2016 Mini Cooper Convertible problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Exterior Lighting (4) · Service Brakes (2) · Structure (1)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Mini Cooper Convertible model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (3)
Exterior Lighting:brake Lights 2017-03-31 · campaign 17V222000 · 16,883 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2016-2017 MINI Cooper Clubman, Cooper S Clubman and JCW Clubman vehicles. When the affected vehicles are braking and the turn signals are on, the inner, bumper-mounted, brake light will go out. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
Risk: If the brake light does not illuminate when a turn signal is activated, other drivers may be confused, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: MINI will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the vehicle to correct the brake lighting, free of charge. The recall began May 22, 2017. Owners may contact MINI customer service at 1-866-825-1525.
Seat Belts:front:retractor 2016-10-17 · campaign 16V747000 · 15,455 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 X1 sDrive28i, X1 xDrive28i, MINI Hardtop 4 Door Cooper, Mini Hardtop 4 Door Cooper S, MINI Cooper Clubman, and Cooper S Clubman, 2017 Rolls-Royce Ghost, and 2016 528i vehicles. The vehicle-sensitive locking mechanism of the seat belt Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) for the driver's seat may not lock as designed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (F
Risk: In the event of a crash where heavy braking is applied, the Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) may activate when the occupant is more forward in the seat, possibly increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's seat belt assembly, free of charge. The recall began July 3, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Steering:gear Box (Other Than Rack And Pinion) 2015-12-30 · campaign 15V887000 · 2 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling one model year 2016 MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Door vehicle manufactured November 24, 2015, and one BMW X1 Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) manufactured October, 19 2015. The steering gearbox may have been manufactured with incorrect parts.
Risk: A gearbox malfunction may cause a loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: BMW will replace the steering gearbox, free of charge. Affected vehicles are located in dealer inventory and will be remedied before customer retail. The recall began on December 28, 2015. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.
Service bulletins (251)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Visibility:sun/Moon Roof Assembly 2019-09-01 · M540219 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
rattle noise from sunroof while driving: a rattle noise is present from the sunroof while driving only with the sunroof glass in the closed position.
Visibility:sun/Moon Roof Assembly 2019-09-01 · M540119 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
sunroof will not open: the sunroof does not move and the vehicle has no faults stored related to the sunroof. a software error in the fzd (roof function center).
Seats:front Assembly:power Adjust 2019-09-01 · M520119 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
noise during forward/back seat adjustment over the entire length of travel: a loud screeching noise can be heard from the front driver's or passenger's seat during forward/back seat adjustment.
Structure:body:door:hinge And Attachments 2019-09-01 · M510319 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
rattle from front door: a rattle noise is present from the door while driving most commonly when driving over rough roads.
Equipment 2019-08-01 · M650219 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
security improvements for head units. security patches for non-safety critical vulnerabilities in mini head units entry nav entry media nbt and nbt evo.
Equipment 2019-08-01 · M130119 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
lin bus communication fault for environmental air catalyst (eac) sensor fc1b8302. the malfunction indicator lamp light is on (mil) with the following fault code stored in the dme.
Showing the 6 most recent of 251 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-11-19 · Engine“the environmental air catalyst (eac) sensor on my 2016 mini failed two years ago when i had only 25,000 miles on the car. (the car now has 30,200 miles on it; i do not drive it very much). nhtsa worked with mini/bmw several years ago, and mini extended a limited warranty for this sensor to 15 years/150,000 miles, but only for cooper "s" models. …”
2018-04-25 · Exterior Lighting“rear brake lights..it comes with 3 small brake lights ...two on bumper & one on top scoop, all relatively small. the main two are much bigger but are only used for driving lights & turn signal. 'it makes no sense '. this needs to be corrected, right ?…”
2017-11-15 · Service Brakes · 9,300 mi“brake pedal at same level as gas pedal at times ( they are close together) my shoe on the brake also hits the gas to excellerate pressing jarred in a panic will stop the car and i will put it in neutral city street or hi-way in motion…”
2017-06-07 · Power Train · 12,800 mi“drivetrain malfunction light flashes for a few seconds and then goes away. driving on i-85 s june 5, 2017 warning appeared for a few seconds then disappeared.…”
2017-02-23 · Seat Belts“constant replacing of the seat belts. currently back seat belt not working again serious saftey hazard . no longer receiving a response from the dealer. cannot ride a certain amount of passengers in the rear. have taken the car back multiple times…”
2017-02-08 · Unknown Or Other“base model blue tooth telephone interface without on-board voice control disables phone hands free function (e.g "siri" on iphone) inviting distraction to use phone functions. common also on similarly equipped bmw models. this was not the case with earlier year models with similar equipment.…”
2016-10-23 · Unknown Or Other · 6,000 mi“we purchased this all-new model in march 2016 and have been unable to ascertain a crashworthiness rating through your administration or the iihs. i once assumed that these tests were conducted prior to the public sale of automobiles. how long must a consumer wait for a test to be conducted? the insurance companies seem to depend heavily on these ev…”
2016-10-18 · Structure“after my car was involved in an accident i was made aware that the mini vin number indicates that my mini is a 2 door model in most data resources for evaluation purposes. but i have the mini 4 door hardtop model! how could that not be indicated with a 4d instead of the 2d in this models vin #? *tr…”
2016-07-31 · Unknown Or Other · 850 mi“twice since buying my car in may if 2016 i have badly burned my leg on the tailpipe while getting bags out of the trunk. i was not even reaching into the trunk particularly deeply. the tailpipe protrudes beyond the bumper and it is very easy to inadvertently bump it with one's leg if wearing shorts. this is dangerous to adults, but also especially …”
2016-07-03 · Exterior Lighting“please check the rear brake light photos (halfway down, this page: http://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/r55-clubman-talk-2008/293675-2016-clubman-13.html). i was following one of these cars the other day and in stop-and-go traffic the lower brake lights are simply not visible! the large (turn signal) lights just below the rear window "look" …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.