Hi all,


Looking for a workshop manual for automatic gearbox rebuild for a 2005 MINI CVT gearbox.


Any help much appreciated.

 

http://www.bentleypublishers.com/min...2002-2006.html

or the BMW electronic manual...

http://www.emanualonline.com/Cars/Mi...%28BMW%29.html


Covers the Gearbox, but I do not know how extensive the coverage is.

Best of luck.

Motor on!

 

First link sells 7 videotapes (somewhat pricey) about CVT repair
Second link says they have a 48 minute CVT rebuild video, but I think you
have to sign up to see the price for the whole video - only a teaser is shown on the site.
MiniMania has a lot of rebuild parts, but no instructions.
http://www.europeantransmissions.com/
http://www.minicoopercvttransmissionrebuild.com

 

Seen the last two recommendations. The first one seems to want to ship the DVD although a sample has been uploaded to YouTube. I'm in the UK and don't really want to wait for a DVD to arrive.


Second of those two links for the 48-minute video - he wants $400 for his video - which must be a joke?


I'm going to have a look at the first two recommendations and report back.


Thanks for help so far.

 

Of the first two recommendations the Bentley manual I already have. That does not cover transmission repair, just removal and refitting.


The second option does not give me a good feeling. Even though they only want £9.99 it seems to me like I'd get a copy of the manuals I already have access to. The reported size of the download is less than 1mb so can't imagine that containing very much information.


Best so far is from Europeantransmissions but I'm not going to wait for the DVD to ship to the UK.


I'm going to see if I can find anything else.

 

I think they mention videocassettes rather than DVDs on that site.
If you do consider them, better check with them about what they offer and also
whether it will play in the UK (different country codes and formats may play a role).

 

Video cassettes? Not sure I even have a VHS machine any more.

 

Well after a lot more research trying to find a way around this problem I decided to go with the $400 dollar video.


I've watched it through once and it's ok but for the price I would have expected a bit more. It does the basic job though and will allow me to do this rebuild.


I spoke to ZF directly and they don't release rebuild manuals. I spoke to two auto technical data firms including one which specialises in automatic gearboxes. Basically it seems ZF have not released the data, I'd imagine this is because they do their own reconditioning and don't want anyone else to have the information.


So the gearbox is on the bench and ready to go. Many gearboxes have been here before but this is my first MINI CVT so wish me luck.

 

Man, thats a helluva undertaking! I've dug into a lot of stuff, but wouldn't be gutsy to break into a CVT.

Keep us in touch and take some pics. I'm really curious whats inside there...

 

I'm not sure I would devest the money or the energy in a CVT, $400 would bite off a huge chunk of a six speed swap.

 

Converting to manual transmission was an idea I had. The very best price I could get for the parts after speaking to every supplier I could find was around $1200 or £700 in my language. That wouldn't have included things like fluids, I may have required a new clutch kit and they wanted the old parts in exchange so there would have been additional courier charges.


Funnily enough, the transmissions I build most of are classic Saab transmissions and the MINI CVT isn't as complicated as those. It's just the case that without knowing what you're doing it is foolish to dive in. I'm not going to give away any of the secrets revealed in the video because the guy charges for it and it wouldn't be right for me to go blabbing all over the internet about it. But some of the things explained in the video you wouldn't know about just from opening it up and having a go. Particularly when it comes to checking the condition of the parts.


So here's todays status:







And this is the broken part:







You can see the metal has broken off. I'm not sure what role this part plays in the operation of the box but the fault was a juddering and jumping feeling whilst transitioning from stationary to the point where you start to accelerate. That's called the 'crawling' mode. Where the car is moving but without any accelerator pedal.

 

Thats an interesting failure. What condition was the belt in?

 

I went to my local automatic transmission specialist on Friday to show him the failed part and the chain. He said it is unusual for the cover on the top of the secondary drum to fail at the bottom, he said it usually cracks further up. He looked at the chain and the wear on the surfaces and said they're worn but ok to reuse. Apparently the cover on the top of the secondary drum is meant to be sealed and fluid pressure is used to control how the drum moves (and controls the chain) so if the drum has a hole in it like this, it will cause the problem I was having.


So I have my replacement parts and today is rebuild day.

 

That makes sense that the drum couldn't move smoothly with a hole in it. Any problem getting the parts from MINI? We were always told they couldn't be repaired...

 

It's to do with oil pressure. When there is a leak in the drum the fluid spurts out through the hole so the pressure won't build properly and the drum will keep flicking back and forward until the pressure is so high that it overcomes the leak.


I got good used parts from the local automatic transmission specialist.


It's always better to just check on www.realoem.com to see if the parts you want are listed. BMW can get 90% of those parts shown so don't believe the parts guy when he tells you you'll have to buy a complete transmission. I've been given that line before when enquiring about parts for the early 5-speed unit. In fact you can get almost every part from BMW for that early 5-speed box! I don't think they intentionally mislead, they genuinely aren't aware that internal transmission parts are available.

 

All done!







Just finished slotting it back into the car. Been on a test drive and it's very smooth. Have not tried gunning it yet as I didn't want to be left stranded somewhere amongst a steaming pile of broken transmission parts. On the nice calm gentle drive it seems really good in forward and reverse.


In theory since the car has only done 25,000 miles it should have a nice smooth transmission.


So I wonder what causes the secondary drum to crack? The fluid looked a bit tired but TBH it should have been changed at 30,000 miles so wasn't far off the point where a change is scheduled.

 

Congrats! Its always hard to figure out catastrophic failures, especially at low miles. Being the weakest part, you'll certainly know what to look for if it happens again...

 

I run a MINI and BMW specialist workshop here in London, UK. So it WILL happen again. I had two others with flakey (but not yet failed) auto gearboxes last week.