I got the letter a couple of days ago for my F56S. Since I DIYed it for $5 I guess I'm not missing much reimbursement from having DIYed it. But glad to see the letter both step up and provide paths for reimbursement of to folks who paid an arm and a leg to get it done by dealer service / equivalent. For those not able to DIY, it's a lot of $$$$ pain to deal with such a remarkably cheap part.

 

Yep, got my letter too just this past week. I purchased some replacement springs, but haven't gotten to the project yet. Looks like I won't have to get to the project now, just a dealership visit or two...will have to see about getting this done on their nickel. Wonder how many of us are out there that this prompted an extended warranty addendum, certainly a significant amount.

 

Yep this is the spring and it looks like they replace the whole shifter with the fix. Its a little bit of a job from what i have seen to replace that shifter unit: https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Sit...h/25168483097/



Little fix spring is not much of a spring. Its a little bit or work to get to it. Glad they are covering it.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bremmen-...168483098~brp/

 

So I guess it depends on what "replace the whole shifter" means.

I've done the spring replacement on my F56. Getting the main shifter assembly out of the center console on the F54 is more work than on the F56. But on both cars, you have to get the main shifter -- that big chunk of plastic assembly -- out of the center console and that's it.

One does NOT need to replace, remove, or otherwise service the cable or anything "downstream of" the cable. The big chunk of assembly is detachable from the shifter cable -- by design (not using improv, wire cutters, creativity, etc).

The shifter assembly itself can be detached, reattached, detached, reattached to the cable over and over again. And the shifter assembly is a single unit, held in place by six bolts/screws/you get the idea, if memory serves.

With that in mind, here are the work tasks:

Shifter assembly replace:

- Get center console out of there, de-anchor (bolts) old shifter assembly from car, detach shifter assembly from shifter cable. Then reassemble in reverse order, but with new assembly instead of old.

Spring replace:

- Get center console out of there, de-anchor (bolts) old shifter assembly from car, detach shifter assembly from shifter cable, open up shifter assembly, remove spring. Then reassemble in reverse order, but with new spring inside old assembly instead of old spring.

The spring replacement has more steps because you are cracking open the shifter and fiddling with its internals. From a raw time and work steps standpoint, replacing the entire shifter assembly outright is faster, easier, and requires far less precision. Physical hardware-wasteful and more part-cost expensive, but easier to execute and harder to screw up.

Unless by "shifter assembly" one means shifter assembly+cable.

Shifter assembly+cable is a whole other kind of exercise. Doing that would totally be a lot more work. But it would be really unwise to get into replacing that cable for no reason. It isn't part of the problem at all, and it again is detachable from the shifter assembly by design. It's as un-clippable as your seat belt is un-fastenable.

FWIW.

 

I just checked our invoice and the replaced the full assembly. Also, I am not sure if it is a normal process, but they did a video walk around the car showing them doing an inspection. They looked at tire wear, brake wear, pointed out a leaking motor mount as well as a couple other things. Overall good experience with our local Mini dealer in Indianapolis Indiana

 

To clarify on this -
I just took ownership of a second-hand 2017 MINI Clubman JCW (55k miles) , and it started doing this just this week. Mine was shipped from a Honda dealer in Chicago to Buffalo NY, so there's really no "go back to the dealer for warranty".

Is the above last few comments on this thread implying that this is a RECALL?
If so, that would imply I could go to my local MINI dealer to have this replaced?

I don't want to run the risk of racking up even a $200 evaluation if that's not the case, as replacing it myself offers more opportunity to learn the car for future repairs.
However, if this is a recall item, I wouldn't necessarily want to pass up a more fundamental, permanent fix that I can't DIY.

Is it a recall? Or only for first-hand buyers who were sent letters?

 

It is NOT a recall per the letter I received. My VIN was identified under this new 'limited warranty' notification. Their bolded statement in the letter states, "This is not a notice of a Recall or Service Action. This is a notice of a "component issue and repair-specific extended limited warranty."

They are extending the warranty on the shifter to 10 years/120,000 miles from the vehicle's original in-service date. The letter states to make an appointment with your local MINI dealer for official diagnosis of the failure. Once approved the dealer will be authorized to perform the applicable selector lever mechanism repair free of charge.

I don't see anything in my letter that this warranty coverage isn't extended to secondary owners, so I would hope your local MINI dealer could work with you on determining if your MINI is eligible for the repair.

 

Thanks for the info above and clearing that up, if you cannot get it covered under the warranty we do have aftermarket options listed above.

 

That's good to hear.
Interestingly I've never really been to my local MINI dealer here in Buffalo, other than trying to find a Clubman before I found my JCW in Chicago and had it shipped to Buffalo - I purchased it privately, not through a dealer - so I'm sort of bracing for the worst. I actually liked my local Honda dealer, but I hear too many horror stories about dealerships (in general, not MINI specifically) to have a good assumption walking in!
Good to hear good stories.

Well my 2017 JCW only has 55k miles on it, but I'm not the original owner.
Might be worth giving them a call I suppose.

The whole car industry never ceases to puzzle me - the dealership gets money from the manufacturer on those warranty and recall items, so maybe it's a case where I can leverage the dealership's greed for my advantage.

 

I'm starting with the spring, already bought it. In part that was because I saw the $750 official MINI shifter first.

But then when I went back to ECS I see you also have an aftermarket $450 option, as well as a Bremmen $250 option. That last one seems like a great deal

On those complete shifter units - are all three with the "new" design, that doesn't have this defective spring?

 

WTF I literally did this repair back in September of 2023. I broke the plastic bit on the shifter and ended up spending several hundred dollars buying a whole new shifter console.
The nice thing is, it feels like they fixed it permanently and there's a new revision/ build number on the sticker.

Still pissed about this.

 

They are the updated units from what I see.