I bought a brand new Cooper S with a manual trans and after two weeks of driving the trans started to make a whining noise. After a trip back to dealership I was told the trany will need to be replaced. WTF!?!

I know every Mini owner I talk to is happy about their car but when pressed they start telling you about little issues here and there. Since I have never had a problem this big with any of my other new cars the question begs to be asked ... is this normal for Mini's? What else should I expect from my brand new Mini? What should I be prepared for?

 

The vast majority of Gen 2 MINI owners have no serious problems with their cars, and are thus happy with them. That said, a certain percentage of MINI's - as with all cars - do encounter problems, some of them serious.

The manual transmission on my 07 MCS has been impeccable, but a small percentage of manual owners has not been so fortunate. There are some threads on NAM concerning problems with the Getrag manual (use the search function). Usually these show up relatively soon after a car is put into service, or not at all. Sorry to hear about your unfortunate experience, but at least the problems are being rectified under warranty. Once the car is sorted out, you will love it!

 

It may not be such a big deal, the problem is that the trans is not servisable and even if a small parts fails it need to be completly replaced, if doing warranty/dealer work...

 

jeez two weeks? what are they making these trannies out of now, plastic like the throwout bearing?

I had soooo many defective clutch/DM flywheel/tranny issues on my 2005 S I swore any manual BMW product off forever, and got the Aisin automatic for my 2009 S. I, and my bum left knee, couldnt be happier!

Good luck resolving the problem.

 

My tanny was replaced at 7000 miles with a clicking noise thats hard to describe.

 

My clutch went out at 2400 miles(this happened back in march). I was ticked because they said it was my fault and I never abused the car. I have alittle over 4200 miles on it now. I don't drive it much because I don't bring it to school. I have a 98 dodge neon that I drive at school. It cost 2gs to replace.Miniusa knocked off a grande. If it happens again I'm buying a stage I or II clutch, since I'll be paying so much or getting a new car.

 

I had my clutch replaced at 2000 miles and my transmission replaced at 6000 miles, kept getting a whiny noise going down into second. They seemed pretty quick to replace my transmission, maybe they know something is wrong?

 

How did they justify themselves that a clutch failure at 2400 miles was the drivers fault? Were you doing launches at the track every 2 minutes?

 

Car has never been to the track..Like I said in the post I never abused it. The worst part was that the car was up there for some other stuff (noisemaker wasn't put back on correctly after boost tubes were installed by the shop that did it) in the beginning of January and the tranny started to smoke in traffic when I got to the dealership they told me it was fine. This was 200-300miles earlier.

 

Well I sure hope that I don't have any issues where the slight groan I sometimes hear downshifting into 2nd becomes worse. I better take it in and have it documented now so they don't blame me. I would really rather wait until something seriously needs a repair or the warantee is almost up than R&R the tranny at only 3K miles. The car runs so well it just seems a shame to risk other problems for what seems to be a minor noise for a brief instant.

 

UPDATE: Yeah they were quick to call me back and tell me that they were replacing the trany. they did not seem surprised that it was making a noise.

My last 5 Audi's were flawless. No problems with hundreds of thousands of miles between them all. My wife however who is a BMW fan has had nothing but problems with hers. Her nine month old 330 was bought back by the dealer and her new 335i isn't all that great either.

 

I haven't had a single major problem since I bought the car, I'm a little over 14K miles on my 07 S.

Air conditioning on recirculate for too long can produce a mildew smell (just spray with cleaner from an auto-part store if it happens). Took several months for it to happen to mine.

Some alignment stuff when I first had the car that got sorted out the first 2K miles.

Other than that it's just been oil changes, a small accident at like 10K from debris in the road at night needed some repair, but even after that, there hasn't been any new behavior from the car. I'm really happy with it so far.

Sounds like you might have a problematic dealer jcap. Have you tried calling corporate Mini to have your problem resolved? A hit on that dealership is a hit on their salaries directly.

