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MINI Cooper Clutch & Transmission Questions

545 messages,  Last post on Jun 17, 2013 at 4:02 PM

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What is this discussion about? MINI Cooper, Transmission, Convertible, Hatchback

    
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Messages Page 46 of 55

#451 of 545 Re: Clutch GONE at 1000 miles! [busiris] by ihatemymini

Sep 13, 2011 (11:15 am)

Replying to: busiris (Sep 02, 2011 3:20 pm)
I bought a brand new 2007 Mini Cooper S in 2007 with a 6-speed manual transmission. The car has 50000 miles on it. A properly managed car should not have a burned out tranny at 50000. I don't care how many statistics people can quote, you don't want to be the one with a $6000-$7000 bill on a car that young, even if you are the outlier. Were the weather conditions while I sat in the traffic behind that accident severe? Yes, but I believe that car should have handled it like a pro. It did not. I didn't see anybody else stuck on the side of the road who sat in that traffic jam.

#452 of 545 Re: Clutch GONE at 1000 miles! [ihatemymini] by busiris

Sep 13, 2011 (5:23 pm)

Replying to: ihatemymini (Sep 13, 2011 11:15 am)
I NEVER abused the tranny in my Mini. I have only owned cars with manual transmissions for 40 years and never replaced a clutch. Mt tranny melted down after I was stuck behind a fatal accident in I75 last year. We were in 96- degree heat for hours. When I got back in the interstate, my Mini started slipping gears at high speeds when I accelerated. As long as I kept a steady speed it was okay. The next morning I did nit get a mile down the road before it completely dropped dead.
  
The repair shop staff who fixed my Mini tell me that the tranny is made fro
 cheap alloys that will melt down under exposure to high heat. That sounds right to me and I will get to the bottom of this. I'm going to have the parts analyzed. I am out $6000.00 plus $875.00 to tow it.
  
One thing you do not want is to find yourself broken down in a city where there is no Mini dealer as it will be a disaster.
  
This is the second BMW we owned that has caused a financial crisis in this family. We are DONE!!!! It is a cute car. I loved it when I got it. It's like a little rocket on wheels. It is just not worth it. I will never, ever buy a car that cannot be fixed in any city in the US.
 
Unless you were parked over a volcano or blow torch, I highly doubt you acheived a temperature high enough to start melting metal transmission parts...
 
I guess my first question is this: did you get the car taken by a certified MINI dealership for an examination of the problem before having an independent shop do the repairs?
 
If no, why not?
 
Also, $875 seems a bit high for towing, depending of course, how far the tow was.
 
I have personally seen BMW shops do "goodwill" repairs on late model cars such as yours, sometimes eating all the expense and sometimes eating the parts only.
Did you get any offer from the MINI dealer, or were you told to go "pound sand"?

#454 of 545 Auto Transmission Supply Issues? by stardude82

Jul 06, 2011 (2:41 am)

Has anybody heard if there are supply issues with the Aisin
 slush boxes?

#455 of 545 Re: Auto Transmission Supply Issues? [stardude82] by cmuniz

Jul 06, 2011 (6:34 am)

Replying to: stardude82 (Jul 06, 2011 2:41 am)
I went to a dealer yesterday to look at a Cooper S and was told inventories are lower than normal and special orders may take longer due to transmission supply problems from Aisin. Not sure if that was just talk or reality.

#456 of 545 Re: Auto Transmission Supply Issues? [cmuniz] by busiris

Sep 19, 2011 (8:29 am)

Replying to: cmuniz (Jul 06, 2011 6:34 am)
The story I got from my local dealer is tha the autromatic gearboxes are in short supply due the upheaval in Japan with the earthquake. Evidently, manuals are not affected, of if so, not as much.

#457 of 545 Can't understand all the transmission problems by dmsid

Sep 24, 2011 (1:47 am)

Hi guys,
 
Have a 2003 R53. Although I certainly can't speak for the more recent models, I am at 97k and have never touched the clutch or transmission.
 
Many of the severe problems here simply should not happen. You can be in traffic for hours in 100 degree heat and humidity - if you drive a transmission properly and perform simple preventive maintenance this should not happen at a high rate.
 
Problems like these are more likely the result of your driving or improper maintenance. Don't dump your Mini because of a failure like this - get it replaced, learn to drive it more smoothly, and maintain it. You will love your Mini for years to come. I do nothing extra-special to maintain my car and it drives FAR better than any other 8-year old car in a similar class.

#458 of 545 Re: Can't understand all the transmission problems [dmsid] by ihatemymini

Sep 24, 2011 (6:41 am)

Replying to: dmsid (Sep 24, 2011 1:47 am)
You would be wrong. My car was very well maintained. As I said, I DO know how to drive a car with a clutch and have been driving cars with them for 40 years. I have never, ever had to replace a clutch. The car was fine before that accident and had problems right after. I will get to the bottom of this when I have an engineering firm look at the parts. Then I will start a class action suite.

#459 of 545 Re: Can't understand all the transmission problems [dmsid] by mshawkman

Sep 24, 2011 (9:29 am)

Replying to: dmsid (Sep 24, 2011 1:47 am)
Yes, I too believe you would be wrong. I have a 2009 JCW Clubman that had a failed clutch at 5,000 miles; it was replaced and now the second failed at 9,700! The first was replaced as a "goodwill" gesture after I posted on this site and threatened the dealership that would bring the printed pages for them to read about all the failed clutches. I have been driving only manuel transmissions for over 40 years without any problems. BMW/MINI are aware of this problem; I saw a service bulletin that went out to shops that exposed all of this. I don't hate my MINI yet, but it's difficult to love someting that doesn't love you back.

#460 of 545 Re: Can't understand all the transmission problems by former_mini_s

Sep 24, 2011 (10:26 pm)

Thought I would add information on my wife's recent experience. She bought a new 2009 Mini Cooper S Convertible. Her clutch failed at about 9000 miles and again at about 19,000 miles. BMW/MINI fixed the first clutch as a "goodwill" gesture but refused to fix the second failure, claiming it must be "operator abuse". We knew this was not the case, so we filed under our state's Lemon Law. What a hassle, but my wife won her case. What I found particularly interesting was something that came out in the testimony during the Lemon Law hearing - the shop found that the clutch friction material had "welded" itself to the dual mass flywheel. At the end of the hearing, the state's Lemon Law automotive expert explained that the only logical explanation for the facts was that the clutch had been continuously slipping and this had got the clutch friction material very hot. Then when the car engine revolutions were reduced (when my wife slowed down) - the red hot clutch friction material bonded itself to the metal flywheel. The car became undrivable. I suspect this has happened to others and may explain why many other drivers with lots of driving experience have reported very early clutch failure. If you happen to buy a MINI with this particular defect, then you will have very early clutch failure no matter how good a driver you might be. And if you fix the clutch, it will just happen again. If you don't happen to buy a car with this defect, then the clutch will work perfectly. MINI really should have their engineers figure out what causes this defect. But no doubt it is much cheaper and easier to just lose a few unhappy customers than to figure out and fix the root cause. So good luck to all of you with a similar clutch problem. My wife and I decided we will never again buy a MINI having a clutch - we might get a lemon again with this odd clutch defect.

Messages Page 46 of 55

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