it seemed to work perfectly...

But I did nothing wrong...other than hit the brake that didnt work...