My clutch is starting to slip in my 08. I got a dealer bid of around $3500 to replace.

Anyone have any mechanic suggestions around St. Louis for possible cheaper replacement?

 

3500? jeez..

maybe you can hit up the stl mini club, see if they will hold a "seminar" on how to replace a clutch, using your car as the demo lol

 

Way at Way Motor Works told me 2k but that was a year ago...

 

Yep it should be about $2,000 at an independent MINI shop.

 

You must see this thread before installing another flywheel and clutch, these JMTC clutches last almost forever and don't wear out like the stock clutches do! Even a Stage 1 clutch with single mass flywheel will last you a long time.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-3-clutch.html

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Sorry if this is a bit of a thread hijack.....

Just bought a used 2013 Mini 'S' R56 on Dec 20th(@ 14,400 miles). As part of the negotiation, I insisted on a pre-purchase inspection at the local BMW/Mini dealer in Boston.

The car was in great shape, but the tech said it needed a warranty-covered replacement of the clutch/flywheel. (none of that was noticeable to me at all). The work is being done tomm and will be finished Saturday...

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Picking it up tomm (Sunday) because of the snowstorm today...the 24th.

 

How did they diagnose and determine without opening it up?

Kudos to your score!

 

If you have to replace the flywheel, it would be about $2k at Helix as well. If not, it would be significantly less.

Eric

 

I just took my 2008 Mini Cooper base to Way Motor Works in Atlanta. He is working on my car today. He quoted me $1400 for total clutch replacement (clutch, bearing, crank seal, fork). Will be another $500 if the Flywheel needs replaced......however, he said he rarely needs to replace the flywheel.

I also got a quote from a local transmission shop here in Florida. They also quoted me $1400 for the clutch.

Hope this helps
Ed

 

I just purchased my '07 MCS for $6500 a month or so ago. It has 129k miles now and the clutch is starting to slip at higher RPMs. As soon as I felt this, I looked under the car where I noticed a drip of oil. My assumption is the rear main is leaking onto the clutch. I ordered the Valeo clutch kit and a new rear main seal.

I've replaced a couple of clutches in the past, but never on a Mini. I paid under $200 for the clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing and oil seal... I'll probably answer my own question once I do this, but how are companies charging so much for labor? Is it really that bad? No way I'm paying half what I paid for the entire vehicle to have a clutch swapped.

 

Someone can chime in with the book flat-rate hours but with the sheer amount of front-end components that need to be removed I can easily understand the labor being $800-1000

 

We're 10 hours at $95/hour

 

You said you have an 07 and your pic shows and R56. The Valeo clutch kit doesn't fit that car. It's for R52 and R53 Cooper S only.

Your always welcome to run to Atlanta and we can do the clutch if you decide not to do it yourself.

 

I looked back and it's actually a Luk kit, part number 24096-07083640.

The same reason I know how to change a clutch is the reason I won't bring it to Atlanta... I'm cheap, ha ha.

Although I drove it to Mobile for the weekend and the slipping is getting worse. If it gets bad enough on the way home to Spartanburg, you'll see it in front of your shop Monday!