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2006 Mini Cooper Recalls & Complaints

1

open safety recall on record

Serious

247 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.43 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious15V205000

Air Bags:Frontal

improperly functioning mat may cause the passenger frontal air bag to be inactive when the seat is occupied, and in the event of a crash, the air bag will not deploy, increasing the passenger's risk of injury.

Remedy & full details

MINI will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger seat occupant detection mat, free of charge. The recall began on October 12, 2015. Owners may contact MINI customer service at 1-866-825-1525.

BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2005-2006 MINI Cooper and Cooper S vehicles manufactured January 5, 2005, to November 28, 2006, and 2005-2008 MINI Cooper Convertible and Cooper S Convertible vehicles manufactured January 5, 2005, to July 31, 2008. Due to manufacturing, installation, and exposure issues, the front passenger seat occupant detection mat may not function properly and, as a result, the front passenger air bag may not deploy in a crash.

Complaint volume

247 this model-year 7 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

13Crashes
12Fires
11Injuries
0Deaths

Across 247 complaints. Severity Index 0.43.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Air Bags109 · 44%Steering53 · 21%Power Train15 · 6%Seats12 · 5%Engine10 · 4%Electrical System10 · 4%Engine And Engine Cooling6Seat Belts5
  1. Air Bags — 109 reports
  2. Steering — 53 reports
  3. Power Train — 15 reports
  4. Seats — 12 reports
  5. Engine — 10 reports
  6. Electrical System — 10 reports
  7. Engine And Engine Cooling — 6 reports
  8. Seat Belts — 5 reports
  9. Power Train:Automatic Transmission — 3 reports
  10. Unknown Or Other — 3 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

2001 · 2002 (5) · 2003 (4) · 2004 (4) · 2005 (4) · 2006 · 2007 (1) · 2008 (1) · 2009 (1) · 2010 (2) · 2011 (1) · 2012 (1) · 2013 (1) · 2014 (7) · 2015 (6) · 2016 (4) · 2017 (3) · 2018 · 2019 (2) · 2020 (2) · 2021 (2) · 2022 · 2023 · 2025 (3) · 2026 (1)

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.

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