I've been planning to get a cooper with a stick shift, but after reading about all of the problems with them in the stock/issues section I am not so sure anymore. Don't really care for the automatic. Has the clutch improved on the Mini cooper? By that I mean it does not need to be replaced till the car has at least 60k on it.

 

The cooper does not have the DMF (dual mass flywheel) which is fitted to the D, S and JCW models only, and so will not suffer the same characteristic problems which plague the D, S and JCW models.

 

The clutch assembly in the '11s is completely different than the ultra-trouble prone Luk piece o' crap in prior R56's. Only time will tell if it's better, but it can't possibly be any worse.

 

So to clarify for sure, the justacooper 07 and above
has not had the ridiculous clutch problems?

Also what about the below 07?

(trying to think ahead for the future. I might eventually buy
another one but if they dont approve me for that mini card, where
you get the discount i wont buy another new one out of principle)

 

I have over 70k on my '08 and nary a problem with the clutch.

 

I have a 07 R56 s and there are 46 k miles on it and i am on my 3rd clutch... got to love these dam cars lol... they are also telling me my flywheel is bad which isn't under warranty but that's whats causing my clutches to go out.. but hey i don't want to spend $3000 to fix it

 

I have an '05 with 103,000 miles and I'm on my original clutch...knock on wood! Btw I live in northern va and spend my life sitting in traffic.

 

Cooper S, no problems with clutch so far. Of course now that I say that, it'll got go out tomorrow.

 

Im on my second clutch... first clutch lasted 33000km this one i hope will last at least 75000km.

 

I was on my 3rd clutch assembly on 2008 MCS ..... oh I loved my car, but that's it I got a brand new car with A/T so no more concern about the clutch assembly

 

Just to verify it's not all R56 MCS manual transmission cars that have problems, I've got 40K on mine and no problems so far. I think that's a problem with forums like this, you hear about the cars with problems and the majority of the cars may be just fine and you never hear about them.....

 

+1
many folks first/only post is a major complaint/issue....and for every complainer, there are thousands without issues...luck of the draw!!

 

Yeah, not all R56S M/T MINI that have problems. Mine started with 3-2 noise around 9000 miles so replaced something I don't recall what it was, then next year I got replaced clutch assembly and I got an another new clutch assembly this year..... actually no other issues though.

 

I put 46k miles on my '09 MCS in about eight months before I traded it for my '10 MCS (got it in August), which currently has 13k miles on it. Zero issues with either, and obviously, I drive my cars a bit. lol

 

I have 24K on my 08MCS- no "real" problems yet... BUT I have noticed that it is not as forgiving as my previous standard cars (325i, prelude, celica)... IOW, the clutch appears to have less room for error (user error?); maybe because i haven't really mastered the art of switching gears (after 20 years of driving stick)?

 

Mine also was not "forgiving"... very awkward/unpredictable to shift compared to all of the other MTs I have driven. MINI ended up finding a problem and replacing the entire clutch pedal assembly. It is finally what I would consider normal. If only they could refund the first 46000 miles of frustration back to me.

 

I had nearly 100,000 on the 02-S b4 it left the stable and have 30,000 on the 07

I had a 120,000 on a Miata when I sold it two years ago and the seller is still on the original clutch

30 years of driving stick and I've yet to replace a clutch....including my '79 Mini

It ain't a bad clutch .... it is a car that people get into and either don't know how to drive or just abuse . . .

 

I've got 62,000 on my '07 MCS, and so far no issues.

I put 310,000 on my '95 Saab Turbo, 330,000 on my 89 Toyota truck, I currently have 220,000 on my '01 Toyota Tacoma.

Obviously sometimes you just get a bad clutch from the factory. It can happen. If you have repeatedly had clutch issues,and you aren't "driving it like you stole it", I'd venture to say that the alignment isn't being checked out properly and that the parts are just being installed as quickly as possible to "get it off the floor".

If you want to improve the odds of a longer clutch life there are driving habits that should be avoided;

Compression braking. It's fun, it's cool, and it definitely enhances the feel of the car in the twisties, but it's going to burn up your clutch sooner, no matter how well you do it.
Holding the car on a hill with the clutch. Bad, Very bad! even with the clutch feature built into the car.
Catching the car with the clutch while rolling backwards. Use the E-brake method. Rear brake pads are faster, easier and cheaper to replace than a clutch in any vehicle.