My 2003 MCS is at Long Beach having the clutch replaced under warranty. I heard a slight scraping noise about a month ago ( the noise only occurred when letting the clutch out from a complete stop, and wasn't very loud), and it got slightly worse (denial no longer effective) so I took it in to Desert MINI in Vegas while on vacation last week. They contacted the tech support people who said it needed a clutch and flywheel. They didn't have the clutch in stock, and I had to come home, so I took it in this week. The dealer has to access tech support on line, they tell me, and response time is slow. They have to get what they call a PUMA number, which seems to be some kind of case number. Has anyone heard of this system? Finally today they said they have been authorized to replace the clutch ( didn't say anything about the flywheel) so I should get the car back tomorrow....Bruce in Santa Monica

 

How many miles on your MCS? Did they give you a loaner car?

I had the clutch go out on my 02 Cooper at 8300 miles. It left me stranded at Dodger Stadium. It took almost two weeks to get the warranty approval and parts. They finally gave me a loaner after the first week.

 

No loaner....probably 300 for the rental car, ugh. MCS has 18000 miles on it as the post title indicates....the clutch never went out, it just started making a minor scraping sound. Since I'm going on some trips in the next few weeks, i wanted to get the noise fixed. I was surprised to hear that the clutch needed replacing. Going to pick it up now.....

 

Great. So now the dealers have to consult tech support to figure out a common problem. I wonder if they've given any thought to hiring some trained mechanics...

 

Picked up the car today, off to Big Sur (such confidence). I think the holdup on the tech support thing is to get approval for warranty coverage on an item that is classed a "wear item" according to MINIUSA and therefore not usually covered. I too am surprised that they needed to consult about the problem, and that they can't just call somebody. At one point I was told that the e-mail they were waiting for hadn't come in, and there was nothing they could do, and that sometimes it takes a day or more to get a response....by the way, they also replaced the flywheel. No one was there who could explain in detail what actually happened to the clutch. I'll try to follow up on it and share any info I get....Bruce