Costs of repair depends where you live and the dealership you deal with. Here's a sample...

Mechatronic: $3800

DSG retail before labor & taxes: $6000

VW changed its maintenance requirement for its traditional slush boxes only in the last 3-4 years. Prior to that, auto boxes are 'sealed' and ATF & filter are engineered for "lifetime" use. Here's a thread I started in 2003, telling folks to change ATF & filter regularly. The 4-speed 01M unit in my '01 Beetle currently has 209k miles... ATF & filter change every 50k. I'm sure you know the 01M unit is not known for its reliability.

 

Manufacturers are getting better at controlling parts distribution and Germans have done it quite well. Most dealers don't fix transmission anymore; they just replace them.

 

Since my car is at 80xxx, I've had a number of things fail. When my transmission started to slip and slam. But first I drained and fill with Redline D4 ATF. I only got about 40% of the old fluid. The transmission stop acting up for about 3 weeks. But 60% old fluid still.

Then I replaced my SC because my supercharger bearings (pulley side) were out for the past 5k, so I thought because there was not enough boost/hp to get to the next gear the tranny would slip, so I went ahead and replaced it with a ported rebuilt SC with a 15% pulley from way works motor. Ripped everything out and replaced all the gaskets while I was at it. The job took 3 days because I also drained coolant into the engine through the dip stick hole when replacing the leaky thermostat and therm housing. I found the dipstick gasket leaked oil all over the place and it was not my oil pan gasket, since that was replaced at 60k. I shock vacuumed all the remaining coolant out from the coolant housing up top, and the radiator upper hose on the left then flushed with distilled water and shock vacuumed again, mixed 50/50 with OEM coolant and distilled water, and 9 cap fulls of redline water wetter in hopes it cools the transmission and engine down more. I used an infrared temperature sensor to validate the lower coolant temperatures. My car was running 220 degrees from a cold start to a 5 minute warm up. About 180 now from a cold start to a 5 minute warm up with the heater on full blast. So 40 degree difference equates to having fun with my new SC!

Then I started putting the new 15% pulley and ported SC to the test on the freeway hitting 110mph in a matter of seconds, then after I returned to city driving I felt small slips here and there after 35 mins of driving, but it does not slam or stall anymore.

I actually stalled on gear 3 prior to the flush, if you read the BMW official design of the transmission, locking in gear 3 is emergency mode in case of transmission failure. I was able to drive it off the freeway, let the transmission oil cool from the mountain driving, and then restarted it after 1 hour of cooling and drove it home to do a flush with redline ATF D4. I did a lazy flush without dropping the pan.

http://www.bmw-planet.com/lib/mini/A...06%20SPEED.pdf


I have a 2005/Sept R53 S. Anyways, I've been following this forum and bunch of others on how transmissions act through mountain driving. Mountain driving puts more strain on your transmission and it makes the fluid hot. If you have conventional tranmission fluid, it will burn up and become black and cause your transmission to slip after mountain driving. My fluid from the first drain was black. I am going to drain the fluid again with redline D4 ATF. Redline's flash point is 225 degrees, conventional is about 180 and my coolant was running at 220 prior to the flush, that must have been why my fluid turned black after 12 months of mountain driving, overheating of the transmission fluid with HOT coolant. I can say design flaw.....

Our R53 transmission utilizes coolant at the top to cool it, so if you have a coolant flush with water wetter it should help to cool the transmission oil even more if you have conventional tranny fluid. This second flush should get rid of most of the old fluid and shifting problems.

But if it doesn't, time for a new valve body according to everybody. But I am going to bet the 2nd flush should do it since I went 3 weeks without a problem after the first flush.

05 R53 S, Green body, Black roof, black strips, black rims, black steel grilles for front and rear, candy green calipers, K&N panel filter, 15% pulley, ported SC, Hawk HPS Plus brakes with drilled ventilated rotors.

 

The Mechantronic unit comes with the new remaned DSG trans. Current price $4199.00 retail your information is wrong

 

Don't want to digress from topic, you can call James at Commonwealth VW in Orange County, CA. Number is 855-842-0170. Here's a sample quote for a 2009 GTI DSG...

-DSG: $5485-$5495 depending on VIN
-Fluid & filter: ~$125
-Labor: $900-$1000
-8% tax on parts: $450

Now if you live in even more expensive areas like the Westside of Los Angeles, San Francisco or Silicon Valley, bring in your first born as collateral. VW means "very wealthy".

