I've had my '08 Cooper S for about three weeks now. Love everything about it. It has the 6 spd manual tranny. Yesterday while in heavy afternoon traffic I noticed that when I move the shifter side to side in neutral, it doesn't move smoothly. It feels like little stuttering steps side to side. I don't recall this feel before but it's very noticeable if I move it very slowly. Other than that it shifts perfectly with no strange noises. Car only has 32k miles. Is it me or is this not normal?

Thanks,
JR

 

Mine does it only the left. It's pretty subtle for me though, just a slight stutter. Hasn't been getting worse. It's my first manual car so I thought it was normal.

 

Actually now that you mention it I only feel it going to the left also. I would also consider it subtle. It may be normal after all. Yesterday was the first time I was stuck in rush hour traffic for an extended period of time. So it may have been this way all along and I just now noticed it.

 

I have an 07 MCS with 60,000 km. I have a similar issue with my shifter. Let me know if what I describe is what you're feeling too.
My shifter's side-to-side movement feels like churning a bottle of peanut butter that's been left in the fridge too long. It feels stiff and requires a lot of effort to "shake".
I've driven a few Japanese imports in my life (Subaru WRX, Mazda 3), and none of them felt this "reluctant" when it comes to neutral movement.
Also, it sometimes refuse to stay center between gears 3-4.
Could be a MINI thing?

 

The shifting mechanism in the Mini is definitely stiff. When I drive my E30 BMW now the shifter in it feels like it's disconnected it's so loose. And it's got all new bushings!

 

Being a long time E30 guy, I'm glad you said it has all new bushings because my first reaction when you said it feels all disconnected was "well it might be" lol.

 

Hey guys, I did a bit of digging and found a couple of TSB regarding stiff/sticky shifting in our R56, and a few others who share the Getrag 6 speed manual gearbox.

Take a look at the two documents I found and see if they pertain to your situation. I might be looking into getting the parts myself and going to my usual mechanic for the work.

For this TSB, the dealership was asking for $130 diagnosis to start, then over $500 in parts, labour not included.