We've heard a lot about problems with the Midlands 5-speed (02-04 Cooper). What about people that haven't had problems?

If you haven't had problems with your 02-04 Cooper 5-speed, reply with one of the following based on your current mileage:

A. 50K - 74K miles with no problems
B. 75K - 99K with no problems
C. 100K-149K with no problems
D. 150K+ with no problems

Ken

edit:

Running total thru post #23:

A - 4
B - 5
C - 3
D - 2

 

C. 100K-149K with no known problems.
137,450 and counting- but of course that's just considering myself and the previous owner, not sure if the original purchaser was unlucky or not...

 

A. Just had the fluid electively replaced with Redline MTL at my 50K service II.

 

B. 75K - 99K with no problems

Sold my MC for a MCS at 90k miles. No issues w/ the car at all.

 

B.

 

D. 167K miles. Clutch replaced at 80K...

 

49000km,replaced 3 clutch,now i believe the transmission fluid is leaking :(

 

i bought my mini with 25k and i now have 35k. ive only replaced the clutch once and everything else seems fine. anyone heard of a 15$ sock like part for the mini thats not included in the clutch kit ? i heard DB talking about it in the whiteroof radio podcast. could also explain why my minis clutch died not long after i got it.

 

B.

My 2004 JCW MINI Cooper has had no issues with the 5-speed Midlands transmission.

 

WOW! on the midlands ? what kind of things did you do for maintenance ? right now im on a plan on changing the oil every 10k miles and changing the gear box fluid once a year (thinking about doing it every 6 months).

whats the frequency on all your maintenances ?

 

A. 62K on a 2002 Cooper no problems, no transmission/clutch maintenance.

 

Hi... yes, on the Midlands... Delivery on July 13th, 2002.
Maintenance wise I've been always taking it to the dealer.

Oil changes have also always been done at the dealer, and only when prompted (when the mileage count-down goes below 1000). Because of pricing, I'm now thinking about doing oil changes myself, but the guys at the dealer always take a close look-see when doing the oil, and sometimes (though not often) they warn me of possible future break-downs.

Transmission fluid has been changed once per my request, when I was close to hitting 100K. And I'm sure it has been done once again, but I'm not sure when... From my understanding, to do the transmission fluid, you would also have to bleed your brakes.

I think that more importantly than the maintenance schedule is your driving style. As soon as I noticed the other R50's breaking down transmission-wise, I started to get worried, and since I've modded the hell out of the engine, I had to decide to either take it easy or use the mods and (possibly) break the car... I choose to drive carefully/slowly and possibly have the R50 with most "Midland-miles".

Take care,
Leo.

 

34.5k Clutch replaced Major transmission repair all covered by dealer. No problems senice! 86k now and im looking good! (knock on wood)

Perhaps A or B?

 

A.- If not sooner than that. All fixed by the dealer.

 

I'm pretty sure you already got that taken care of lol

 

lol. Yeah, quite possibly... On another thread I saw an '03 with 137K miles, so not alone and pretty close year-to-mile ratio, too.

 

Im on 64k miles and with a 6 speed swap now on hand. 2nd gear went out at 64, and I still drove the car without it until 94k mile when the shift fork went out. I found a good site that sells the whole swap out. everypart needed. yes all parts are used from wrecked cars.

Answer A

 

that sounds like excellent news! im very happy to hear about the longevity of your midlands. ive been overly paranoid and grandma driving my mini. i havent added mods but i think the first thing ill do is replace the parts that the are notorious for breaking. good luck with your midlands miles. does anyone know if DB from the white roof radio podcast has an original midlands ?

 

Im at 76K and no problems yet...

 

C.
2003 model with 108k. Runs fine. Only issue is I hear a crackling sound in 2nd and 3rd.

 

A crackling sound can't be good . A healthy trans should be silent- I'd defintely have it checked out soon.

 

141k on an '03 here.

 

B: 84,000 miles on 2003 Cooper that sees autocross and a couple of track days a year. I changed to Redline MTL at 73,000. The MTL really made it shift much more nicely when compared to the factory fluid. I make a point to make clean upshifts and to do double de-clutch/heel-and-toe downshifts to match the engine revs and save the syncros. I would expect more clutch wear by doing this, but the clutch is yet to show signs of wear.