My 2008 R56 S has ~148,000 miles and working fine. Fluid never changed.

 

Most people even mini specialist to change tranny fluid at 80k if you drive hard then 100k if you drive normally. Fluids are cheaper than a new tranny so better do a full tranny service if you want another 100k.

 

Most people even mini specialist to change tranny fluid at 80k if you drive hard then 100k if you drive normally. Fluids are cheaper than a new tranny so better do a full tranny service if you want another 100k.

 

That would be the death knell.. no way I'd touch it at this stage.

 

2014 Clubman S with 63k. It was all stock until 52k then went Manic stage 2. No issues. Just put on a 42mm Turbo, no issues. Waiting on my ECU back with Stage 3...praying. I asked Mario a few times if the auto had enough ***** to handle all this. He stated he had several people running upwards of 300hp on the auto and racing them with no issue. I will probably do my tranny fluids more routinely just to keep it healthy and happy. So far though I've never seen the trans fluid raise over 180 degrees after some spirited driving/racing.

 

Wow! Your tranny must've been built on a wednesday haha. Mine has ~46k and has had a ~2.5 qt drain fill with royal purple every 10k since birth. Also stage 2 manic tune to keep the temps down (no problems with the increase in power)

 

Hey 4mikebruns, How do you do to see the temperature of the transmission oil? are you using an app?

 

2007 cooper s - transmission failure at 170k. First it started slamming hard into 4th gear, then eventually all gears above 3 started slipping. Replaced with a 65k mile unit which got a full fluid and filter change before installation. 65k fluid looked good, so I would say 80k changes would be optimal and safe.

 

Wait wait wait... You put a used tranny in a car with 170k miles on it?...Original engine???

That's very optimistic of you. My 2008 S just blew a valve in cylinder 3 at ~150k miles. Well I'm guessing it's the valve. That cylinder had zero compression. I haven't pulled the head yet.

My tranny is still functioning despite never having changed the fluid. No leaks either. It did start to downshift hard into 1st occasionally.

That being said, I hesitate to even change the head OR the engine because I expect the tranny will die soon. And I don't know if I should/could trust any used mini tranny. A remanufactured tranny exceeds the value of the car at this stage... Bummer.
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Engine looks original, but it has had a lot of maintenance done to it by the previous owner. Turbo, water pump, timing chain, hpfp, valve cover etc. I only paid $2500 for the car, and the transmission cost me $300 + $100 for fluid, gasket and filter + a weekend's work to swap it out. Car is at 174k now, been using it all winter as my daily, and it gives me no problems, doesn't even have the oil consumption issues that my friend's lower mileage and newer clubman has. If the engine takes a dump I'll either part it or throw a used one in and keep beating on it.

 

Yeah, probably optimistic, but the car had given no indication that it was on it's last legs, and between selling it to a junkyard vs spending $300 for a trans + $100 for fluid and filter + a weekend's work, it was a no-brainer. It's at 174k now, and I've been using it as my winter daily. Previous owner had taken the hit on all the major problem areas, and the car runs strong. Averaging 34mpg, no oil consumption issues, no leaks, I was even going to do a carbon clean on it while it was torn apart for the transmission and was surprised how clean the valves were, so I didn't bother. I still have less than $3k into the car - including purchase - and it's worth it until it has a major failure just to keep the mileage down on my other cars.