Had a major failure today in my 2007 Cooper S (Getrag 6-MT). I was cruising on the highway in 6th when it just suddenly popped out of gear and would not go back in. At the same time I noticed I could not get into 3rd either. I thought I could limp home in 5th, but after a few miles it popped out of 5th and the same thing - would not go into 5th, 3rd or 6th. At that point I quickly pulled over and called for a tow. While I slowly moved it around the parking lot where I stopped in first gear,I noticed there was some faint noise, kind of a low crunching sound they went away when I put in the clutch and let it roll. I'd like to pretend I was hearing things there, but I probably wasn't and that can't be a good sign.

It's at my my trusty indy BMW/Mini mechanic now and he is going to start tomorrow by draining the transmission fluid and looking for any metal. I am betting he will end up needing to drop the tranny to dig deeper, but I'm kind of ignorant as far as the possibilities go for these kind of problems.

Do these symptoms sound familiar to anyone?

 

Seems unlikely that the transmission would fail. I've not seen/heard of many transmission failures on these cars. I'd bet it's more likely to be something in the clutch assembly. Maybe a pressure plate strap snapped?

 

Interesting. I've been reading alot of about clutch slave cylinders causing similar symptoms. But I'd think if it was clutch related it would affect all gears not not just some?

 

If it is popping out of gear when driving, I'd guess the problem is internal to the trans and not a clutch issue. The R53 uses a very similar version of the Getrag 6 speed, mine failed at the input shaft/bearing. It was making lots of noise when moving, went away when clutch was pressed to the floor.

Jason

 

Yep, mine popped out when driving. Was crusing about 85 and just popped out of 6th and wouldn't go back in. Then lost some of the other gears. What you mention about the noise sounds similar to what I hearing in the parking lot. Goes away when clutch is depressed..

What was the scope of the fix in your case? Did you have to replace the whole transmission? I am dreading that as a cursory search is showing 4k for a reman Getrag?

 

I wasn't able to find parts to fix the trans (needed a new input shaft in my case), ended up having to replace the trans.

Jason

 

Oops missed that it only happened in a few gears. Yep that sounds like an internal issue. They could all be on the same shaft which is having an issue. Search my username for a pic of the trans opened up when I did my diff install. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be internal parts available but a good Trans shop could still probably rebuild it with stuff. I believe the Focus SVT used the same trans so there might be help there. Talk to Way or start calling breakers for a used one. Unfortunately not really sure if you could confirm it's a bad trans without swapping the trans and seeing if the issue goes away.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using NAMotoring

 

Update - In the drained transmission fluid there is a bunch of metallic shrapnel. Based on the sheer quantity, mechanic is giving it a 70% chance of there being some kind of unrepairable catastrophic failure inside the transmission. Given that a factory reman Getrag 285 will run 4.5k and this car has 100k miles on it, I am thinking my best bet is finding a good used example. I have been looking on car-part.com and have found a bunch of used ones + LSD (which would be an upgrade) for $1.5-2k.

Any other recommended sources for a used transmission?

 

Way motor works might have one. Try calling around to some of the forum sponsors that are also shops and see if they have any suggestions.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using NAMotoring

 

Ive got a similar problem on my R55. Pops out of 6th when driving. Found a donor with a broken case and plan on just swapping out shafts.

 

Nic find. I had to buy a used one with 20k miles on it for $2.5k, it came with a year warranty.Tried for a BMW reman but the only one was in Germany for $4k and had 3 week wait. Thought it sounded strange,but several dealers arround the country were telling me the same so tend to believe it.

 

Got very lucky. $300 and free shipping on ebay. Im keeping all of the guts that are still good. The only things I cant find are the shaft end caps. It has great bearings and synchros.

 

Those of you with manual transmission problems: Just out of curiosity, have you guys ever changed your transmission oil?

 

In my case, no I had not changed the trans oil. I bought the car at 20k and it as about to cross 100k at the time of failure, so would assume it had never been touched for the life of the car. I now realize this is probably a mistake but honestly I have no idea how often it should need to be done.

 

Thanks for the reply. From what I read and heard, transmission oil changes are typically recommended at every 30K miles.

 

Most good transmission shops do recommend changing the fluid in them every 30k .. So in this case here I would say that the transmission failure was from not changing the fluid.. this applies to both manual and automatic.. I think MINI still currently says lifetime or change at 100k.. which to be honest..its very unlikely the transmission would ever make it that long anyway.. Ive been changing mine every 30k..on both my manual and automatic.. good luck!

 

That makes me worry about my 03 R53! I guess i should change the fluid when it gets warm..

 

We change the oil on our R56 S transmissions every 30k, despite the label on the transmission case instructing us to not ever change the fluid. There's actually a class action lawsuit against BMW/Mini for this very issue. If I were the OP, I'd get in on it.

 

+1 Good point!!

 

Well the fluid is actually good for the life if the transmission. However long that is...Lol

Yes, change the fluid every 30k miles.

The only reason it's called a lifetime fluid is because BMW/MINI would have to pay for it in the first 3 years. Funny how BMW pays for tranny and diff fluid changes in all the M cars at 1200, and 30k miles.

 

I Changed my tranny oil few months back and currently running Redline in it seem to work well.

 

Got my car back tonight so thought I would revisit here with the end result. Two months and $4,900 later I'm running with the used tranny (allegedly 20k miles). It shifts at least as good as the old gearbox, really think it is better. Probably due to completely fresh fluid vs. the old one which was not changed in it's 99k mile "lifetime" (not to happen again ;-))

One year warranty on parts and labor, Fingers crossed.

 

Wow... That sucks!

I don't know why you would spend that much on a used tranny tho!

Car-parts shows an average price of 1500 for a used tranny, 2500 if really low mileage..

So that puts it at 2400 for installation?

I bet a stealership would of installed it cheaper lol

 

There is another post about a member that bought a remanufactured trans w/free shipping from England for around $1500. I can't find it right off, but maybe someone else can chime in. Doesn't really matter in your case though. The deed is done. I hope it works out well for you.

 

Used transmission was $2500 plus $275 shipping. Then there were misc seals, fluids, nuts, etc. Also found an unrelated leaky pressure hose for AC that was replaced for $100. It was 12 hrs labor at 100/hr and I know it took them much longer so they did not get rich off it.

True, you can find used gearbox for $1500, but to get a low milage part from a reputable source that offers a solid warranty is where the difference comes in. The BMW dealer will not install parts from Billy Bob's auto salvage, they only touch BMW/Mini certified reman parts and that would have run $6500 for the part plus their labor, which was also higher.

It is not as if I didn't call around and explore the options, but thanks.