your right it does have a different feel and as I drove my car within the dealers workshop I stalled it first time and thought it may be due to stronger pressure plates being installed.

 

I just started getting clutch slip in my 2012 JCW this week at 18000 miles. I put 30k on my 2010 S with no issues.

Have a Tuesday dealer appointment. Hope all goes well.

 

That is unreal 18k and the clutch starts slipping,actually mine started playing up around 30k to the point the more problems I have with this car the less I want to deal with it.
They have scoop problems,timing chain problems known clutch problems,how can any driver have confidence in these machines with such low mileage?
I have got to the point now (mine is out of warranty) of moving on and getting a different car that I know will be more reliable.
My JCW was 34k new and I see you can buy a Mercedes for less than that these days with probably a lot more confidence in the car and less putting your hand in the pocket especially the car one buys is second hand warranted preowned.
If one can live we these known problems then yes it is a fun car but you always have that feeling what is going to happen next?
I have spent time with customer service on some of these issues especially the warped scoop,emails have gone out and talked to corp customer service and after they told me they could not help me,I replied they were a typical big corporation that really does not care about the customer and the name customer service is just some one to vent to with the hope one goes away!
How do the rest of you feel out there,happy with clutches going bad with minimal mileage or timing chains going slack and the plastic mounts breaking,warped scoops....oil leaks.....unreal on new cars this should not happen?

 

Ask them to change all seals in the process and also are they putting in a modified clutch with a stronger pressure plate....in other words do they recognise there is a problem and they are putting a different part number in to rectify it?
Plse share this with the group for future reference plus maybe you can look at the old one and ask them the problem I why it wore out with so little mileage?

 

Agreed that both of my Minis have been more problematic than other cars I have owned and I haven't kept a new car more than about 18 months in the last 10 years. I enjoy this one enough that I was hoping to keep it longer as a third car as it was one of the few sporty vehicles I actually fit comfortably in. For what I paid for this one, I actually could have bought a used low mileage M3 I test drove, but wasn't really keen on the automatic transmission. Probably what I will look for after this one.

I'm no stranger to British cars having had 3 XJ-S cars and an E-Type. When they're on their game they're awesome to drive and when they break it absolutely sucks. Hopefully I can get this resolved and keep the car together for another couple of years.

 

I will ask the question but all the SAs at Century Mini seem to have never heard of any chronic problem with a Mini. They'll even keep repeating it with a straight face after you tell them you sit in quality review meetings at BMW twice a month and work in the automotive industry (all the while flat beds rolling back and forth delivering broken Minis to the shop). Doubtful they will acknowledge anything. At least I have a prior 30k mile experience with my previous Mini so they can't really claim operator error.

As long as I can get my car repaired with a minimum of bother, I'll continue to let them slide on the BS.

 

I left out transmission problems which is another thing to look forward to,like I said I will probably offload mine and check some reviews ,consumer reports on other vehicles.
Regds acknowledging faults ....no its the corporate world and they are there to keep a job rather than tell the truth?

 

click on this link to take you to further clutch problems
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-new-post.html

 

My fJCW Clubman is the 8th car that I have owned. All were bought new, except for one (a 1970 Lotus Elan +2S). All have been manuals; I have never owned an automatic.

The MINI is nowhere near the most trouble I've had with a car. Not even close. Back in the 80's I was driving 7000-9000 miles per year; considerably under the 10,000 mile average at the time. 1980 Chevy broke the 1-2 sychronizer rings at less than 20,000 miles. 1984 VW Quantum (with the Audi 5-cyl drivetrain) broke a CV joint at less than 30,000 miles. It's pretty bad when you see 5/8" diameter steel ***** rolling out from under the car...

 

One car that jumps out in your collection is the Lotus Elan,a friend of mine had one of those...red /gold and the cornering was fabulous on that car one of the best cars I have been in for taking bends.
Regards some of the pit fulls with cars you have owned yes they all have problems but the problems we are pointing out on this forum are not individual rather than collective and documented.
Yes a car CV joint can break on any car if it was manufactured badly,were these problems with the cars you pointed out common problems for each car as pertains to the mini with known problems on all there machines not out of the blue problems individually?

 

Being English am envious of you owning and driving jaguars especially an E-type that still has a shape all of its own....you quoted you "had" bet you wished you still had the E-type now be worth a pretty penny!!

 

I assume your friend had a 2-seater. The +2 series was a hardtop 4-seater. 115hp and about 1900 lbs. But, it was no slouch either.

