So long story short, I bought an r53 with 67xxx miles a couple months ago. The car had a worn clutch and the flywheel made very loud chewbacca noises.

Under CT state law, the dealer had to replace anything that was not 'mechanically sound' for an 8 week warranty period. At about week 4, the clutch was driving me crazy so I had a MINI dealership look at the car and they confirmed that I needed a new clutch/flywheel. I printed out this written opinion and brought it to the dealer. Reluctantly, and after a few mentions of 'taking it to court' they agreed to replace the clutch.

They said they would have to open up the transmission to determine whether or not the flywheel needed replacement, but that it was unlikely that it would.

I get a call today, and they say the car is ready and it turns out that the flywheel came as part of the 'clutch kit'. Does this sound bogus? Does a flywheel come as part of the mini clutch kit?

 

I would assume they would say something like that because the dual mass flywheel can't be resurfaced. So when most people change out their clutch, their flywheel also gets changed. That's my guess but I could be wrong.

Isn't this good though? Now you get what you want...a flywheel and clutch change.

 

Yes, if trying to fix the noise, they would replace the flywheel along with the clutch. Don't be too surprised if the noise comes back after a while tho. It doesn't hurt anything, it's just annoying at times.

 

Yes, you should replace the flywheel when replacing clutch. They did you rightous.

 

Believe me I am with you guys on that.

I don't think I made myself clear in my first post. I am worried that they are just SAYING that they replaced the flywheel because I had given them such a hard time about it. They claim that it is all included in the OEM clutch kit. That is what I'm concerned about. I think they may just be lying to me to placate me.

 

Have you driven the car since it has "supposedly" been changed?

 

I pick it up on Monday.

I know that I should be able to tell by listening to it, but I have been told that a brand new clutch disk can make up for a glazed-over flywheel for the first couple thousand miles, and the noise might not be there for this reason.

 

well there is no real way to know just from you telling us the story...

 

According to their TIS system which the techs follow when replacing a clutch an inspection of the flywheel is included but not a mandatory replacement.


Considering an OEM flywheel runs over 1k dealer price you either made out or got the shaft. Hopefully you'll be able to tell. Of course you could always ask to see the old flywheel.

 

If they did replace it demand to see the old one. I thought shops had to produce the replaced part if asked.

 

I would also ask to see the old clutch and flywheel. And make sure they dont bring out some junker they had laying in the dumpster either.

 

Keep the receipt, no way of really knowing without a visual inspection. I'd really be surprised they would lie about something so blatent. Maybe I am too trusting.

 

Wow. Great advice from members here. I didn't even know you can request to see the old flywheel. But knowing that you can, you probably should. Tell them "I want to see how glazed it was"

 

Being a MINI dealership I'm sure they could pull out any old clutch and you wouldn't know if it was from your car or not.

Like was stated already, it sounds like they did a complete and thorough job by replacing the clutch and flywheel at the same time. Keep the receipt in the event it starts to go south again. Happy Motoring!

 

Thank you all for the advice.

I should note that it is not a MINI dealership that I bought the car from. It is a Toyota/BMW dealership that apparently has had very little experience with mini's. The service director couldn't stop talking about how much of a pain it was to install the clutch, because they had to remove the front end. It took them a couple days to take it all apart, and a day to get it all back together.

 

Numerous threads note that the 1st generation flywheel has a tendency to become glazed, causing a unwanted sound to come from the area of the transmission when disengaging the clutch in first gear. If the dealer inspects the flywheel and finds such a condition the official protocol is to replace the clutch, at the same time - according to the service manager at my dealer here in PR. He made that statement today, so I guess the policy is current.

So maybe the reverse is also true. I think if after removing the clutch an inspection of the flywheel reveals a problem, they would be obligated to replace the unit - providing the car is still under warrantee.

I'll have more to add in here - in a day or two.

 

I've found an absolutely foolproof way to determine if a dealer is lying to you.

Watch his face carefully as he is talking to you. If his lips move, he's lying.