Pulled pan today and no sump tube(plastic stand pipe in drain) and no magnets in bottom of pan. According to BMW factory service manual my 2008 mini Cooper s r56 should have two magnets inside oil pan. Has anyone ever come across this before? No magnets? No sump tube? What the heck? I bought this car new and am sure that pan has never been pulled until now.

 

I did a full tranny service with new filter during engine swap about a year ago.
The pan did have at least one magnet, which was covered in fine mist of metal dust after 56K miles in service. Sump tube was there as well.

Very strange that yours has neither.

a

 

Thanks for the post. It is very strange indeed. Do you think I would have any recourse with Mini NAm? How much damage can be done by those metal flakes the magnets are supposed to catch?

 

I really can't guesstimate, but if you are draining the fluid, you are removing all of the contaminants, including the fine shavings. So that's better than driving around with a magnet!

I would not hold the breath for anything out of MINI USA.
Just be glad that you are servicing your transmission properly, and it should last you another 100+K miles from here on out.

a