BMW Mini Cooper Lawsuit

The Mini Cooper, known for its iconic shape, is a compact car that gained popularity in Britain during the 1960s.

Mini enthusiasts have had a long love affair with its go-kart like design, low cost and fuel efficiency. But the car wasn’t available for sale in the United States until 2002 when BMW Group decided to bring the Mini to the States. The company launched an innovative advertising campaign to help drive sales of America’s first generation Minis. Advertisements showcased the Mini’s curves and fashionable features by purchasing the space in Playboy magazine typically reserved for centerfolds. The pages of the magazine folded out to display the Mini, which was advertised at a base price of $16,850. But the aggressive media campaign backfired. Demand for the Mini outgrew supply and the automaker was forced to churn out a substandard product, according to a class action lawsuit filed by Baron and Budd.

Within the first year of its American launch, complaints began to flood into BMW about the Mini’s faulty transmission. Internet forums for car enthusiasts were filled with similar stories of failing transmissions. The U.S. National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration collected more than 100 complaints as well. One person claimed that their Mini’s transmission died while navigating a blind curve on a winding coastal road. Another driver said that after her Mini’s transmission failed, she was nearly rear-ended on a busy roadway. "I could have been killed," she wrote in her complaint to the NHTSA.

Models listed in the lawsuit include the 2002 through 2006 Mini Cooper Coupes and the 2005 to 2008 Mini Cooper Convertibles. The lawsuit alleges that BMW of North America knew that the transmissions would fail shortly after the vehicle warranty expired, putting hundreds of thousands of drivers at risk.