I have an 06 S 45k miles and lately I've noticed the clutch feels slightly sticky. Basically when I let off the clutch it doesnt come back smoothly but sticks ever so slightly in a few spots.

Any idea what that is?

edit: and when I say sticky I dont mean it sticks to the floor and I have to pull it back up. It just goes up a little rough

 

I don't own a Manual MINI or had one but from what I remember from the other manual cars that I owned when the ball bearing starts to go bad you can get sticky clutch feeling. sometimes also the clutch springs can do the same thing.

 

This is strange, for a car with only 45k (my car 100K+). The last time this happened to me the clutch had to be replaced. I thought it was the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder but after I replaced it the petal would still stick to the floor. My throughout bearing was good but the clutch pressure plate was bad. Either way you have to remove the trans look at the problem. Have you done anything to the car that would put more stress on the clutch?

 

I think I have the same situation, but I referred to it as being crunchy. From what I've read, I believe it's my throw-out bearing or whatever. For the first half of the day, the clutch is normal, then gets progressively more "sticky/crunchy". I have about 72k miles on my '03, but I bought my car used from my uncle in November so I'm not sure how hard he rode it in the past.

Either way, I think a throw-out bearing or whatever is likely to run $1200 or so, so I've been hesitant to take her in :S

 

Do you guys think it could just be something that needs to be lubed?

I mean, the clutch operates fine other than that ( which doesn't happen all the time) If it is something big, I'm not going to fix it until it gets real bad.

 

If it is the bearing it should be replaced, but you will have to remove the transmission to get to it. The parts are cheep $291 for stock mini clutch kit, the big money is the labor ~$800 to $1100.