Well I brought my '12 CM to the dealer a few weeks ago for the temp sensor recall. While there they found a leak from the gearbox and had an "upgraded" seal installed. Since then the leak had gotten so bad the car would reek of burning oil when stopped at a light or in traffic. Brought it in for repair again yesterday and they called me back saying they have to replace both the gearbox and differential.
Is this an ongoing Countryman issue since there was already an "upgraded" seal as they called it?

I'll be honest...this car scares the crap out of me. If this was out of warranty, I'd be looking at an $8500 repair.

im hoping most all the issue with the countryman are worked out before the warranty expires. The more people buy and drive them the more the issues will become obvious to the manufactures" i hope"

For what it's worth, I've been reading these forums for the past few months and I can't remember hearing anyone else mention gearbox issues, so I don't think this is common. Thermostats were the big thing a while back and the only other really common thing is people that suspect problems with the clutches wearing out earlier than expected are MINI's fault and not their own.

There a couple of topics on this forum regarding failure of clutches in Countryman. It is a real problem. I have posted this link before to report it to the NHTSA:


https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

Spend a couple of minutes to report the failure Traprock

I'm thinking there must be something to it if there is an upgraded seal for it. I'll get more info when I pick it up tomorrow. Incidentally the found more problems today. It seems the leek also affected the control module which will also need to be replaced.

Rockland:
1)That site looked like it was mostly safety issues. Do I still use it to report mechanical ones too?
2)I lived in rockland for a while (W. Nyack and Valley Cottage) and stilll drive through it every day on way home from city. Live in Orange Cty now.

Did the seal have a new part number or did the dealer say it was upgraded?

Only thing I've read about are the clutches on the all 4s with manuals can be burned through pretty quick and aren't strong enough for the heavier car. I think road and track's long term test car had this issue as well.

I don't know if there was a new part number, but the service rep said it was an upgraded seal from Mini.

Traprock

The first grey box in the middle of the page is for a "vehicle complaint"- start there!

I'm in Nanuet (previously Pearl River for a long time). I work in Westchester and TZ it everyday.

Well, You can add: Control module, wire harness and main computer to gearbox and differential. Those were found to be compromised as well. Any guesses as to how much this would have cost me in a year when I'm out of warranty? The gearbox and Diff would have been $8500 without the new three items.
Tomorrow will make it a week without my ALL4. :(

Wow! Which dealership are you working with and how have they been through this process ?

I am approaching 12,000 miles and got some clutch smell last week. Had a parking lot attendant in NYC tell me that the clutch "sucks" yesterday.

I've been dealing with Prestige Mini in NJ where I bought the car. They've been great with this so far. Very much on the proactive side of things. I'm going to have to speak with them about what is going to happen as far as future protection. I don't know if there is any difference with the new parts as opposed to the old. By this time next year I'll be at 50K and saying good bye to the warranty. I'm assuming that since there is an obvious issue with all this that they would still take care of me if I run into the same issues again but I need to be sure of that. If I can't get them to give me any real assurances, then I may have to dump the car. I can't afford to be hit with a $12,000 repair bill like I'm sure this was...at minimum. I don't think anyone could, really so I really need to hear what they have to say about it.

I bought mine at Prestige too. Good luck and keep us updated!

Wow, that is not a great story. Hopefully the new components hold up for the long haul.

Rockland - report this to your dealer and make sure it is documented. If burning smell becomes more frequent, bring to dealer for inspection. At most they will just visually inspect from underneath which has no value, but it will be documented. Pay attention to changes in clutch behavior and report back to dealer. Document, document, document.

Appointment set for next week Blue. That is one issue- Car went into "limp mode" last week on a trip into City, parked it, and it was fine. Strange stuff!

I got a call yesterday saying my all4 was ready. I drove down last night to pick it up and when the lot attendant swung my car around we both noticed the check engine light was on. I had no choice but to leave it there. Its now over 8 days without my car and my loaner sucks. Now I'm starting to get frustrated. There were no techs still there so I have to wait until today now to see what's going on and if it needs more work.

I got a call the next day saying a tech ahd not properly plugged in a conncector and that's why the check engine light came on. Picked my car up last night and drove it home with no issue. Went to work and noticed the burning oil smell again when I got out of my car, so i put cardboard underneath to see if any oil was still dripping. None was, but when I started it to come home, the check engine light is back on. I had no choice but to bring it back to the dealership again and leave it. On the way the burning oil smell was strong whenever I slowed down in traffic.
I'm getting so freakin' frustrated with this.

sorry to hear bout your experience, hope everything get resolve soon, tks for the updates

Picked up my car again yesterday (Saturday) and everything seems ok, but only took it on a short trip from the dealer home. Heading into work and back today will give it a better test. Hope everything is ok.