Might be a while before I can have someone ride/drive with me. I like the parking lot idea, trouble is finding an empty one around my area

 

Late in the evening....

And, sometimes that is better as more people have their lights on so it is easier to see the obstacles.

 

Do you mean engaging 2nd from 1st right? I do find that I need to wait just a tiny bit longer to let the rpms drop more before letting the clutch up when going to 2nd from 1st. That tiny pause is longer if I'm at higher rpm, and shorter if lower rpm.
So like at a red light, when it goes green, clutch in, shift to 1st. Slight gas, let up clutch and go. Then to go to 2nd, right foot off gas, left puts clutch in, shift to 2nd, and then slight pause (just hair longer than I would for shifting up to other gears) before letting clutch back up.
Play with that alittle and see if thats the issue you're having.

 

Some of us here, including myself, dont' believe in gentle break in. As long as you wait till the car is warmed up properly, break it in like how you'll drive it normally. Its been debated forever, but I've never had any issue with any new car before. I can't believe some people dont' even push the sport button till a few thousand miles.

 

Thanks for the tip nykwan. I think I'll do what ACE suggested and find an empty parking lot and just make a few laps until I figure it out. I'll see if a pause makes a difference. Who knows maybe it's in my head and I'm just trying too hard. Maybe I am just expecting too much. Like I said I am experienced, this car is just different for me. The only thing I am having trouble with is smoothing out the transition from 1st to 2nd. Starting and every other gear is trouble free, but I just can't seem to upshift into 2nd without a little bucking.

 

On the other hand, I have noticed that when I am shifting at high rpm from WOT (aka hauling a$$) the car squats down and goes just like it should.

 

There you go, problem solved. Drive like a bat out of hell!

 

I like ACEkraut11's style!

And just to let you know - I have the same exact issue on my '12 MCS. 1st to 2nd is shaky at mid band RPMs. It feels like the engine is physically shuffling back and forth as the gear engages.

You arent alone in being frustrated by this

 

Thanks minipuck, good to see I am not alone here! nykwan your suggestion worked. I have to make myself slow down right now but soon it will be second nature. Letting the rpm's drop a little more than I normally would seemed to do the trick. It sounds silly talking about it, but in reality it is very different than the way I would normally drive stick. Thanks for all the support guys!

Oh and Ace, I already have toys on order...it won't take long and I won't be able to keep my foot out of the throttle! This is the first turbo car I have ever owned and something tells me I am going to fall in love with the BOV when the ALTA Cai gets here lol

 

Newbie but did a search... on the ride home yesterday from the dealership I was running 3000 rpm @ 72 mph whereas my wife's automatic is around 2300 rpm?? Called the dealership and they were unsure of what their rpms were when they drove? Anyone care to share? Yup I was in 6th ; )

 

Nealuss I have the same problem as you on my 2012 hardtop S and I've smoothed out my low gear shifts by hitting the sport button and slowing down my clutch/throttle transition, which i guess was letting the RPMs drop more. I think I'll try it your way so I am not slipping the clutch as much and hopefully getting the same results. I still can't shift smoothly if I let the RPMs rise to 4500-5000 but I guess somethings take time. When I drive like a grandma, its like the car has a DCT!

 

Xntrickly:

Perfectly normal. The automatics have a very long overdrive top gear. But you will have more fun with the stick...lol

 

Thanks very much... now I'm out there playing and the Y cable isn't working so now I'm researching the different Y cables available for 3GS (mine) and the 4S (coming next week)... sheesh but it will be great when everything is working!!

Many thanks.

 

I ran into the same 1st to 2nd problem for probably the first 6 or so months after I first got mine. Unfortunately I dont have the awesome sport button and I have to deal with the laggy throttle response. I found that if youre not accelerating very hard a smooth transition from 1st to 2nd can be achieved in two ways. You can be really really careful and let the clutch out very slowly and just barely blip the gas to keep it in check and still minimize clutch slippage. Ive also found that if you get to know where the rpms should be when youre in 2nd you can rev match on the upshift. The latter Ive found to be the most effective even though it takes a bit longer.

 

Same issue with my 07 justa
i had a vr6 gti prior to the mini and could shift every gear smooth as butter
The mini seems to hold on to its spinning inertia for a while, slight delay in the shift solves the problem, or a quick shift while pushing the car hard seems to work quite well
I usually drive 1st and 2nd gear hard to 30 mph and then coast around town, makes motoring more fun but still legal

 

This is turning out to be quite a common issue! Not a serious one, but still at least we know we are not alone! What worked for me (as mentioned above) was waiting a half second longer and just slipping the clutch a little more. I just had to learn how everything worked and get in-sync with my MINI.

