Hey everyone. New to the forums and new to MINIs as well. I recently purchased a R50 for pretty cheap since it is thought that the transmission is blown. Now the thing is partly taken apart (airbox off, ECU flapping around, one axle is off, etc.) but I decided to try firing it up after getting it home and rowing through the gears a bit in the garage. I found that if I put the car into 2nd, 4th, and reverse, it will go into gear and does not make any kind of grinding noise. When I release the clutch, it engages and wants to lurch forward but of course can't move since one axle is out currently.

However, when I put it into 1st, 3rd, or 5th, it seems to go into gear but as soon as I let go of the clutch, its a constant grinding sound. At first I was thinking synchros, but with it only being the upper gears, is it possible the issue could be a clutch cable somewhere? If so, would you guys be able to please point me in the right direction so I can do some testing? I am not too familiar with the MINI, but have some experience with other FWD vehicles (Hondas mostly) so not sure how similar they are when it comes to transmission and clutch stuff.

Thanks! I wasn't able to find anything when searching but if I missed anything feel free to link me to it.

 

I think a bearing inside the gearbox is toast. There are two shafts each with bearings at the end.

I am actually fixing a similar issue with my R50 gearbox bit mine has it in all gears. (probably the crownwheel bearings) See this thread for updates, haven't gotten into the gearbox yet though

If its a facelift R50 you should check out on YouTube. He takes the Getrag gearbox apart.
If you have the pre facelift then search for midlands gearbox. There are renowned for having issues.
After that check out ebay, there are a lot of bearing replacement kits available.

 

This is great thank you! Mine is a 2005 so I believe its the facelight with the getrag. You have a great thread going, by the way. Seems like its a bit of a pain to get the transmission out from your comments in your thread. I wonder if it would be possible to remove with the front end still on the car or if I'll have to take it apart to get it out like you have.

 

Check the shift cable bushings. It may simply be just not going into gear all the way. Bushing failures at the transmission end are common. Or heck, the cable housing may be disconnected, so it can pull but can't push. Or the cable housing itself is separated so it can pull but can't push.

You may be able to "throw" it into gear with the shifter, or shift it manually by moving the shift levers by hand. There's also the possibility that someone munged up the slider teeth by trying to drive it with bad bushings/cable and partial engagement. But hey, the only way to know is to try, and if the bushings are bad you have to repair that anyway.

A good one that I have seen on a Focus transmission (IE not a Mini) was the roll pin that holds the main shift rod to the finger mechanism broke and the rod twisted in the mechanisms bore. It was a Getrag unit.

 

Thanks for all the info! I'll have a look at these. I took a quick look at the bushings on the transmission end, they are quite shot (one is torn) so I'll start there.