 

This one is aimed toward GreenR53 but: if anyone can help; please do so. A lot of us need this info'. Is there a pdf document out htere, or a link that has photos & instructions on how to change the valve body: step-by-step????
My MCS is upto 146,000 mile now & I've been fighting the harsh shifting issue for over 50,000 of it. I've done about 8 oil changes & nothing has gotten better! So, its time to suck it up, bite the bullett & replace the valve body. I'm pretty competent mechanically so it doesn't scare me. However, not having got this deep into her before; I'd love to see some photos &/or directions......
Maybe it already exists & I've missed it- i have studied this thread & others for over an hour today but, I can't find any suitable details. Help is out there!!! Please share it with all of us who are continually suffering the chronic pain of MINI-TRANNY-ITIS............

 

Instructional photos coming soon...

 

Awesome! Any idea of a time-frame? It may affect the speed I buy the parts and arranging transportation while she's up on jack stands.

 

Hopefully doing the job tomorrow night. I just have to remember the f-in camera.

 

That would be great to have a instruction guide w/pictures from someone with a lot of experience!

 

Quick question, I just completed my second valve body swap with a rebuilt unit. ,I took it out for a test drive and I can't get the trans to shift smooth at all. I tried the relearn procedures and 2-3 will still slip and bang into gear. All the other gears changes are rough but not as bad as the 2-3 shift. No codes or lights. Tomorrow I am going to try to check the fluid level again. I got almost seven quarts out of this car by the time I was done. Anything else I should check? Maybe I'm screwing up the relearn...maybe i didn't let it get warm enough..

fixed, i rechecked my trans fluid and over a quart came out over the standpipe. It was way overfilled. I also did the relearn procedure when the trans was hot. Shifts pretty good i still get tiny flaring from 2-3 but it's ALOT better! Another one fixed.

 

Hey look online Bentley has a guide for changing out the valve body . It just pertains to changing the body itself.

 

How do you initiate the TCM learning for shifting? The video shows how to do the initial reset but I missed how they start the learning when actually doing the road test.

I still have a somewhat harsh 1-2 shift at "normal" throttle, moreso when cold, and slight flare at 2-3 and wonder if a relearn might smooth things out.

 

Long time no post I just finished another valve body swap tonight. It actually took place about 3 weeks ago but had some problems. We got them all sorted out and delivered the car tonight to a very happy owner. Pictures and a lite guide to come... Stay tuned

 

Thats good news. i've been holding off attempting the task until I see photos & comments.........I'm pretty competent mechanically but: have a hard time following the written instructions sometimes. pictures tell a 1,000,000 words for my eyes!!
Thanx for you hard work & dedication to the cause.
BTW: has anyone talked to the CA attorneys regarding the class action suit against MINI USA? A para-legal called me the other day & said the Aisin tranny is NOT yet in the suit. However, they've had such a response they'll be trying to add the Aisin to the CVT suit thats already underway.
The para-legals name is Ernest & can be reached directly at 818-839-2327.

 

I have to say the most important thing to do is take pictures. They are extremely handy when a question arises. If you can and its your first time write down your steps it will give you a map to follow on reassembly. Example on the last car we did we forgot to conect something properly and it caused a failure. Just work slow and dont by any means rush.

 

GreenR53 put me on the list as another person anxiously awaiting your pics and tutorial. I unfortunately have the same transmission problem on my '06 R52 with just over 103,000 on the ticker.

I bought the recommended T handled torx wrenches from Harbor Freight and I sourced parts for the

filter/strainer:
http://parts.miniofsouthatlanta.com/...rm=24347551087

gasket:
http://parts.miniofsouthatlanta.com/...%2024117566356

replacement TTY valve body bolts:

Note screws have different lengths.
-Numbers: 4,6,10,12=28 mm.
-Numbers: 2,3,5,7,8,11=21 mm.
-Numbers: 1,9=16 mm

We need numbers 2, 3, and 4 in this diagram and the numbers needed are listed in the bolt description for a total of 12 bolts
http://parts.miniofsouthatlanta.com/...=0&modelYear=0

and valve body:
http://www.revmaxconverters.com/inde...lve-body.html?

I'm just waiting to make sure I can get the darn transmission pan off before I go ahead an buy everything. I see that it can be a bear to get that one bolt out blocked by the frame.

 

I actually had a revmax valve body installed in October after experiencing the typical harsh shifting issues. A few weeks after install, the transmission would start in EP mode with only 3 and 5 gears available. The issue seemed to resolve itself after the transmission warmed up for ten minutes or so at which point if the car was turned off and on it would function normally.

I took it to prestige mini who could find nothing wrong with it and told me the car wasn't throwing any codes. In any event, when I got it back it was fine for a few weeks. Then I noticed that each morning it would start with only 3 and 5 gears available. Turning on and off after getting warmed up would resolve the issue. This time though, no EP light.

