Hey guys ,

Just wanted to get some of your input on this....

My cvt failed last week at 73000miles and I'm in the process of getting the tranny rebuilt. I called around for a new tranny and I was getting quotes of over 5k and I couldn't justify spending around 7k labor in on a 2005.

I was wondering if anyone else has had their cvt rebuilt and what was the outcome? How did it drive after, any problems, did it fail again??? Etc....

Let me know guys

Thanks

 

anyone??

 

nope, people don't get CVT's rebuilt because in general they suck. I've heard that replacing them with a remanufactured CVT isn't much better and won't last.
there's technical information here for swapping to a 05-06 manual from a 02-04 manual/CVT.

i'm about to replace my CVT with an Aisan auto from a 05-06 cooper.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...trag-swap.html

 

Waymotor works has tried a couple rebuilt (not by mini) units....and never got them to work right...
His reccomendation, get the unit mini sells, or convert it to stick.

 

Unfortunate that you got stuck with that CVT. One option would be to find a CVT out of a wrecked car with low mileage. Another would be to put a real transmission in it. The third would be to sell it as is and get a newer Mini with a proper transmission.

(Don't get me wrong, CVT's can be excellent transmissions. I like the one in my Nissan Murano. But Mini did a crap job on theirs.)

 

What's the deal with rebuilt cvt's?
How come they don't end up working well?

I just can't justify spending 7k on putting a new tranny in... It's just CRAZY.

I looked into trading it in as is but I'd get barely nothing for it, so that's not worth it either.

I can't believe mini made something so unreliable and so expensive to fix

 

Sorry to hear about your transmission. Wish I could give you more information but I too am interested in this topic.

I have not seen a thread on this site which asks the simple question of "Please post the mileage and type of transmission when it failed". While I am not arguing the point that the CVTs have had issues, I am not convinced, since there is not supporting data that shows it is a foregone conclusion this will happen.

Heck MINI didnt even make the CVT. ZF did. And ZF trannys are in non MINIs.

But back to the orig poster question. Why cant this be rebuilt? It is hardware. Pulleys and bands and stuff. Just like motors are cylinders, pistons, and valves.

Maybe it is difficult to find a qualified rebuild because they actually don't fail as often. Because if they did, wouldn't there be a glut of cores on the market and therefore prices would be lower since so many are available to rebuild?

Anyone can patch a hole in drywall, not everyone can make it disappear.

 

salvage yard from wreck
hmmm
even those are $$ it seems
http://www.ebay.com/itm/02-03-04-05-...sories&vxp=mtr

I'd get a good privately owned tranny shop to do it.

As above, its fixable. I know a shop around here guy has done trannys for 30 years and would enjoy something different to look at.

 

good luck, most shops around where i live won't touch these with a 10 ft pole

 

I don't know what happened to ZF, they used to be a pretty good trans company. They were behind alot of great cars from the ZR1 C4 Corvette, to the GT40's of the 60's ( Mainly the Mk I GT40. The MkII and Mk IV were Hewland transmissions to handle the FE 427, and for ease of changing gears.). Recently the Ford Mustang owners have been complaining of whining and breaking transmissions. Ford's blaming the owners of driving it hard....but isn't that the point of buying one, infact hasen't your comercials shown your car burning out, tearing across a track and what not? Though that division of ZF building them is ZF China....might want to find out where ours was put together.

 

MINIMania has a bunch of CVT repair components.
Here's a link to those pages:
however, a successful result is probably easier said than done.
http://new.minimania.com/web/SUBTYPE..._Inventory.cfm

 

The problem with any rebuild is that you never know how skilled the person is that did it, whether ALL the worn components were replaced, and whether the quality of the new components that go into it are equal to the original. I would much, much rather buy a low mileage used transmission than a rebuilt. The ONLY exception would be if I got reliable recommendations on someone who does a good job of rebuilding them. I'd talk with him personally to see what he does, what he replaces, who makes the parts he puts in, and any special tricks or techniques he uses or pays attention to to make sure the transmission rebuild is good.

A side note: CVT transmissions are hard on their lubricants. Much more so than regular automatics. I believe it is extremely critical that the transmission fluid be changed out far more often than the manufacturer advises. I have an '03 Murano with a CVT and I request and get a complete flush of the transmission fluid every 20,000 ro 30,000 miles. Nissan says it's good for 100,000 miles. I say BS. And the quality of the fluid is of paramount importance as well. If it's some special fluid only available from the car manufacturer, use it. And change it frequently. If you can use other brands, then choose the very best full synthetic available and also change it frequently. There's a lot of slippage and sliding of parts against parts in a CVT and that action breaks down lubricants in no time, regardless of the quality. Change it often and you greatly increase the life of your transmission.

So, again, I'd find a good, low mileage used one, and then change out the fluid frequently and hope for the best.