 

My problem was sorted out in may haha.If you read my first post Miniusa knocked off a grand, but that is it. I don't like the service manager they have at mini of pittsburgh. The one they had up there previously when I had my first mini was cool and stuff esp with mods, his name was Armahn. They moved him to the bmw side a couple years ago. I forget this recent guy's name though.I had a problem with him back when I had my 03 cooper, right after he got started. My warranty is pretty much useless though. I think he is my only complaint with mini of pittsburgh. . Sales, body shop, etc A+++++

 

My auto transmission in an 07 MC was replaced twice at about 13k, engine replaced at 5k. So for all the comments that there are many without defects... do you know that for every person that speaks up and posts in a forum there are usually 10 or more who don't bother to post or even know this forum exists. FACT is there are alot of MAJOR defects with MINI. More so than with other Mfgs. If there were more that demand quality maybe they would take notice but SO many defend this vehicle more than they would their own child. Amazing.

 

lot of you guys are describing a whining noise? can you guys be more specific or give additional examples in determining if you have a transmission problem?

i dont think i have any problems, my car has been running pretty nicely but in the even something this major happens... i would like to know
thanks

 

i think its normal to defend a 20k+ investment

 

You would think BMW would have put better quality into their products.

 

Well, I'm one of those who absolutely loves my MINI, so far. But I feel for you folks who have what seem like unreasonable problems and then dealer / MINI tells you it's your fault. I know that sometimes, that probably is the case. But when it's clearly not and the issues have been seen time and time again, even by a small percentage of owners, it seems like a really bad PR thing to blame the owner and not stand behind the product.

Hope there's some good resolution for you folks in this unfortunate position.

 

One: It's just a car. We all get passionate about our cars but again it's just a car. There will be many after this one. Don't get so serious about it.

Two: A car is never an investment. Especially a 20K+ mass produced one! Rarely a car is an investment unless you get a one of a kind low produced collector car .. but hate to brake this to ya .. a Mini ain't one! If you buy a Mini as an investment you should reconsider your financial choices.

However It was not my intention to beat up on BMW on their products. I grew up in Germany where BMW was considered poorly built. But that was in the 80's. Their quality has improved over years and they build some wonderful performing cars but they still lack in reliability. I bought my Mini as a transitional car to carry me between the car I just sold and a car I will buy in 09. I thought the Mini would be a great fun car to have while I waited for my next car but I did not expect it to be a total bomb in 2 weeks. It is disappointing to see a 30K car take a dump so fast. The worst car I have ever owned was a (then) brand new 2000 SAAB 9-3 even that car had 120k miles on it before it needed any major work.

BTW: My dealer said this is the 2nd trany they are are replacing on a new car this week!!!

BTW II: I still look forward to driving the wheels off the Mini when I get it back.

Thanks to all who posted their thoughts.

 

Edit: don't know why I posted, Just delete

 

mis-post

 

I have 7500 kms, and a weird noise in the clutch.
Went down to service, and within two secs they decided that it will be replaced UNDER WARRANTY, because it is problematic due to the fact that for environmental reasons, is more "organic" as it should.
Tomorrow the surgery, and they are going to check the transmission also in order to be sure.
R56s, model 05/2008.

 

This is the exact reason you have a warranty.

there is only so much quality control and assurance that you can do. They can't examine every single part that goes into a mini. Sometimes parts get manufactured incorrectly and installed onto a car.

I think it's funny that you guys expect perfection out of a car.

 

One: Just because YOU view the vehicle as "just a car" does not make it "just a car" to another. I respect your opinion and how you would like to treat your belongings and expect the same in return.

Two: All purchases are investments, not necessarily direct monetary investments but in other forms. Some as simple as for the joy of it, others as a mode of transportation. Buying a vehicle for many is meant to be used as a mode of transport AS WELL as other reasons. Hence, you invested in a form of transportation and expect it to work.

Three: Exceptions happen, hence the need for a warranty.

 

My service dept and miniusa told me that the clutch wasn't covered under warranty lol. When I got it fixed back in March-May.