As of this week, the EP light has returned as well.

Has anyone experienced this issue with a valve body install before? Ay insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Have the dealer update the TCM that should solve the problem.

 

Vento,
try to get a reset on your tcm like stated.Im not 100 percent but i think anytime there is work done on the trans it should be reset. i Have done two so far. On my mini, i had no issues and the car was good after a few drive cycles, no reset. the last one i did was really bad when cold. it would slip bang 2-3 and 3-4. We got it reset at the dealer and after some drive time it was good. what suprised me the most was how much better the response was from the trans after the valve body swap.
Thanks to everyone in this thread, you saved me alot of money and gained some confidence on my repair skills!

 

I bit the bullet and decided to get my valve body stripes by doing the swap on my own. Here's a quick pictorial on how to remove the valve body to help others with their repair:

I drained as much transmission fluid as I could before I jacked my car up but you could do this after you have it elevated.

Loosen/remove top passenger side engine mount bolt. Set parking brake on, jack front of the car up and put on jack stands:


Remove plastic splash guard under car. Remove power steering cover if your car is equipped with one. Remove power steering fan or let dangle. Place jack with wooden blocks under engine block. Remove bolt from bottom engine mount:

Carefully jack up the engine about 2-3 inches tilting the engine to be able to access the hidden t30 bolt

You only have just enough room for a thin diameter, long shaft T handle wrench to access this bolt.


There is another hidden, but not as difficult t30 bolt to remove near the drain hole

All the other bolts are easy access and remove. You may need to gently tap your transmission pan with a mallet to get it to come loose.




You may want to print out this guide to help with the next part:


https://wiki.bentleypublishers.com/d...ransmission%29

to be continued on the next post...

 

Valve body removal continued:

Unscrew 3 bolts to remove transmission filter and then get you an old pillow or jacket to put under your head while you carefully and gingerly remove these wire connectors. Make sure you have some safety goggles on. I used a small jewelers/eyeglass repair screwdriver to push in the locking extension and long nose pliers to grip the plug to remove. This part may take some time; don't rush. Also pictured below is the selector arm. You have to bend back the retainer tabs around the nut to remove it. Once the nut is removed you may need to grasp it with pliers and gently rock it to be able to pull it off.


To remove the oil temperature sensor in the center of the valve body you have to unscrew the bolt unlocking a metal bracket first to allow you to pull it straight down. Be careful because more fluid with flow out of that hole!
(this pic shows the oil temp sensor but the valve body has been removed already)

For what it's worth here's a quick sketch of the wire placement:




At this point follow the bolt removal pattern as outlined in the Bentley guide but when you get to the last bolt slowly unscrew it as it will let more fluid flow out as the valve body comes loose. Also be aware that two wire guide clips will fall out with the bolts that you will need to save for installation.
While you are unscrewing bolt number 12 support the valve body (I estimate it weighs about 15 pounds or so) and look for the accumulator plunger and spring to fall out of the transmission body.

Here's a view with the valve body removed

Backside of valve body

Clean everything up and reinstall with your rebuilt/new valve body. I'm using new bolts for the valve body to transmission but not really sure if it is necessary. The torque specs are on the Bentley guide. It also calls for 4.8 US quart (4.5 liters) need for refill but for some reason mine had close to 6.

 

i was wondering eyeckr, how does your's run now that you replaced the valve body? and how much fluid did you put back in? I got around six myself. when i filled i had to use the standpipe check to get it right.

 

what fluid did you use in your trans eyeckr? I have been using maxlife and was thinking of going back to mobil 3309.

 

kb30, to be honest with you I am at a standstill right now as I am waiting on my gasket, replacement bolts and filter from ECS Tuning (they had the cheapest pricing that I could find). I have the new valve body already installed from RevMax and just waiting for the above parts to complete the job. I just wanted to provide a tutorial as I went along doing my replacement.

I plan on using the Toyota TIV fluid as I used on my attempts to fix the poor shifting when I did my FIVE fluid changes. I read this somewhere which leads me to believe it may be the best choice in fluid:

"- Revmax says they have generally seen better results with non-synthetic transmission fluid. I went with the Toyota Type IV since it is JWS 3309 equivalent and way cheaper than the Mini fluid."

As far as refill I think I'm going to put about 6 or 6 1/2 quarts back in (the amount that came out) although the Bentley book says 4.8 quarts. Would that be too much? Was I overfilled to begin with?

I'm anxious to see how the transmission will behave once I button everything up. I hope I don't have to go to the Mini dealer to have the adaptations reset but am pretty much counting on having to do it.