My 2004 is dead at 80,500 and in my garage now waiting to be fixed this week after work. I had ALOT of ??? about this and found the same results.

 

to perfection?

how many folks still double declutch their downshifts while heel and toeing into a corner? now that's an old school skill that was required on 50's and some 60's era sports cars...

any other dinosaurs with busy feet out there???

how many folks skip gears while downshifting? tried 4th to 2nd? 5th to 3rd? or if you really trust your brakes and judgement, 5th to 2nd?

i'm guilty as hell on both counts of course...

 

At 55K, clutch is still good, but I do wonder about its service life ?,based on all the different posts.
Jeff

 

Oh Man! I think I found my new best friend! Although I am 21y/o and not as experienced as you, I do Heel-Toe in the mini @ EVERY opportunity...lol... I dont try to skip gears as I quickly downshift and blip from gear to gear in order if needed... although for fun I will do it sometimes but its more accurate if you go gear by gear IMO. My dad drives an SMG M5 that does all the rev matching for him so When hes in the mini with me he calls my transmission MCH (my initials...lol)

 

173,000 miles and still on my original clutch. Feels fine too

Nik

 

105K on my original clutch...
Its on my list of buys....
Just not sure what clutch I want to get as a replacement!!!

 

'04 with >62K. No drive train problems so far. And I have not babied the car at all.

 

My old R53's clutch lasted 'til 53k miles, where 170wLb/Ft cooked it.

My current R53 had 45k miles on it when I did some bolt ons to the stock engine, then had Jan tune the ECU. It has 173wLb/Ft, and during the ECU tuning the clutch was slipping on the dyno. It turns out the previous owner had charred the clutch with very poor driving skills [riding the pedal and lots of unnecessary slipping].

Short story shorter, in my personal cars it doesn't seem to take much torque to kill a stock R53 clutch. I'm now rockin' a ClutchMasters FX200 and while it's definitely more aggressive than stock it definitely grips.

 

I've got 82000 on the stock clutch and flywheel....looking to change them out. Anybody out there got a round about guesstimate of what they paid for a stage three and lightened flywheel installed? What about break in time for it? I know it would be worth it for the performance but just wondering how long I'm going to have to be on Top-Ramen to pay off the work! lol

 

It all depends on how you drive it..........those with huge mileages will have spent most of their time on the highway, which is not going to use the clutch up like 50k done only in stop/go city driving.

My '03 has just over 60K including a lot of city stop/go city driving and 10 track days and it's still going fine, FWIW.

If you drive it correctly and don't slip it unecessarily, it should last a long, long time.

 

my 03 is mostly surface streets, spritedly driven 28K miles. no slip.

i plan on just getting the factory clutch if it wears out during my ownership.

 

Had to replace the flywheel on my '05 MCS at about 30K miles (the dreaded "helicopter" sound), at which time the dealer also replaced the clutch for an unspecified reason.

 

It was stiff, but still too soft.

My next clutch will be Clutchmasters FX400 paired with one of their flywheels, as soon as I can afford it that is.

 

I have had 2 clutch put in car @ only 50k getting ready to put in a new custom built clutch by zoom clutch here in NC. If it works out it will be put on the market. The main issue with the stock clutch is the bearing it is very weak.

 

What are symptoms of clutch wear?

I've had clutch problems on the first car I ever had but it just got to the point of it sticking in gear and not being able to get out of gear.

As for my MCS, one thing I've noticed recently is that occasionally I'll try to engage the gear and press on the gas only to notice it slip out of gear or try putting it in gear only to realize I've let up on the clutch pedal to early and hear it grind as its not completely all the way in. Are these signs of clutch slip or am I just being an idiot?

 

Just to check. The proper way to make a 90 degree turn, left or right, when there is not stop sign or red light is to trail brake, depress the clutch, downshift to the proper gear, blip the throttle, release the clutch fluidly, brake until proper speed, turn and gas. Correct?

I learned how to drive manual myself through forums, videos, racing videos and etc. I find myself (On 90 degree turns) downshifting to the proper gear but still holding down the clutch while braking into a turn. After the apex, I would blip it, release the clutch fluidly while giving it gas. Is this not the right way to turn? I do this sometimes because I feel like while I'm braking in for the turn, I don't have enough time to downshift, blip the throttle ENOUGH to release the clutch fluidly. Sometimes when I do this and release the clutch, I get the sudden fluid (not a jerk movement) engine breaking, and I'm wondering is this what it's suppose to feel like?

 

You don't coast around the corner with the clutch depressed. Approaching the corner, assuming you realize you need be in a lower gear, you get into that gear before you brake or as you brake, depending on speed and your technique, but as you are going around the corner, you have the clutch out (engaged) and you are partially or heavy on the gas. You do your braking before the corner, not in the middle of the corner. You are under power to some degree while in the corner.

YD

 

Yes yes, you should be under power in a corner. You need the power to change the car's balance - to help it rotate.

 

No, I dont think you should turn and release the clutch through the turn... Heel toe downshift while braking smoothly and there is no jerk from engine braking and just be fluid with the throttle. Try practicing every stop by downshifting through the gears heel toeing all the way down to first. I been practicing it at EVERY stop or when traffic slows down for the past year and must say I have it down pretty well!

 

My right ankle was broken couple years ago. The flexibility is an issue for heel+toe. But I'll still practice.

 

i have over 37k miles and i think mine just went out. the car is out of warranty, how much should i expect to pay to replace it?

 

A local shop here charges about $900 in labor alone for a clutch job on MINIs. The dealership will charge you upwards of $2,000.

 

how many hour job?

 

60K, aggressively driven, and still doing just fine!

 

First and second gen MCS's, I beleive the Coopers have conventional flywheels. The second gen cars actually have enough low-mid-end torque to where the driver can de-glaze the flywheel on their own, according to my SA.