 

the long story short is yes you can replace it with another CVT. But expect it to break again. or replace it with a getrag manual or aisan auto from a 05-06 cooper S and never worry about it again. or sell the car and get a new car.

 

The car is currently at a shop right now and being taken apart as we spek. I spoke to the mechanic last night and went to see his shop and he knows minis pretty well , he actually used to own a few. He also knows a lot about cvt's and has worked on them in the past. He showed me an actual mini cvt tranny and how it works, so i got a pretty good feeling from him. He's been working on transmissions for the past 30 some odd years.

Once the car is fixed i'm going to sell it and look at getting something new as i don't want to deal with this crap ever again...... This really tainted my view on any car that has a cvt in it, i'll never buy one again......

 

Turns out it was my chain that broke..... Not sure exactly what that means but i'll have more info tomorrow.

 

CVT run on a belt system, there a youtube video talking about how cvt works. it sort of looks like a chain

 

The "chain" is the belt that runs on the pullies...transfers power, and changes gear ratios....with the typical failed mini cvt, a hanful of metal parts from the chain will be in the cvt sump.

 

Ya, he said it was a real "mess in there"....... Will this affect anything else??

 

I've heard that when CVT belts snap they can (but not necessarily) cause catastrophic damage. Another reason people generally don't Rebuild CVTs

 

Low mileage CVT from a wrecked car, fresh and frequent fluid changes. Done.

 

I was just about to post when I read your question:


Anyone out there with a 1st generation BMW MINI with an automatic transmission should be aware: These transmissions are crap. I have an immaculate 2004 Cooper with 53,600 miles on it. Was just told I had to have a new or rebuilt transmission. Dealer cost on a remanufactured was $7400 or a local shop that will work on MINI transmissions would do it for $3500. Dealer allowed me to contact the transmission shop directly and remove them from the formula, and I saved some money and had my transmission rebuilt for about $2900. A HUGE SUM for a car with that kind of mileage. This transmission is sealed, it cannot be repaired only replaced.

There is a class action suit against BMW/MINI USA for these transmissions.
http://baronandbudd.com/areas-of-pra...ooper-lawsuit/

will give you information if you are facing this issue. From what I've read, I got out a lot lighter than others, price wise. If you have experienced an early failure, you might want to jump in.

Since I thought I would be carefully maintaining this car and driving it for a long long time, I was totally shocked at what I've learned. BMW apparently started issuing TSBs on this transmission in 2004 and it looks like they tried to put a band aid on those who had very early failures so they would last until the warranty expired.

Adding insult to injury, the dealer offered me $2,000 for the car on trade-in "as is." The car should be worth, retail, with all the options I have $12,000 as a high and maybe $10,000 as a low.

 

And, I want to add: I asked the dealer service manager -- what is different about the transmission you will install as opposed to the one that just crapped out at 53,600?

He said there were "changes in the friction material, solenoid valves and a different CVT transmission fluid" in the remanufactured transmission installed by the dealer.

I pointed out I could put in two rebuilt transmissions for about the price of his one remanufactured! So, I gambled on the rebuilt. I am lucky that we have a shop here that has a great reputation and that works on Minis. Advanced Transmissions in Mauldin, SC.

 

Sorry for your situation. I am curious about a couple of your comments. Since there are 2 different types of automatic transmissions used for the MINI do you know if yours was a CVT or not?

I ask this, because I have a CVT and while each situation is unique, I have 100,000+ miles on mine and not one problem at all. I have the fluid changed every Inspection service as recommended by my dealer and things have been fine.

The reason I ask is that I have heard others say that they were advised the automatic is a lifetime fluid and it doesn't need to be changed. That is not the case with the CVT.

Also, you state that the unit is not repairable. I don't know that I agree. Repair /rebuild kits are available for the CVT online and I have watched more than one video that shows how to take apart a CVT.

Granted, I would be very disappointed if I was facing such a costly repair, but I am not convinced that the automatics have had an abnormal failure rate. The class action website only claims to have 100 cases of failure reported to the NTSA.

 

I have a CVT. I did not state the CVT was not repairable: The dealer did. The dealer told me it could not be repaired. They will ONLY install remanufactured transmissions and will not attempt repair of a CVT.

NO transmission should fail, without warning, at 53,000 miles. Period. It is a sealed transmission, so it's not like you can lose fluid. There are cases of earlier failures; it is the early nature of the failure that is the issue. They should have extended the warranty or recalled the car. The way BMW MINI handled it is wrong.

You are lucky you have had no issues. I believe they changed the transmission after 2007 or maybe 2009.

In my case, there was a howling/whirring noise -- not even a very bad noise. No slipping of gears or rough shifting, no warning light, no surging. Who knows how much longer I could have gone on driving it, but I didn't feel safe in the car any more.

 

MINIMania has a bunch of CVT repair components.