LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION
BMW Mini Cooper Defective Transmission Class Action Settlement
This is a settlement for the BMW Recalls MINI lawsuit.
San Francisco, CA: Preliminary approval of a defective automotive class action settlement has been granted, potentially ending the lawsuit pending against BMW over allegations the German auto-maker concealed a defect in the transmission of its Mini Cooper cars.
US District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez, who is hearing the complaint, (Aarons v. BMW of North America LLC, Case No. 11-cv-07667, in the US District Court for the Central District of California), has requested additional information about the class size and suggested some revisions to the existing preliminary settlement. However, if approved, thousands of Mini Cooper owners could be eligible to receive as much as $9,000 for vehicle repairs.
According to attorneys representing the plaintiffs, approximately 1,200 Mini Cooper owners had to have their transmissions replaced at BMW dealerships. However, many drivers took their Mini Coopers to a third-party facility for repair, and that number is not known.
The lawsuit claims that the transmission defect, which can cause significant delays in acceleration, loss of forward propulsion and total transmission failure while driving, was concealed from Mini Cooper customers, by BMW. However, BMW, at the same time, allegedly issued bulletins to BMW dealerships acknowledging the defect. The transmission defects also included the failure of the transmission without warning. These failures and defects may have contributed to traffic accidents resulting in serious injury or death.
The plaintiffs further claim that in an effort to keep the prices of the Mini Coopers low, BMW sacrificed quality, thereby making cars of a substandard quality and putting consumers at risk.
Published on Jul-24-13
US District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez, who is hearing the complaint, (Aarons v. BMW of North America LLC, Case No. 11-cv-07667, in the US District Court for the Central District of California), has requested additional information about the class size and suggested some revisions to the existing preliminary settlement. However, if approved, thousands of Mini Cooper owners could be eligible to receive as much as $9,000 for vehicle repairs.
According to attorneys representing the plaintiffs, approximately 1,200 Mini Cooper owners had to have their transmissions replaced at BMW dealerships. However, many drivers took their Mini Coopers to a third-party facility for repair, and that number is not known.
The lawsuit claims that the transmission defect, which can cause significant delays in acceleration, loss of forward propulsion and total transmission failure while driving, was concealed from Mini Cooper customers, by BMW. However, BMW, at the same time, allegedly issued bulletins to BMW dealerships acknowledging the defect. The transmission defects also included the failure of the transmission without warning. These failures and defects may have contributed to traffic accidents resulting in serious injury or death.
The plaintiffs further claim that in an effort to keep the prices of the Mini Coopers low, BMW sacrificed quality, thereby making cars of a substandard quality and putting consumers at risk.
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READER COMMENTS
Dr Jerald Thompson
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I have a 2006 Cooper S Convertible with 32K miles on it. There have been no issues but Ive written to Aarons v. BMW of North America LLC Claims Administrator P.O. Box 43192 Providence, RI 02940-3912 and I didnt get a response. Does anyone have any info on this Class Action Suit and if its too late to try to file just in case?
Thanks so much all! JT
Marianna Taylor
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Elizabeth Perez
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Roberta Clark
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Jesse quintero
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Lin Restivo
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Steve
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Carl Lester Brunton jr
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Robert burke
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Bmw does not recall nor correct defects!. Cost is over $4,000 each time.
I'am now replacing for third time my transmission!
Replacement will have same defects .
Susan A Casad
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J.McMurry
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and I was told the transmission needs to be replaced for the same reason mentioned by E.Smith.
The assurance that the transmission fluid would not need to be checked and changed is definitely false.
Donna shrope
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It is highway robbery and we should be reimbursed for this treacherous action.
Rebecca Albright
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Ross Warrington
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tracy
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Roy Aguirre
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Bradley Gosnell
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Brad 847-778-xxxx
JULIA Haartje
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E. Smith
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Brant
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Eddie Montalvo
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Tracy
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Steve Sampson
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Bing
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john sims
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Marilyn Gianunzio
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Thank you for responding.
Dianne weston
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Janine Crawford
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Kind regards
Janine C
Linda
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The local Mini dealership was having some kind of open house and I signed up for several free system evaluations on my car. Nothing was mentioned about the clutch or the transmission until I spoke to the manager about how I was hearing the car rev-up when I wasn’t stomping on the gas pedal. He took it for a little drive and came back to tell me my transmission was going out. Interesting that no one told me that until I mentioned that I may be thinking of using my Mini as a trade-in for a new car.
This week, I was on the freeway, and suddenly my car lost almost all forward propulsion. I was able to crawl off the freeway and into a parking lot just before it quite moving for good. So since I can’t afford a new or good used car and because my car has such low mileage, I’m having my private garage service company repair my Mini for $3,400.
If there is any help from a class action suit, I would appreciate being notified. Thank you,
Trisha Bristow
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James Hughes
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Also bought a 2005 Mini Cooper with 108,000 miles and transmission destroyed 3 months after purchase. Repair would be over and above what car is worth. Is there any lawyer, civil suit, recall that covers this???
