I have a 1995 cooper with a 5 speed transmission. Recently it developed a major leak. first mechanic said it was cracked transmission housing and needed to be replaced. Second guy took the tranny apart, one of the bolts holding the main gear had sheared off (he said the bolt must have been defective to fail in that manner)and was machining against the inside of the casing. Finally two holes developed causing the fluid to leak. If it was going to be 4500.00 for a new tranny I would have scraped it. the guy built up layers of metal epoxy to seal the holes put it back together and it runs great, only 1500.00, LOL. 13 hours of labor to remove the front end assemblies just to access the tranny. Great deign. 55.00 for a quart of special transmission fluid, Mini can be a bit ****ed up. Anybody else have similar problems.