Side-note: I am now officially part of the club! Just finished my first mod::Alta boost port and single pod with Prosport boost gauge! What a PITA install that was. The underhood stuff was a breeze, but the interior and wiring was a b****. It took about 5 hours (if i had to do it again it would take 1) but it was worth it. The finished look is great and the orange lighting matches perfectly!

 

Ok, so it's been a couple months and a couple thousand miles and this second gear thing is still giving me trouble. I thought I had it figured out, but I suppose not. I'm starting to wonder if I need to take it to the dealer. Problem is I don't want to look like a fool if I end up going to the service depart because I don't know how to drive. It feels like second gear is out of sync. Even third does it a little, but by not nearly as bad and it's easier to correct. It seems impossible to engage second gear smoothly without the car bucking at least little unless I slip the clutch too much. Maybe I have a clutch issue? It does seem to let out a little higher than I would expect. You guys think it's worth it? Maybe I could at least let a tech drive it so that someone with Mini experience knows how it is supposed to feel. It is getting to the point where the car isn't fun to drive. We can't have that.

 

IMHO you paid a great deal for your car and there should be no doubt in your mind as to if it needs transmission/clutch work or not. I highly recommend that the first chance you get, take it to your dealer. I also like the suggestion given to have someone experienced in these cars drive it and give you their opinion. Mini folks are generous with their time and help. I'm sure if you asked here, something could be worked out to accomplish a "test drive".
Good luck!

 

I will be visiting a friend this weekend who has a little experience with Mini's and he was a certified BMW tech only a few years ago. He also is a MUCH more experienced driver than me (in terms of spirited driving and anything modified) and has experience in this field. I plan to let him drive it. Hopefully he will have some input. If he can't help me then off to the dealer it is.

I haven't been to any type of gathering yet, but I know there are plenty of Mini enthusiasts in the Raleigh, NC area. Maybe I will have to see what's going on and find some local Mini peeps soon.

 

Nealuss, keep us (me) posted.

I already took it to the dealer to have them look at it. The tech I spoke to said to either drive it more aggressively through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd or drive it more gently with lower RPM shifts. He felt the shudder but attributed it to the compactness of the clutch/transmission. It sounded like a bit of BS to me.

I need to set up an appointment with Way at WMW to see if he can notice the shudder too.

 

Great idea. That's what I would do. Your friend should be able to tell.

 

I've always understood this is normal. I didn't know that the MCS did this too (I don't recall my '05 MCS being this way), but the JCW (at least mine) is definitely this way. I've always described the car as very raw and the clutch/trany to be very unforgiving. When test driving other cars, every car felt way more refined and forgiving, but I found myself unsatisfied in a way with that and went with another MINI. It's kinda of like taming the beast. Sometimes the rawness and go-kartness of the MINI can wear on you, though. I find 1st to 2nd and 4th to 5th to be jerky. Going from 1st to 2nd almost immediately keeps it a lot smoother, and also driving it more aggressively does work as well. I don't experience any shuddering, however, unless shifting too soon.

 

I know I'm bumping an old thread but my clubman shifts 1-2 this exact same way. It's so frustrating. I'm pretty new to stick and trying very hard to learn it all properly. The boyfriend has driven stick for 16 years and thinks this is a little strange. I'm going to try some of these tips mentioned to see if I can smooth it out. Everything else is great.

 

Thanks for coming to this thread - even though it is older, I'm happy that some people had the same issue as me. I was pretty driven to find out what was wrong with the car. I spoke to a number of techs with BMW and locally, replaced the lower motor mounts (made the problem worse - more vibration in the cabin), and basically resigned myself to having a clunky shift from 1-2.


Then I put on the DP back exhaust. I haven't noticed the problem since. My thought is that I am tending to shift a little later with higher RPM from the slight boost in power from the exhaust. My thought would be just to give it more RPM before shifting.

 

Yes Minipuck, that is exactly what I learned to do. I recently drove a friends manual GTI and it was so easy to shift, I could be very sloppy and it would still be smooth. Went back to the MINI and found I was a bit more jerky. I think it has to do with building/maintaining turbo pressure and letting out the clutch smoothly but before the revs drop. This is true for all shifts but especially 1st-2nd. I think the GTI turbo kicks in later, while the MINI twin scroll starts building pressure right away and shifting before pressure is built up makes the car lurch a bit. I think this is also why the car will jerk if you are in 2nd gear accelerating and take your foot off the gas. The car will jerk back and forth in little waves. I don't know a ton about how turbos work so please don't tear me a new one is this is all wrong, it is just my experience. I discovered these issues when trying to driving for fuel economy, but have since resorted to getting up to speed briskly and then holding low-medium revs in 4th gear and raking in 40-50 instantaneous mpgs.