Tammy S Totleben
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Christina Voytko
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Mary
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Transfer case cracked
Any insight please. Going to Mini if Pitts tomorrow
David
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Paul V.
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Chris Kaminsky
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Stacey
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Amir
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I owned a 2005 Mini Cooper having 125,000 miles and all of sudden my 4th and 5th gear popping out to neutral, came to know that having defective transmission, called BMW and they are offering $6000 for repair and if a trade a vehicle they offered me $600!!! WOW. How can i file a claim?
Deena Miller
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Crystal Woods
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HEATHER ANDERSON
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thanks
Heather
Sarah
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felice v cholewiak
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Angela
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ANGELICA GARZA
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SHASHA PORTER
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The lawsuit claims that the transmission defect, which can cause significant delays in acceleration, loss of forward propulsion and total transmission failure while driving, was concealed from Mini Cooper customers, by BMW. However, BMW, at the same time, allegedly issued bulletins to BMW dealerships acknowledging the defect. The transmission defects also included the failure of the transmission without warning. These failures and defects may have contributed to traffic accidents resulting in serious injury or death.
This is my second MINI and my second needing to replace the transmission at the 7 years point. Therefore, within an 8 year period, I will have spent $20,000.00 on two transmissions on two MINI'S. How do I become part of a class action suit?
Cecelia Brave
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Below you will find a letter that I sent to mini.assistance@askminiusa.co. When I first contact Mini Cooper Assistance, I was told that my case did not qualify to be "escalated to the next level." After more than an hour of insistence, my case was escalated to the next level. The letter below accurately reflects my experience. I was denied any compensation by Corporate Regional Headquarters. I will say that my local dealer in Towson, MD did offer a 20% coupon to fix what would be an $8-$10,000 repair to the automatic transmission. That offer combined with my out of pocket expenses to fix the transmission would far surpass the KBB value. To date (BEFORE the transmission problem was FINALLY diagnosed) I have invested a total of a shocking $17, 819.49. I have in my possession every Mini Cooper dealership paid invoice over the history of ownership of my 2006 Mini Cooper S (R53) hardtop two door coupe (with a non-CVT transmission). Here is the letter recapping my service history:
Re: Mini Cooper S (R53), History of Maintenance and Repair Issues
Dear Alex,
Thank you for speaking with us earlier today.
As promised, I have attached a table setting forth the various maintenance and repair services performed on my MINI Cooper S (R53) since it was purchased new in October, 2005. It currently has about 66,500 miles on it.
I am confident that once you verify the figures in this summary you will feel as strongly as I that the fair and right thing for the MINI Cooper Corporation to do is to replace my transmission with a rebuilt one at no cost to me. Here are a few reasons why I say this:
I am the poster child of the “little old lady” who drives to church on Sunday and to the market a few times a week. Please do the arithmetic with me: 11 years and 5 months equals 4,165 days … 66,500 miles comes to just shy of an average of 16 miles per day that I drive this car. More importantly, I care for my MINI as I would a child. At each service interval - (I have never failed to miss one) - the MINI is religiously in the shop for maintenance care and, not just any shop - always faithfully to the MINI dealership who sold me the car. And, what has my devotion and customer loyalty to MINI Cooper cost me in “world class inspection”, maintenance and repair? It has cost me an astounding figure of $17,611.49. To make bad matters far worse, I have now received the alarming news that for a mere $8,000.00 in parts and labor I can have a brand new transmission to replace a transmission that has been sending off signals that it has had a serious problem for years - long before the warranties had expired. From almost the outset of purchase, my Mini Cooper S has periodically failed to escalate when I’ve called for more speed and lurched in and out of gear.
In the early years, the problem occurred with such infrequency, that I gave little or no thought to the possibility that it might be a transmission problem but rather that it was the “nature of the beast.” Of course, 8-10 years ago I was not yet adept enough to reach out through the internet with extensive research to discover that I was not the only MINI Cooper customer experiencing this phenomenon. Today, with a few key search words of "MINI Coopers and transmission problems", much that was once unknown to me has been revealed. Quite understandably, during the warranty period no MINI Service Representative asked me whether I was experiencing an occasional lurch or racing sound during gear change.
To say that I am disheartened is an understatement of monumental proportion because I am way beyond hitting the “tip of the iceberg.” I ask that you do the right thing for one of your most loyal customers and PR cheerleaders; Fish me out of the water of this fiasco and make me whole.
I look forward to further discussion and a positive outcome.
My best,
_____________________________________
The P.S. to this horror story is that MINI Cooper turned its back on me and I am forced to drive a potentially life-threatening car - or do without personal transportation. I am 67 years old and my husband is 86. We are both retired and living on a fix income.
KAMIL A FILIPCZUK
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Mary McGrath
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Lori
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Chrristi
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James
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Joe Holsberger
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Jeanette
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Mini refused to do anything about it. Please help!
Gabrielle Taylor
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Rebecca
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Heather
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Edgar mendez
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