Noisy steering

[The devil]

My daughters 53 plate mini cooper has a noise which is gradually getting worse, it is when the steering is turned, I have heard that this is common, should we be concerned at all?

[skenergysolution]

I've just bought my sister a 'one' on a 2001 with 83,000 on the clock - the steering is noisy, apparantly being the 'mini whine'.

Reading upon varies forums the power steering pump is prone to failure and can cost the best part of £600! When buying my sister's we took this into account.

[mike9009]

We've owned two Minis (One and Cooper S). The whining noise is perfectly normal and should not cause any undue worry.

The power steering on the Cooper S did fail(covered under warranty) but the noise did not get any noisier or quieter prior to failure.

HTH

Mike

[LukeMolloy]

I have heard the power steering can fail and cause a fire.

[budrover]

early mini's whine...its a well known problem and not worth worrying about.

[ROBTVR]

My pump failed on my 02 plate R53 S not warranty, but easy repair, £190 for a 2yrs guaranteed recon pump (EBAY) no more than £20 for fluid if i recall, and about 30 mins to fit.

[gonzales]

The mini steering has a unique whine which can often be heard when travelling at low speeds or manoeuvring around in car parks and driveways. It is nothing to be concerned about.

I have heard about the power steering pump failure and read about it on many websites, figures to get it fixed range from a few hundred to up to the £1000 mark. However i am running a 52 plate MCS with 63k miles on it and all seems well so far *fingers crossed*.