2021 Mini Cooper problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Electrical System (3) · Tires (1) · Steering (1)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Mini Cooper model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (2)
Seat Belts 2021-07-21 · campaign 21V554000 · 21,537 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2021 2 Series (230i, 230i xDrive, M240i, M240i xDrive), 330e, 330e Xdrive, 4 Series Coupe (430i, 430i xDrive, M440i xDrive) M4 Coupe, M4 Competition Coupe, BMW 4 Series Convertible (430i, M440i), BMW X1 sDrive28i, xDrive28i, 2 Series Gran Coupe (228i, 228i xDrive, M235i xDrive), M2 Competition Coupe, 330i, 330i xDrive, M340i, M340i xDrive, M3, M3 Competition, 530i, 530i xDrive, 540i, 540i xDrive, MINI Hardtop 2 Door (Cooper, CooperS, JCW), X2
Risk: During a crash, a seat belt retractor that does not function as intended increases the risk of injury.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the seat belt retractors (including the seat belts) and, if necessary, replace the retractors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 3, 2021. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417; 1-866-825-1525 (MINI); 1-877-877-3735 (Rolls Royce); and 1-888-270-9371 (Toyota).
Air Bags:side/Window:curtain 2020-05-20 · campaign 20V283000 · 76 vehicles
Defect: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2020 X1 xDrive28i, X1 sDrive28i, X2 xDrive28i and X2 sDrive28i, 2020 MINI Clubman Cooper S All4, 2021 MINI Hardtop 2 Door (Cooper, Cooper S, John Cooper Works and Cooper S E) and MINI Hardtop 4 Door (Cooper and Cooper S) vehicles. Due to a problem with the rollover sensor within the air bag control unit, in the event of a rollover crash, the head air bag, seat belt pretensioners and other safety systems, may not activate.
Risk: If the safety systems do not deploy as intended in a roll over crash, it may increase the risk of injury.
Fix: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the air bag control unit, free of charge. The recall began July 17, 2020. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417 or MINI customer service at 1-866-825-1525.
Service bulletins (46)
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.
Electrical System 2026-07-10 · M840226 · Service Campaign
once the telematics module (tcb2) enters sleep mode, a mini data services trigger for remote services(remote engine start, lock/unlock/climate conditioning) will not be able to reactivate the tcb2. due to this issue, remote services will not function in the vehicle when parked and locked.
Fuel/Propulsion System 2026-04-27 · M010324 · Warranty Program/Extension
evap purge (vent) valve ext ltd wty (elw) 15 yrs/150,000 mls
Fuel/Propulsion System 2024-10-08 · M010124 · Warranty Program/Extension
evap purge (vent) valve ext ltd wty (elw) 15 years/150,000 miles
Suspension 2024-03-04 · M310424 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
during inspection and/or diagnosis there is noticeable dirt/grease buildup on the axles near the inner and/or outer cv boots.
Structure 2023-11-02 · M511616 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
cavity protection applied to underside of the hood is leaking out onto the wheel arch trim and grille.
Electrical System 2023-10-25 · M610607 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
mini electrical systems have continued to develop over the past few years. as a result, the demand on the batteries has increased. breakdowns due to an empty battery or problems in the vehicles electrical system can have various causes, most of which are not due to the battery itself. for this rea
Showing the 6 most recent of 46 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2024-12-10 · Fuel/Propulsion System“no incident occurred. on october 18th we received a high voltage battery recall notice for this car. apparently there were some thermal events (fires) and bmw has released software to help protect the car from such an event. we have been trying to get in touch with mini, and just recently found that the dealer closed. they left their answering m…”
2024-02-11 · Electrical System“digital instrument cluster of electric mini se (includes speedometer and battery/range information) turns off without warning while driving and does not turn back on until car is powered down for over half an hour. this has happened more than ten times. vehicle was inspected by mini dealer locally and no obvious equipment defect was identified, alt…”
2023-04-27 · Steering“the car completely lost steering in traffic. i brought it back to the mini dealership, they informed me this is a known issue for mini coopers equipped with the click-and-play system, and they needed to re-wire the click-and-play to fix it. however mini decided this should not be a recall. i strongly disagree with mini's assessment considering losi…”
2022-12-29 · Electrical System · 🔥 fire“after work, i started the car in a parking lot. before leaving, a fire started under the hood behind the passenger side headlight. after using the jaws of life to take off the hood, the fire department contained the fire. no injuries. there was extensive damage to the right front. the contents were all smoke damaged. neighboring cars were not damag…”
2022-11-10 · Air Bags · 💥 crash“on october 4, 2022, the mini cooper hardtop 4 door was hit in a head-on collision by a driver who was going at least 40 mph, possibly more. the car that hit the cooper was a toyota prius. all the prious' airbags deployed. no airbags deployed on the mini cooper hardtop 4 door. none. the mini cooper, after assessment, was considered to be a total los…”
2022-08-22 · Tires“tire model is: hankook ventus s1 evo z 225/35r18 87y. failure started when vehicle turned the "check tire pressure" alert on while driving. pressure started to drop from 32 lbs to 16 lbs in about 15 minutes. worth to note: no pot hole or any other object was hit during the day of the incident; or even previous days. after stopping, i noticed that…”
2021-10-26 · Electrical System“the night of october 24th, while i was driving my cid back screen went to black and there were messages displayed in white color. bootloader 11.035.000/ ffw 1.8.3 dec 5 2017 next line is displayed hwel:42e5 2.1.5 followed by a large white bar this display stays on even after lock the car. the morning of october 25th, there are warnings came o…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.