A few days ago, the shifter cables popped off and is not at the dealership getting repaired. I have an extended warranty that is covering this repair. They also noticed three problems that are apparently not covered.

They said they front control arm bushings are bad and want $1200 for this repair. Anyone has any experience if this is reasonable or not? It seemed to drive fine for me. If I do not have this repaired, could I cause any major damage?

Apparently I have a "golf ball sized hole" in the air intake hose leading from the airbox to the engine. They want $80 for a new hose and are not going to charge me labor as the entire assemble need to be removed to take care of the cables. I cannot find any pricing on these tubes. Does this sound reasonable?

Here is the kicker. They said my clutch is possible failing. They said they hear a "wooping noise" when they brought it into the shop. They informed me they commonly hear this when the clutch is getting close to the end of it's life. They quoted me $3500 before tax to replace the clutch and flywheel. This seems about $1k higher than other occurrences of dealer replaced clutch and flywheel that I could fine here on NAM. I am going to call back tomorrow and find out what all the $3500 was a quote for. Is there anything in particular I should inquire about? If the car is still drivable, should I drive it until the clutch completely fails?

 

Don't have much experience with intake hoses and their costs, sounds to me like an opportunity to throw in an aftermarket one.

Concerning the lower control arm bushings, 1200 sounds a little on the high side. If you don't feel any problems, have any thunks when starting or stopping or going over bumps, less than 50-60k when they were done last, I would say wait a little. It also may make a good time to start a relationship with a good non-dealer shop who specializes in MINIs and BMWs.

The first time I had mine done it cost 1000 at the dealer. Wheel works quoted me 950 of something like that, so went with the dealer. The place I go to now will charge 3 hours labor to change them. That and the cost for replacement bushings is somewhere around 500-600 range.

3500 for clutch and flywheel? Wow, don't know anything about those prices but that seems quite high, like new tranny high.

 

I had a new Getrag 6-speed put in mine last year at the end of summer under warrantee. $5000 total, including a new clutch. Total cash outlay on my part: $200 co-pay and $300 for the new clutch.

I was quoted $1100 or so for the clutch job - $800 labor and $300 parts - if I was to hold off and do the clutch later. I told the mech that I'd happily replace the clutch while the trans was out, and he charged me only the cost of the parts.

The funny noise that sounds a little like Chewbacca is a fairly common problem with the dual-mass flywheel, and is not a clutch problem at all. Mine has started doing that in the morning when it's cold, but after the engine warms up, it goes away.

I'd find a different mechanic to work on the car if I were you....

HTH!

C ya,
Dutch

 

Thanks for the info. I never considered it a "wooping" noise as the dealer described it, but my mini has been practicing its wokie mating call for a long time. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a trust worthy shop in the area that is able to work on minis. I live in a small town and up driving 70 miles just to get it to the dealership.