Well don't I look a little silly... Yes... some of you had worned me and it happened... I think I broke my Midlands. I'm pretty sure it's from practicing launches more often. And yeah, I've been doing it wrong. Yesterday, I noticed that the ASC was more sensitive then usual. But the wierd thing was when I turned it off it still made that sound and acted like it was still on. I didn't even accelerate that hard and it did it. Today, after work I noticed that if I reved up to 6000 rpm on first gear, the car acted like it was doing that thing again but the clutch was already out. It did it a bit in second too. hmmm... not good. Eventually, I lost all gears and I was just stuck in idle three blocks from my house. I got it towed to Mini and waiting for what they have to say. Anyone here had to replace there Midlands? How much did the part cost and how many hours are involve?

How shouldn't I launch a Cooper?

What are things to look out for?

 

Ah crap, thats not good at all. While you're at it right now, go get some aftermarket clutch/flywheel, it'll cost about the same as OEM parts but you'll get more performance for the money. I hope its only your clutch that fried right now and not the actual gears.

So you hear this "clunking" sound when you rev up the engine in 1st gear?

try Coopersport.ca You really don't want to put the OEM parts back in the car because you have more HP under the hood now.


BTW I was out last night taking pictures, I guess thats your car isn't it! I was wondering why there was a mean looking Cooper out front.


Is the one in the background yours?

 

Yeah that's my car! Wow! What a small world!

What time did you go to Mini Crowfoot? I was there at 10:30 - 11ish...

Yeah I haven't heard back from them. I have a Midlands and I have a sick feeling in my stomach that I might have to replace the entire unit. I asked Octaneguy this morning and it will probably be around 2500 for the tranny (USD) and between 600 to 900 (USD) for labour.

 

Just missed you, I was there at 11:35pm last night. Yeah the tranny is really expensive, does that price include the clutch and flywheel? I think you should get a lightened flywheel and a spec 2 clutch with the amount of power you're producing. With a clutch that clamps harder, then you'll spin the tires easier instead of having the clutch/tranny take the abuse.

 

aaaahhhh.... okay I got the quoted price for parts and labour totaling $4896 + GST.

Since the Midlands is famous for failing I'm going to try to use that as leverage. Hopefully I won't have to pay that amount because that is just insane.

 

Yeah especially since your warranty JUST expired. Better call around and see what other shops charges. Did they say what was specifically wrong with the gear box?

 

No they didn't say anything. I'm going down there after work. I'll keep you posted.

 

what year is your car?

 

gulp! 2002.

 

am i missing something? 2002,2003,2004,2005,2006. isn't it a 5 year powertrain warranty?

 

Mine is 4 years or 80,000km

Just got off the phone with Mini. Said that they have a lot of things going against me. Because I got my oil changed somewhere else and that I'm the second owner. Goodwill is reserved for loyal Mini customers only. That is bullsh*t.

 

Yeah, no way does an oil change affect the gear box, it's not the engine that is broken right now. I'm a little surprised they're not talking about the mods like CAI or headers.

 

I'm pretty surprised about that too... damn for 5Gs I could just trade it in for an S. I think that's what I might have to do... damn all that work for nothing...

 

And you know what's funny? I said the Midlands transmission is known to fail and that I wasn' the only one, he said that information cannot be varified and that there is nothing wrong with the Midlands.

 

Yeah, nothing wrong except it broke right after the warranty!

 

Its my belief that if you enjoy driving the Cooper in a sporty manner, that longevity of the Midlands is dramatically shortened. While not all Cooper owners will see their tranny fail at 40K to 50K, its obviously preferable in order to stay within the warranty period to have it replaced.

Sadly, I've also heard of tranny issues with the 5 speed Getrag, but it's too early to know if they will suffer the 40k to 50k lifespan as well, but I know two Cooper owners with failed Getrag trannies at 10K.

This is a sad fault to an otherwise superb car and maybe, though highly doubtful, that MINI will recognize this like the defective battery that took 3 years to respond to.

Note, when my first tranny failed, I also needed a new clutch, and while there is no better time to do a clutch replacement, that COULD be an added cost to just the parts and labor for the tranny work.

There should be a survey on this. I read that Juan is in the 80K miles on his 2003 Cooper and is on his 3rd tranny already. I'm 64K and still on my second that was replaced at 43K.

 

that sounds just like the clutch went out. If the clutch is weak it can make the gears scratch as well if im correct. You can get a nice aftermarket clutch for under 250 and labor shouldnt cost too too much for replacing the clutch. ^__^

 

Doesn't seem like it's just the clutch from the $4900 CDN bill (thats like $4000 USD)

Either that or they're trying to rip him off.

 

thats kinda what I was thinking ^

 

Sounds to me like you broke the clutch/pressure plate... That can keep you from getting any gear if you can't disengage things.

The MINI techs REFUSE to do anything with the tranny except pull it and replace it with a new one. IMHO, they should pull the tranny and look at the clutch and pressure plate first and determine if the cause is there or the tranny.

Look online and you can find used Midlands cheaper than $5K at salvage yards...

http://car-part.com/

 

I've been reading this thread and have a question or 2 to ask........
I am the second owner of an 02' and was informed that it has a new tranny as of 48k. I'm currently at 71k........Should I be concerned at all?

My other question is....What is a Midland?

 

Midlands is the manufacturer of the 5-speed gearbox in the Coopers from 02-04... In '05, they switched to a Getrag-built 5-speed...

 

OK....Ranzo here is doing 4k rpm clutch drops one after another "practicing" launches and rips out his midlands.....Then is shocked and amazed!.....

First off......NO stock transmission will hold long to abuse...like "practicing launches" Some may last longer than others but you will shred any transmission abusing it!

Second.....There Isn't anything wrong with driving spiritedly with the midlands....shifting properly! The midlands problems were related to the seals, in cold weather, not sealing and all the tranny fluid leaking out. If your tranny did not show evidence of leaking then your midlands failure is NOT related to the known failures at all

and because no one called foul from the start....now you have got people like yakmini worried about his perfectly fine MC with 71k

 

Wow thanks so much! This really can save me lots of money!

 

I apologize planeguy, but thats why I'm asking for tips! Thanks for your input though! I thought what I can do with the S I can do with the Cooper. On the S I can just spin the tires really easily but when I try it on the Cooper it bogs! So I thought I was just doing it wrong.

I thought the Midlands had a reliability problem because of so many experiences logged on NAM or MINI2 forums that resembles mine. Lots of them didn't seem like they drive hard either. So I'm sure if it wasn't my posts, eventually yakmini would find similar posts by other members.

So yakmini, don't worry about your 2002 Cooper. It's a great car! I love it to death! Just don't drive it like it should be driven.

I'm not the only one. Lots of people with midlands feel they have a time bomb ready to blow. Why don't people do more power mods to the 02 - 04 Coopers? No turbo, no NOS because the tranny is the weakest link. I thought I was lucky because my tranny didn't go, but my luck ran out at the same time as my warranty.

Have a nice day!

Oh and PS

I do shift properly thank you.