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2016 MINI Cooper

Gas Compact car

202620262025202420232022202120202019201820172016
Specs & fuel economyRecallsComplaintsCrash ratings
D
Safety Signal
68 / 100
DSafety Signal · 68 / 100
4Recalls · NHTSA campaigns
41Complaints · owner reports
4★Crash rating · NHTSA overall
32 mpgFuel economy · best combined

The 2016 MINI Cooper is sold in the U.S. as a gas compact car with 12 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Cooper Hardtop 2 door, is EPA-rated at 32 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 4 recall campaigns for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of D. Owners have filed 41 complaints, most often about exterior lighting. NHTSA crash-tested it at 4 stars overall.

Specs & fuel economy (EPA)

ConfigurationPowertrainDriveEngine / motorCityHwyCombAnnual fuel*
Cooper Hardtop 2 doorGasFWD1.5L 3-cyl turbo283832$2,400
Cooper Hardtop 4 doorGasFWD1.5L 3-cyl turbo283832$2,400
Cooper ConvertibleGasFWD1.5L 3-cyl turbo273630$2,600
Cooper ConvertibleGasFWD1.5L 3-cyl turbo273630$2,600
Cooper Hardtop 2 doorGasFWD1.5L 3-cyl turbo273630$2,600
Cooper Hardtop 4 doorGasFWD1.5L 3-cyl turbo273630$2,600
Cooper S ConvertibleGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo253328$2,750
Cooper S Hardtop 2 doorGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo253328$2,750
Cooper S Hardtop 4 doorGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo253328$2,750
Cooper S Hardtop 2 doorGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo233327$2,850
Cooper S Hardtop 4 doorGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo233327$2,850
Cooper S ConvertibleGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo233226$3,000

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year and EPA reference fuel/electricity prices. Source: fueleconomy.gov vehicle records.

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Recalls (4)

Exterior Lighting

high
16,883 vehicles

Problem: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain 2016-2017 MINI Cooper Clubman, Cooper S Clubman and JCW Clubman vehicles. When the affected vehicles are braking and the turn signals are on, the inner, bumper-mounted, brake light will go out. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

Risk: If the brake light does not illuminate when a turn signal is activated, other drivers may be confused, increasing the risk of a crash.

Fix: MINI will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the vehicle to correct the brake lighting, free of charge. The recall began May 22, 2017. Owners may contact MINI customer service at 1-866-825-1525.

NHTSA campaign 17V222000 · reported Mar 31, 2017 · BMW of North America, LLC

Seat Belts

high
15,455 vehicles

Problem: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 X1 sDrive28i, X1 xDrive28i, MINI Hardtop 4 Door Cooper, Mini Hardtop 4 Door Cooper S, MINI Cooper Clubman, and Cooper S Clubman, 2017 Rolls-Royce Ghost, and 2016 528i vehicles. The vehicle-sensitive locking mechanism of the seat belt Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) for the driver's seat may not lock as designed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 209, "Seat Belt Assemblies."

Risk: In the event of a crash where heavy braking is applied, the Emergency Locking Retractor (ELR) may activate when the occupant is more forward in the seat, possibly increasing the risk of injury.

Fix: BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's seat belt assembly, free of charge. The recall began July 3, 2019. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

NHTSA campaign 16V747000 · reported Oct 17, 2016 · BMW of North America, LLC

Steering

high
2 vehicles

Problem: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling one model year 2016 MINI Cooper Hardtop 2 Door vehicle manufactured November 24, 2015, and one BMW X1 Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) manufactured October, 19 2015. The steering gearbox may have been manufactured with incorrect parts.

Risk: A gearbox malfunction may cause a loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of a crash.

Fix: BMW will replace the steering gearbox, free of charge. Affected vehicles are located in dealer inventory and will be remedied before customer retail. The recall began on December 28, 2015. Owners may contact BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

NHTSA campaign 15V887000 · reported Dec 30, 2015 · BMW of North America, LLC

Air Bags

high
6,073 vehicles

Problem: BMW of North America, LLC (BMW) is recalling certain model year 2014-2016 MINI Cooper S and MINI Cooper two-door vehicles, 2015-2016 MINI John Cooper Works and MINI Cooper S and MINI Cooper four-door vehicles and 2014-2015 BMW i3 vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error, the passenger frontal air bag may not deploy properly in a low speed crash. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Risk: In the event of a vehicle crash, an air bag that does not deploy properly increases the risk of injury to the front seat passenger.

Fix: MINI and BMW will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began on November 25, 2015. Owners may contact MINI customer service at 1-866-825-1525 and BMW customer service at 1-800-525-7417.

NHTSA campaign 15V628000 · reported Oct 7, 2015 · BMW of North America, LLC

Owner complaints

41 complaints filed

2 involved a crash, 0 a fire, 6 injuries, 0 deaths reported by owners.

Filed by year — 2016: 7 · 2017: 4 · 2018: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2026: 2

Most-cited components

  • Exterior Lighting — 12
  • Engine — 10
  • Electrical System — 9
  • Power Train — 6
  • Unknown Or Other — 3
“"Secure Vehicle from Rolling" comes up in instrument cluster and millions of Mini/BMW's have this problem due to a faulty gear shifter selector knob going bad due to a spring in the gear selector box. Annoying because the part fails over time and dealer wants $3000 for the fix. Please help!!”Apr 1, 2023 · Power Train · NHTSA owner report
“Tail light assembly including brake light and turn signal failed due to burnt electrical socket and connector. This is caused by a faulty grounding point that is very clearly a manufacturing issue but wasn't considered as a recall for some odd reason. This issue is prominent in several BMW 3,4, and 5 series models”Feb 25, 2023 · Exterior Lighting · NHTSA owner report
“I purchased this vehicle on 9/03/2019 with 29,871 miles. I had to replace the clutch on 5/11/2020 at 39,690 miles. I am now having to purchase yet ANOTHER clutch on 10/17/2022 with 58,850 miles. Two clutches within 3 years is just unacceptable!”Oct 17, 2022 · Power Train · NHTSA owner report

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Crash ratings

ConfigurationOverallFrontalSideRolloverRollover risk
3 HB FWD★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★☆11%
3 HB FWD★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★☆11%
3 HB FWD★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★☆★★★★☆11%

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program.

Other Cooper model years

A

2026 Cooper

1 recalls · 3 complaints

A

2026 Cooper

1 recalls · 3 complaints

D

2025 Cooper

4 recalls · 5 complaints

C

2024 Cooper

2 recalls · 1 complaints

A

2023 Cooper

0 recalls · 7 complaints

A

2022 Cooper

0 recalls · 7 complaints

B

2021 Cooper

2 recalls · 7 complaints

B

2020 Cooper

2 recalls · 7 complaints

B

2019 Cooper

2 recalls · 12 complaints

A

2018 Cooper

0 recalls · 8 complaints

C

2017 Cooper

3 recalls · 28 complaints

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). Floor 35. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Complaint counts and NHTSA crash ratings are shown separately and are not blended into the grade.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records (ids 36843, 36719, 37245, 37246, 36790, 36791, 37247, 36558, 36560, 36559, 36561, 37273). Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed weekly.

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