Hi everyone! I just recently joined this Mini forum to further inform myself about the car I really enjoy and hopefully love.
I just brought an 04 Mini cooper S in Turquoise or electric blue in manual/ leaving a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer ES auto.
The car has 37,900 miles and from my understanding, still has the manufacutres warrenty.
I wanted to know if there is any future potential problems I should have an eyeout for or be aware of.
The car is in mint condition and the previous owner said that the only problem was a clutch that had gotten replaced by MINI around 30K.
I have much mechanical experiance from my past, I have taken an auto trade for 4 years so it helps when going to a dealership and possibly not get taken advantage from the service deptartment.
In this case I went to my Mini dealer here in Orlando, FL and the dealer here seems to want to take me as a fool.
I noticed a clutch fluttering noise from the car and when pressing the clutch it goes away. I know this is not a normal sound coming from the transmission.
The mechanic says it a common noise but I have driven many Minis before buying this one and I know this is not normal.
Before my warrenty is ove I'll be bringing it in to get looked ove again.
IS this trully a common nosie or a known issue?
Any help would be trully apreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

I would go to a different dealer, and make sure they know you're not "mechanically challenged."

 

Sadly, it is a known issue - though I'm not certain how common. My '05 had a clutch/flywheel combination replaced once under warranty to address the "flutter" issue as you described. The problem went away for a few thousand miles but came back. I knew of at least two other cars with similar issues/replacements/recurrences. When I mentioned that it came back (I was working at the dealership at that time) they said that MINI had since quit covering clutch/flywheel replacements under warranty because it wasn't really fixing the problem. There was (at that time) no other fix. I have lived with it for about a year now. Fortunately it is not as pronounced now as it was originally. I haven't bothered asking again if a fix was ever determined. ...but I might the next time I'm in.

Not a great answer - but I hope it helps.

 

Congratulations on buying the most beautiful color MINI has ever made
The flutering noise you hear is more than likely coming from the clutch throwout bearing. Sometimes they also tend to bind occassionaly, or squeak when you depress the clutch. I have an 02 EB MCS that has always been serviced at Downtown MINI. Sean Costelo used to be the service manager (excellent) but he left in January. The new guy is OK. I recently had my Major Service(60kmiles) done, $600 :impatient , but they did everything the book says needed doing. They do good work, just make sure you specify what work you want done. Again, congratulations on purchasing, IMHO, one of the most beautiful MINI's ever made!

 

I have had an 03 and now an 06 both flywheels replaced with the same type of noise. It was explained to me that the flywheels are dual mass and they chatter thus the noise. It is more a nuisance issue than a mechanical problem.
Hope this helps. You need to be comfortable with your SA and his/her knowledge.

 

Had the same issue and my complaints over 9 months (40k miles) before they considered it, even then I had trans issues so the whole thing went. And I'm not a fan of DTM but I can say while other dealers are non existant for a long while (and many arent any better) look up Wallis motorsport over in Tampa for your non warranty work

Check out sunshineminis.org too!

 

I couldn't have said it any better. Gromit is all knowing (in a very good way). It sounds like they might be blowing you off long enough to get it out of warrenty. Plus, it sounds like you know engines and if you think it's wrong...it probaly is. Good Luck and let us know what happens.

 

Aww, thank you Dix.

Also keep any and all paperwork showing the date you first brought your car to the dealership for the problem, so you can prove when the issue started. In case the warrenty runs out in the meantime.

 

Thank you so much Mini buddies for your quick responses and informative info. I know I made a good choice joining the North American Motoring forum and thank you again
Thanks for the compliments on the Mini and it's color. It's my favorite too!

And thank you for the heads up on the known Transmission noise. It really gives me a sense-of-relief to know it might not be a major issue at all and others are familiar with this sound as well. Is there any fix?


For those of you who experienced Down town Mini here in Orlando, my experience there hasn't been the greatest so far. The Service manager seems like he doesn't care about the customers at all.
I feel like he brushes me off when I start to ask him questions about my Mini and my service options.
As far as my flutter noise he said it was normal and left me waiting for an explanation why, even when I asked more about it. I ended up calling the ASK MINI # in the service manual and spoke to a MINI rep.
I logged in my flutter issue with them for future records.

Maybe you guys are right. I should trust my Mini service adviser alittle more but I get alittle scared knowing how untrust worthy car stealerships are .

Is there any other common issues I should be aware of or lookout for on the Mini?
I WILL be tuning this car for sure and can't wait. But I'm gonna learn more about this little beauty before doing so.
I also have a 05 Subaru WRX STI and have some nice mods and I want to tune the Mini along with it.
Any suggestions to a new Mini owner?

Thank you again for your info and help. I'll be going to the dealership again to address this problem to see if there is a fix.
IS there do's and don'ts and you should know about the MINI?

Thanks again....

 

I meant it Gromit. When I first joined, as a woman driver I was basically clueless. Then when I followed some of your and other's advice, I knew then that I had picked the right site. Good MINI owners share their knowledge.

 

Don't let them tell you it costs $190 to rotate your tires. Global in Atlanta tried to tell me that once. After I got thru laughing & got up off the floor I told them I would pass & let Goodyear do it for $15