Autoxed the 04 JCW last two seasons. On the way home from Sundays event I lost the transmission. Mechanic says the fluid looks like "silver paint". Not good.

My question is a basic one but not one I have seen discussed here. As most know the tranny on the MCS is quite expensive to purchase and install, at least by my standards. Somewhere north of $5000. I would be curious to know whether autoxers have to replace the tranny more often then those that do not. While my first impulse is to say "Of course they do because they use it harder", on second thought I would think a quality transmission
would stand up to what amounts to a dozen or fifteen weekends of spirited driving. I mean we are only using a single shift from first to second for gosh sakes. As an aside, there are only two Minis that race regularly in my region. The other one was a MC and he lost his tranny last season and sold the car.

Why am I asking if I have to replace it anyway? Because while I do have to repair the car I do not have to race it again. When I decided to autox the Mini I considered the cost of tires, wheels, suspension changes, stiffeners, coilovers, engine chips, harness, helmets, etc and was and am ok with those expenses. Factoring in a new $5k (with labor) tranny every second or even every third year is a deal breaker.

So what do you all think? Were we just unlucky or is autoxing the Gertrag more than it can stand?

Thanks for any replys.
Not-so-funracer

 

This is a first.

Where I autox, I start in 1st, shift into 2nd, and the stick stays there for the whole run.

I have read many times on NAM, that the 02-04 boxes were more fragile than the 05-06. And the 05-06 boxes have much better gearing.

This is going to be expensive, but now you can look into replacing your box with an 05-06 version. I do believe you'll need to get the computer adjusted at the dealer for that as well.