No, he just does parts supply. I forget the exact place but it's in/around Denver, CO. He has a shop he supplies that he recommended though so I can provide that as well. Send me a PM if you want.

 

Thanks, my error, somehow I saw Danvers not Denver. I'm going to talk with my dealer today and see what he has to say. I'll update the form as soon as I learn more.

 

First clutch shortly after I bought the car -- was told that the original pressure plates were too thin and they replaced it with the updated one.

Second clutch -- approx 60K miles. It was starting to feel a little sluggish and the dealership replaced the clutch.

Third clutch -- 8K miles after the dealership replaced the clutch, I started getting a burning smell one evening. The next day I took it to the independent MINI mechanic that we are using now. The flywheel and pressure plate were both completely toasted. The clutch itself wasn't worn, but it appears that when I had it replaced under my extended pre-paid service plan they ignored the fact that the pressure plate and flywheel needed to be replaced.

On our mechanic's recommendation we went to higher quality after market parts.

 

I forgot to update everyone on my clutch fix from a couple of months ago. After finding and consulting a local independent shop, that specializes in BMW and MINI, I decided to go with OEM parts. The owner of the shop showed me the flywheel which had a bunch of heat cracks and in his opinion indicated that someone, a prior owner or someone, must have subjected the clutch to some very harsh conditions. This could be burnouts or something else that would generate a lot of friction and heat.

One thing I noticed the instant I got the car back from the repair shop was how much lighter the clutch pedal was, ever since I purchased the car the clutch pedal was heavy, much heaver than my daughters Clubman S. I assumed this was normal because it was a JCW but in retrospect this was likely a red flag.

I will say the feel on the new clutch is hugely improved and I have tons of pedal where I has only a few inched at the end of the stroke before the replacement. The pedal is also now very similar to my daughters S.

I'm delighted with the new clutch and in love with the car all over again :-)

 

So, does anyone know what the current MINI/BMW policy is on replacing 2009 fJCW clutches?

 

If somehow still within factory warranty they might get the flywheel, clutch kit if lucky. Other than that, nope. I have to look into getting my aftermarket warranty to cover the flywheel that was listed black & white in the brochure and the contract and they denied it. :p

 

Extended factory warranty; expires Fall 2017...

 

I'd say review the warranty then to see what it says is covered, then go to a MINI dealership to talk to them about getting it fixed.

 

Just wondering if there had been a official policy made public. Unfortunately I get the impression that they are working this like the chain tensioner deal...

 

I had a discussion a few years back about my (student daughters) CPO warranty, my service representative explained that their warranty coverage is very different from their maintenance coverage when the car is new, so if an item is defined as a maintenance item it would not be covered by an extended warranty.

I also had an experience where the thermostat failed on my daughters Clubman while still covered by it's CPO warranty but because she was 90 minutes from the nearest dealer we had it fixed locally and MINI refused to reimburse us. Consequently I am not a big fan of extended warranties.

The key point is will the clutch and fly wheel be considered a maintenance item, if so the claim will be denied, my guess is this is the likely outcome, sorry to say.

 

I had my clutch replaced in my FJCW, by MINI but I only had an extended maintenance warranty, so it was covered under wear and tear.

 

First clutch starting to chatter at 125k. Have another post going re whether I should attempt replacement myself or gave it done.