It has been too long to remember if those problems were common, semi-common or what. However, they were premature failures. For that matter, the high pressure fuel pump that I had replaced a couple of months ago was a premature failure. The thing is, nothing is perfect or anywhere close to it. The issues that Honda and Toyota have had in recent years confirms that. It is just a matter of statistics.

 

The mention of the Lotus Elan brings back memories. I had a 1967 Elan

S/E, a right hand drive coupe. Loved it like a good woman up to a point!

Remember what Lotus stands for = Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious.

 

I had the E-Type late in its life, somewhere around 1998. I agree it is still one of the best looking cars ever produced but lost of Lucas' soul living in those cars. I had the hunch back though, a '69 2+2 as I am too tall to fit in the others.

Far and away the best drive was the XJ-S coupe I converted to a Tremec 5-speed and full AJ6 engineering tuning kit. Full throttle V-12 sound is something everyone should hear.

 

Dropped the car off today at the dealer and opted to drive one of our test vehicles at work until I hear back from them. Sort of a "keep it until you fix it" move, I guess.

The SA basically told me they replace the clutch once under warranty so I don't think repair costs will come up but I have to wonder if they will really reproduce the failure or just take my word for it. It's only slipping at 70+ mph pulls under full throttle.

Have also been reading up on dual mass flywheels and driving technique. Seems there can be some things to do differently.

---

So I got the call. SA was unable to reproduce the failure but they taking my word for it and replacing clutch and flywheel under warranty. Hope this is my last major issue with this car. I still enjoy it.

Flywheel is on order and they wanted to return the car to me for a couple of days until they could give me a loaner but I told them to keep it and give me the loaner when the part comes in. Don't want in not sitting in front of them while they wait for parts.

I have a couple of friends that work for BMW so I'll see if there's any unofficial word on running design changes to the JCW clutch.

 

How can you tell if the clutch is slipping, or the tires are spinning? When my tires are warm they don't make any noises breaking loose. I occasionally all get a traction indicator light in 4th gear at about 4 to 5 thousand rpm.

 

That certainly sounds like the clutch is slipping. Unless you're driving in the rain or on dirt roads with bald tires; these cars will not break the tires loose in 4th gear.

 

From what I've read in the past, if you're driving under hard acceleration and the rpms shoot up but the car isn't going any faster, that's a good indication that the clutch is slipping.

 

If you're going 70mph (or any speed for that matter) on a straight dry road and apply full throttle, the rpm needle will rise quickly without the corresponding increase in speed. If you are at all familiar with your car, the rpm rise should be immediately noticeable. That would be a slipping clutch. It does not give you a traction control warning because the wheel speed sensors are unaffected.

 

I have a 09 JCW with 59k miles, the clutch started slipping in 3rd around 50k miles but I cannot afford a mini replacement as they quoted me $2,800. Its now slipping in all gears, and I need to replace it.
Im having trouble finding if I need to replace the flywheel and clutch at same, and if there is a "JCW" specific kit. Ive been told by a shop that the flywheel can usually last through one clutch replacement. But have also read online that this clutch slipping may be due to the flywheel and the clutch is in good condition.
Will the mini cooper 'S' clutch kit be a good replacement? And, is this an at home install that I can do with a friend that has replaced clutches in vehicles before (mustangs, corvettes).
Thanks for any help!

 

Your clutch is JCW specific and heavier duty (at least on paper).

I know a guy who did his own Mini clutch over a weekend but it is not the same as a rwd clutch job, which I wouldn't hesitate for a second to do on an American car. Probably doable by someone with prior experience but I'd have a shop manual or very good instructions in advance and go over them before you start unbolting.

You might also get an estimate from anyone who is not the dealership. The price will likely be better.

 

I own an 06 JCW with 50K miles - clutch is fine except for a cold morning chirp - anything
to concern myself with?

 

Although someone may be able to answer your question, this thread relates to clutch issues in factory JCW's.

 

Did the slipping at 70mph WOT occur in 6th gear, or 5th? I haven't noticed it yet on mine. Thanks.

 

i have a 2010 jcw with just over 15k miles. I just started noticing some chatter coming from the front end that appears to go away when depressing the clutch. I havent experienced or noticed any clutch slipping (yet). Has anyone else had this noise? Is this the throw out bearing going bad? or a sign of a failed clutch coming my way?
of course my car is just 2 weeks out of factory warranty. Its like they design these things to occur as soon as your warranty expires...