I'm having the same issue with transmission parts with my '06 R52 6-speed trans....I have a bad syncro in 4th gear only....I asked a reputable trans shop here about fixing this, he said that I'm better off finding a used trans to install.....cost of fixing mine would be more than the car is worth

Now, I have heard that our transmissions have the same internal pieces as the high performance Ford Focus cars.....can anyone confirm this?
Also, how hard would it be to just take the trans apart and replace the syncro rings on 4th gear and put it all back together, are there any special tools needed to do that?

Bryan

 

Really love the car overall, but since someone asked nearly ten years ago, which was not long before I bought the car:
1. Erratically priced, expensive parts, typically 2X-10X what American car parts cost, but for which thankfully there are many sources. Problem is, they're not always priced close so I have to check seven sites to find the least expensive, expensive thermostat. Oh you want 'OEM'? Double the highest aftermarket option.
2. "Front End Maintenance Mode" for an alternator, really?
3. 'Rear leg room' pertains only to riding side saddle.
4. That rear facing bumper light -- what is it for? What does it do? Some are white, mine's red which seems even more useless.
5. Classic British lines, styling, and ergonomics, but with the even more classic British crappy electrical system. Bad grounds, un-findable pinched wires, inexplicable battery drains, water intrusion, the list goes on, as the lights go out...
6. BMW door locks. Enough said.
7. 'Meh' headlights. My '74 Buick's halogens are brighter. Really, really want a Xenon HID setup, but damn the retrofit kits are expensive.
8. The annoyingly high factory roof antenna, first thing I replaced - with a 3" stubbie.
9. Scraping the air dam on any driveway curb dip deeper than 1/2" no matter how slow I go. And the car isn't even lowered.
10. The only thing more invisible to other cars and trucks is a motorcycle. Many, many close calls because of this...

 

The rear facing bumper light, white is backup on early models, red is rear fog light on later models

Bryan

 

& yet people still buy them!

 

I have heard that about the Focus trans as well, but can't confirm it. I would think that if they interchanged, your normal sources for aftermarket trans parts would stock it since there is a decent market for the parts. You might be able to order one through someone like Cobra Transmission, but I would just try to find a good used one too. The issue with the repair is the labor time. Just doing a removal and reinstallation for the transmission on these cars can exceed 12 to 15 hours. Add parts on top of that and a transmission rebuild and a clutch and the job could exceed the value of the car if you pay a shop. The 6 speed cars have that dual mass flywheel which cannot be machined and so a clutch kit can be over $1,000! (I think "Eric the Car Guy" on YouTube said his R56 clutch kit was $1300). This is why many people do the single mass conversion which is only $500 in parts. Obviously, with it being such a big job, you would want to do a clutch while you had the trans out. Also, you will need the special oil that is spec'd for these transmissions ($100 from BMW) or the Redline MTL substitute ($50). I would also get a quart of Pentosin CHF-11S (?) power steering fluid and the correct MINI antifreeze ($20) as you will be spilling at least some of both of those.

So far as special tools go, I just went through my Getrag 5 speed and documented it in a series of YouTube videos on my channel, "3rd World Garage". I used an angle grinder, bearing separator plate set, snap ring pliers of several types, an inside bearing puller set, a hydraulic press, bearing and seal drivers, E Torx socket sets and a seal puller. I also used anerobic sealant on the case halves as I find it seals the best, but it is about $15 a tube. I bought the bearing and seal kit through eBay seller " One Stop Gearbox Shop" in the UK. However, I didn't even try to do anything about the syncros or blocking rings because I couldn't get the parts. The other thing that made it exceedingly difficult is a complete lack of available documentation on how it comes apart or goes together. Ask BMW and they will tell you that you should just buy a new transmission (at $3-4,000) from them so they have no servicing information available. Not even the Bentley manual shows you anything about it because BMW REALLY wants to sell whole transmissions! This is the first factory service manual set I have ever seen that did not have complete transmission servicing data. ( I build all my own transmissions) You will need to guess at how things go together and come apart. Do it wrong and you will break the transmission case (I did!) and need to get it TIG welded-if you are lucky. The 6 speed is similar to the 5 speed in general construction but has some differences in how things are laid out to add that second overdrive.

 

I love working on mine. I hate there's no wrecked minis near me to get parts.

 

Not sure which version you have, but I enjoyed changing the oil on my F56S. I was surprised that those little trapdoors worked well and everything fit well. It also was the first time that I changed a canister oil filter so that was a novelty.

 

I agree completely...I find the lack of either data, illustrations, service manual help, or even exploded diagrams for the Mini transmissions very frustrating.....when these transmissions are assembled, how do they do it, guess? Just makes me mad that BMW or MINI is keeping this info to themselves

Had I known that the 4th gear syncro was bad in my 6spd when I had the entire drive train out for the new engine, clutch, and other items....I would have found another one right then....I'm not even sure that I'm going to keep the car anyway....but it might not bring premium price with a gear clash going into 4th every time

Bryan

 

Try to find an LKQ location near you. I usually will use any one within a 100 mile radius if it has what I want. The LKQ you want is the you pull it. They also have late model yards, but those tend to be full retail. Within the Tampa Bay area, we have 3 of them, plus one in Sarasota and one in Orlando as well as Daytona Beach. They also have an online system with pictures of the cars so you can see what cars are there before leaving home. Right now, for example, the Tampa Yard has 5 MINIS and Clearwater has 2. They are a mix of R50, R53 and R56 models.

 

Problem is I'm in Panama city beach. The closest place that's has a mini for parts. Will only sale pre pulled parts.

 

Sorry to hear that. I know that when I first got mine, none of the yards had any unless it was the expensive yards. Some things can be quite difficult to find due to the individual nature of these cars and just how many were special order. I think I had to wait 2-3 months before I found anything I needed, and had to do a 150 mile round trip to do so. Then again, I can do that because I have more than one questionable car to drive. I don't think I could afford to run the MINI as my only car because of the parts situation. As it is, I paid $1900 for the car (with 83k miles, good service history and the colors and options I wanted) and probably have close to that in parts, with probably another $1500 to go to get it where I want it to be.