Yeah the LuK clutches have plastic throwout bearings. Yup. Plastic.

 

OK, I tried making another thread but no responses maybe this is a better thread to do so. About 6 months ago, (about 56K) I started experiencing a very "rusty" clutch. There's nothing wrong with the clutch engagement, just the process of depressing and releasing the clutch. It felt like a rusty grinding friction when you depress and release at the joint. When you first start the car it's normal but after about a mile of driving it's apparent that it's there. After my recent oil change last week, it seems like the clutch's grinding friction problem is suddenly gone. But maybe it's also due to the temperature drop? Anyone have any ideas?

 

I just replaced mine at 69,700. Starting to slip noticeably, but probably could have gone to 70000+(who knows for SURE?). Had other work going on that made it convenient to go ahead with replacement.

 

03 MCS with 73000+, doing fine.

 

Bumping this old thread just to chime in. As of yesterday, I am just over 149,500 miles, and still on original clutch, and yes I rev-match, and heel-toe every chance I get. I do not baby it, and will drive it hard from time to time. On average, my highway to city driving ratio is about 70:30, but was definitely more like 85:15 last year due to driving for work.

My dad (a retired mechanic) seems pretty impressed I've gotten the clutch to last this long, so I'm pretty pleased by that. He taught me how to drive a stick, and rev-match, but I learned heel-and-toe myself after consulting some vids on YT.

 

2002 MCS with 204000 on original clutch. 1st 120000 miles were a 120 mile one way commute so there was really no wear there.

Rattles in neutral, clutch out...just like all the Dual Mass BMW clutches I have heard.

 

Posted in wrong group sorry.

 

It depends if the person knew how to drive the car right. I've got close to 140,000 miles on my JCW with the factory clutch.....but I'm not some punk kid dropping the clutch at high rpms and smoking the front tires all the time and drag racing my buddies from stop lights either

I try to rev-match when down shifting and up shifting, and take off really easy without putting much load on the clutch. I know it's probably going to go one of these days, but until it does...I'm going to take it easy on the clutch.

 

It is all about shift and clutch timing, practice, practice, practice.....
Here's what mine looked like when I pulled it out, 8 yrs 212,000 miles and I drove it HARD:



I'll bet I could have gotten 300k out of it.

 

That is what mine looked like too at 224K miles. Unfortunately the car only lasted 255K. That means I get to do a clutch again in the new mini at some point. Someone already put a clutch in it at some point. and it only had 78K. PO didn't know how to drive a clutch.

 

Doing fine at 151K with rev matching and heel-toe. Have replaced slave cylinder twice though. The plastic housing doesn't hold up.

 

That is one thing I am impressed about with these MINIs are the clutch kids.

Im at 113k and still going strong (knock on wood). Original owner (11/11/2004) and drive in a spirited manner quite often.

 

365k on mine when I replaced it, could have easily gone 400k. But I was in there so figured I'd replace it.

Nik

 

WOW!!! I am at 209K on mine and it still pulls strong with no problems. Looking forward to more mileage

 

150K on mine but looks like the throwout bearing just went, today. I have had car since 35K miles and have done 5x the shifting in the last 2 years compared to the first 4 years, so maybe that set it off....

 

'05 with 64,000mi - still good
'05 with 100,000mi - still good

 

Bought mine with 90k miles on it and 6th gear started slipping maybe a week after I got the car :(

Totally depends on the driver and how much city driving they do.

 

Just thought I'd add to the body of knowledge. I agree with every one who says its dependent on driver and conditions (city vs highway). My first 03 S went 155k miles on its original clutch before the car met an untimely end. I did countless burnouts and launches at stoplights with the revs at 3-4k. My current R53 has 80k with numerous track days and autocross days and the clutch feels perfectly fine, though the release bearing does rattle some.