RoadVitals

2026 MINI Cooper

Recalls, owner-reported complaints, investigations and safety data

Data refreshed

Owner complaintsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
2
+1 complaint in 30 days
Safety recallsA safety recall is issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA determines that a vehicle has a safety-related defect or does not comply with a federal motor vehicle safety standard. Recall repairs are free. Whether a specific vehicle is covered depends on its VIN — a recall listed for a model year does not necessarily apply to every vehicle of that year.
1
Latest Sep 17, 2025
InvestigationsNHTSA opens an investigation to examine whether a safety defect may exist. An open investigation is not a determination that a defect exists, and many investigations close without a recall. Investigations can, however, lead to one.
0
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0

Overview

Our database contains 2 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2026 MINI Cooper, most frequently naming the electrical and visibility categories. 1 safety recall has been issued covering this model year; and 11 manufacturer communications are on file.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

What owners report

Complaints grouped by the component NHTSA recorded

  • Electrical250.0%
  • Visibility250.0%

Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.

Safety recalls

1 campaign cover this model year

Recalls apply to specific vehicles, not to every vehicle of a model year. Check your VIN with NHTSA or your manufacturer's dealer to confirm whether a recall affects your vehicle.

Check a VIN on NHTSA.gov
25V616000

SEAT BELTS:FRONT:RETRACTOR

Sep 17, 2025
1,571 units potentially affected
The defect: BMW of North America, LLC is recalling certain 2025-2026 X1 and X2, MINI Cooper Convertible, MINI Cooper, Mini Countryman S ALL4, and 2025 MINI Countryman SE ALL4 vehicles. The torsion bar in both front seat belt retractors may have been damaged during production.
The risk: A damaged seat belt retractor may not properly restrain an occupant during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
The remedy: Dealers will replace both front seat belt retractors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 13, 2025. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) will be searchable on NHTSA.gov on November 7, 2025.
BMW of North America, LLCView on NHTSA.gov

Recent owner complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA, shown in the owner's own words

ElectricalVisibility
Filed Aug 10, 2026

The contact owns a 2026 Mini Cooper. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH with the AC unit engaged, the driver’s side window shattered. The contact stated that the window was not impacted to cause the window to shatter. The contact stated that the failure had occurred approximately 15 minutes after the AC unit had been engaged. The contact was able to drive to the nearest BMW dealer. The dealer did not diagnose the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 6,255.

NHTSA ID
11755842
Incident
Aug 6, 2026
Mileage
6,255 mi
ElectricalVisibility
Filed Feb 11, 2026

Either closing the moonroof or the wipers activating caused the screen to flicker off and back on. Sustained usage or frequent usage caused the screen to completely deactivate for 10+ minutes and the Driver's HUD to deactivate and retract. During this time, the car was operating on the highway in rain conditions with zero driver's instrumentation, including speed, navigation, fuel, battery, safety warnings, blinkers, or other indicators. It was unclear if blind spot indicators or driving assistance features were impacted, or if vehicle lights were impacted as no indicators were present in the vehicle. This incident lead to driver anxiety, reduced situational awareness, reduced confidence in the vehicle's safety and operational capability, and reduced safety to other vehicles around the car as it could have led to changes in driver behavior or lane changes due to surprise at vehicle behavior. The problem has been reproduced by the dealership's service station, however the dealership has changed ownership recently and has lost some records. The car has been in dealer service for the past 70 days but the fault is still not understood or remedied. The dealership was made aware of this roughly 60 days ago and is resisting even replacing the vehicle, let alone understanding and remedying the quality issue.

NHTSA ID
11717287
Incident
Nov 22, 2025

Manufacturer communications

A bulletin sent by a manufacturer to its dealers. Not a recall, and repairs are not necessarily free.

M610126

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

During vehicle start-up the Secure Element (SE) of the BCP may fail causing communication errors. TheCheck Control message “Drive carefully. Driving stabilisation.” will appear. In addition, the fault memoryentries below will be stored within 40 seconds of each other. ACSM: 02010A - Coding: Coding data not qualified VIP: 02390A - VIP control unit: Coding data not released, signature IB: 02290A - DSC control unit: Coding data not released, signature HKFM: 020D0A - HKFM: Coding data are not qualified

ReleaseNotes 03_26 MINI

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

This communication contains the Release Notes for the MINI 2026-03 Remote Software Upgrade.

M120126

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

BMW AG is conducting a Voluntary Emissions Recall (effective March 11, 2026) on certain Model Year 2025- 2026 MINI vehicles that were produced between February 28, 2024, and September 9, 2025. CAUSE Due

M651325

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Vehicle may experience various operational issues with the MINI Interaction Unit (MIU) such as: Intermittent black screen Permanent black screen Intermittent head unit functions not displayed (i.e., Navigation screen only is black)

M651225

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Vehicle may experience various operational issues with the infotainment system such as: Resets of the head unit (HU-H6) Delayed start-up of the head unit (longer than 30 seconds) Failed start-up of the head unit Sporadic or permanent problems with navigation Sporadic or permanent Bluetooth connection problems Sporadic or permanent audio problems Sporadic or permanent speech / IPA problems Missing displays, radio stations, camera images or applications

M840425

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

In some situations, an emergency call may be triggered in the vehicle without either the customer pressing the SOS Call button, or an airbag deployment event. In some cases, the customer may not even be inside the vehicle.

Manufacturers file copies of the bulletins they send to dealers with NHTSA. These often describe diagnostic or repair procedures for a known condition. They are not recalls: repairs described in a bulletin are usually only free if the vehicle is still under warranty or the manufacturer has extended coverage.

Compare model years

Complaint and recall counts across every year of this model

MINI Cooper by model year
YearComplaintsRecallsInvestigationsIssue Index
2026Viewing210—
2025130—
2024100—
2023700—
2022600—
2021720—
2020720—
2019122045.5
2018800—
2017283055.1
2016281047.9
2015556256.9
2014347262.9
2013471034.0
2012661048.0
2011831043.0
2010922053.6
20091511044.9
20081151044.5
20071151044.5
20062001042.1
20053724257.0
20042824258.2
20033204560.9
20021875559.3
2001600—

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers. Older model years have had longer for reports to accumulate.