I feel your pain!
A couple months after I bought my MINI, I had to do the same thing. Only I had the work done at a dealer..... Almost $7,000. Never take your 10 year old car, to a dealer. I was a newb when I got her, and it took me a little while to at least learn to ask questions, and know when I was getting screwed.
I have put almost as much into the car, as I paid for it. I love my MINI, and I don't regret it! I have however learned a lot in the 2 years I've owned her, and I do my best to take care of her!!

 

Sorry to hear that. Is that going through to the inside of the transmission or to the outside air? If just to the outside, I would patch it with some JB weld and call it good.

If it is going to the inside of the transmission, JB weld might also work if it is not a spot with structural importance. JB weld stands up to oil and heat just fine. I have used it to repair cracks and holes in valve covers and motorcycle clutch covers with good success.

 

The holes are through to the inside of the transmission. Metal shavings are probably in the bearings so those are probably destroyed as well. The car is at a local shop for what I was expecting to just be a clutch job. On the bright side its going to have a spec flywheel and stage 2 clutch going in whenever a new transmission is sourced or if this one gets fixed...if its even repairable. Heres what the clutch looked like and the throwout bearing. Sorry for the low quality pics but I'm on my phone on the NAM app.

 

Clutch went out completely (total failure, not able to enagage it all ) at 65k but I'm the second owner and had only had it for a couple of months at this point. It was about $2000 to replace. I expect a much longer life out of this one though as I am a very smooth driver and tend not to slip the clutch much at all. The car is NOT driven hard more than a couple of times a month and even then I can guarantee I don't flog it like some would.

 

If you've only had it a couple of months they way you've driven it is not really relevant, is it?

I'd guess the previous owner flogged it like a step child.

 

That would be right, that's why I pointed out that I had only owned it a couple of months at that point. The comment about my driving was in reference to my saying I expect the new one to last much longer

You understood my point perfectly, the previous owner was definitely the cause of it's premature failure. Guess they had fun, may not have been the best driver though

 

I havent even had mine a year and havent even put 10k on it. I don't even hit boost or bring it above 3k most days...I baby that car...clearly some people dont know how to treat a car and those of us that unknowingly purchase said cars get screwed big time...

 

Just turned 99k miles in my 06 R50. Mostly city driving, frequent drives in the twisty country, a little autocross and two track days. Coming up to a stop light in traffic I put the car in neutral and leave it there until the light is green. I almost never sit still with my foot on the clutch and the car in gear ready to go (except for autocross). Finally, when downshifting I rev match. I feel and drive like its better to stall than ride the clutch (though I rarely stall the car).

 

I realize this thread is quite past, nonetheless, I appreciate all who shared and so in that spirit...I believe I replaced my first throw out bearing at 44k ('04 R50). Mostly city driving. I later had a clutch fork issue and don't know if that affected the 1st TOB lasting but feel confident it affected the next TOB. My current clutch is on 38k (suburban/city mix) and seems ok. I believe it's still the original flywheel and think the TOB has always initiated the need for repair.

 

I lost the throwout bearing at 238,000 on my first 2005 R53 so put in a new clutch as well while I had it torn apart. At 339,000 miles I replaced that car with another 2005 R53. Now #2 is at 288,000 and shows no signs of failing on the original clutch.

 

I replaced my engine at 165k miles. I replaced the clutch then only because I felt I may as well at that point. Clutch had absolutely no problems at that point.

 

Original owner of an 6spd manual 04 R53 (new w/3mi on OD).
Had to have my original clutch replaced after 14 years @78k mi.

After returning from a 2,800 mi round trip/road trip, upon my return home, the clutch completely failed while backing into my parking space.
Had the car towed to a "BMW" shop and had the clutch replaced.
6 years later the transmission failed and had to be replaced. The previous shop who'd replaced the original clutch failed to refill the gearbox with oil.
In Sept of 2023, I had a good used low mileage 6spd Getrag gearbox installed with new Genuine Mini clutch by a well know reliable Mini shop.
I currently have 9,460 mi on this recent trans replacement & clutch.

 

162,000 miles so far and no issues. Being the original owner may have helped this.