Anyone here experienced shifting into reverse instead on 1st when stopped? Seems too easy to shift into reverse when starting out. When stopped at a light or in traffic, the car is in neutral, and then when wanting to shift into 1st, it seems it goes too easily into the reverse gate. I mentioned this to the dealer, and they have not had heard of any issues like this.

 

I did once at a red light. My main problem has been going into third instead of first, they seem awfully close together. Haven't done it in a while, but did several times when I first got it.

 

Absolutely. It's stupidly easy to drop into reverse instead of 1st particularly if you're in a hurry and shift briskly.

Every other car I've ever (ever!) driven has a better system than MINI (or BMW, not sure who's at fault).

 

I usually do a quick 2nd gear/1st gear while stopped.

 

I dont slip into reverse by accident...it just feels different.

I do find myself missing 3rd more than I would care to admit.

 

I see you've been on the site since before it was NAM, so surely you've owned a MINI or BMW in that time frame? Have you compared your MINI to others at the dealership? If it is your first MINI or BMW, then chances are you're simply getting accustomed to the different reverse pattern. It's absolutely not the first time your dealer has heard about it; pretty much all 1st time MINI and BMW owners have had to learn not to be overly forceful when shifting into 1st.

Best of luck.

 

In my experience the F56 manual wants to go into 3rd gear. So if you depress the clutch and push the gear shifter forward it will go into 3rd gear. Once you know this the rest is pretty simple. 1st is a light pull to the left and 5th is a light push to the right.
Putting the car into reverse instead of 1st requires quite a pull to the left. I've never done this but can see how it could happen.

 

On my R56 manual there was a fair amount of resistance to the left for reverse, like a spring to overcome. I never had a problem with it. Maybe try a couple at your dealership and see if they feel different than yours.

 

Only once I've shifted into reverse, once started in third and I occasionally miss 3rd gear shifting "spiritedly". If you want to see a car with a really tight shift pattern then go to your local honda dealership and find a manual car there. Second to fifth is our second to third.

 

I only had it happen to me once. I was daydreaming at a stoplight, then when I noticed everyone had started moving, I panicked and ended up throwing it in reverse. Luckily I realized it pretty quickly before I drove into the guy behind me!!

Now I try to check the gear indicator to make sure.

 

I don't know how anyone who's ever driven one of these cars in a manual could ever accidentally shift into reverse. In my last manual MINI and in my current there is a definite force to overcome to shift into reverse.

 

for this reason it scares me to downshift into 1st - not during normal driving, no problem there, but when you're autocrossing, heat of the moment, it's easy to give enough force to move it into the Reverse gate - I've even done it going from 3rd to 2nd, where I just give it too much strength and pull it over there. Wastes my run.


All other cars I've driven have a lock out where I need to pull up on a ring or something to get it into R...

 

I learned to drive correctly on an R56, everything else feels weird.
When I test drove other cars before picking up my MINI, the ring on the shifter threw me off. I had no idea. The guy on the test drive with me in the Fiesta was probably worried from the very first minute. When I got to the BRZ i knew what was going on though.

I prefer the gate that the MINI has - never an issue with going into reverse instead of 1st. It's a pretty long pull to the left rather than a push upward with a little bit to the left.
I feel you'd be able to tell very quickly if you put it into reverse.

 

Interesting - the ring feels very natural to me: Palm the **** of the shifter, pull up on the ring between middle and ring fingers.


While you may have never put it in reverse, keep in mind when racing - in general (not necessarily mini): many have tried to shifting into 3rd and ended up in 1st (aka money shift). I'm not saying it should happen, just that it can in the heat of racing. You're not really concentrating on how much force it takes to get to the side, just that you need force. I've pulled the entire shifter **** assembly off literally a dozen times going from the 1-2 shift on the Mini. I'm not saying it SHOULD happen, but that it can.


Never had any such issues in normal driving of course, and in normal driving I don't have a problem with the reverse gate at all. It's when I autocross that I worry about it. I just think it would have been nice if they had put a mechanical lock out when the car is moving forward.

 

I have been driving manuals (on and off) for almost 40 years now. I have have accidentally put my car into reverse a couple of times. Luckily, I caught myself, as it felt just a little odd. On my car, at least, there doesn't seem to be much resistance to moving the shifter to the left to go into reverse. Maybe I just have a heavy hand and just blow past it. The couple of times it has happened have been when I have allowed the auto shut off to kick in (taking foot off clutch) and then trying to quickly get it in gear when the light changed. Not exactly a panic move, but I can see how someone can make the mistake.

 

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I do not believe the reverse shift gate is resistive enough to prevent an accidental shift.

 

If your particular MINI is more sensitive than others, then by all means, go to the dealership and demonstrate the unpleasant difference and get it fixed under warranty. This is different than someone throwing their entire body into every shift without realizing it....and I've seen it happen many times being passenger both on the street and especially on the track, where people seem to assume that more physical effort equates to better driving, which is never the case.

Typically, the detent is strong enough that a normal person can't go into reverse accidentally. BMW has been doing shifters this way for decades.

 

LOL - a 2-1 shift is almost unheard of around here as the courses are on an airfield. However...

I have missed a few 1-2 shifts, if the course begins with a hard right.

What happens is that if I have a fair bit of lateral force on the car my hand wants to slide slightly left as centrifugal force tugs at it, and I wind up catching the gate to the left. That feeling always panics me, and since I was looking for second and there's no gear in the southwest corner, I wind up blowing the run while I find 2nd.

You'd think I'd learn, but I've done it more than once. Event the belts don't prevent it because it's the right arm and hand that commit the mistake.

But 2-1 hasn't been a bother.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Yeah I bet it's hard to accelerate when you're not in a gear!

 

I have had the same problem when I have stopped at a light. The first time I thought it had been a mistake, but it has happened to me 3 or 4 times, try to shift into first and go into reverse, I put neutral again, try to shift into first one more time and the same thing happens. In this Mini Cooper (F56) is not easy to shift reverse, I have many years driving manual cars and never had this problem.

 

When this happens to me, I find if I let the clutch out and in again, I go into first and off I go. If I do not let the clutch out, I keep going into reverse despite attempts to shift into first. I too have many,many, years of driving manual transmissions and have never expecienced this problem....not even with my First Gen "S".

 

Did you make an appointment with your dealership yet?

 

question - what is the mechanism that provides that extra force to go into reverse? is it something that will wear out over time/use?

 

I am going to combine this with the A/C evaporator replacement. Appt.will be scheduled when dealer gets back to me after today's mtg. with a factory rep. re: the A/C/smell and what the "new" fix will be.

 

Exactly my thoughts- mine you really need to push it over to the left to get it in reverse. I have a 2015, maybe it was changed between 14-15 (undocumented) to make it more difficult to accidentally shift into R?