Hey everyone,

Initially, I posted this over at Mini2 but was directed here. I've been lurking in both places awhile, but I registered to ask some questions I didn't see answered yet.

I have a 2009 Mini Cooper S (R56, I believe) with a dual mass flywheel. I bought it used at about 29k miles and I'm the second owner. I just hit 32k miles on the car and the clutch started giving me the low metal groaning noise when engaging as well as some slippage when applying torque at any speed. I got it diagnosed by the Mini service center - they said I needed to replace the clutch. So I got quotes from a couple places and ended up taking my car into AAMCO. But, that has led to some questions:

Questions:
Between LuK and Valero (which AAMCO says is OEM), which is better? I saw some posts saying that LuK uses plastic/composite parts, and that was verified by AAMCO. I also have seen other posts saying that it's a common issue for the OEM clutch to wear prematurely.
Is AAMCO correct when they say that, if they go with LuK, they have to also replace my flywheel (instead of simply resurfacing it)? Asked differently, does the LuK clutch kit fit my car without requiring a new flywheel? Where would AAMCO come up with this?
They said my flywheel was a "two step flywheel" and that it was somehow different from a dual mass flywheel.....What?? I checked RealOEM using my VIN and it says my car has a Twin Mass Flywheel, part number 21207575069. Is that the same as a two step flywheel or what am I missing here? EDIT: Did more research and it seems that they're referring to the method of resurfacing the DMF, but also found a lot of comments saying NOT to resurface a DMF. Ideas?

My options are:
The dealer quoted me $1700 to replace the clutch with OEM. That includes a 2 year / unlimited miles warranty.
AAMCO quoted me about $1650 to replace the clutch with OEM. That includes a 3 year / unlimited miles warranty. I'm a little hesitant because of what I mentioned above.

Cost breakdown from AAMCO:
+$795.00 Labor, after discount
+$695.00 Valeo clutch kit (because LuK doesn't fit without replacing flywheel?)
+$200.00 Dual mass flywheel resurfacing
- $100.00 Discount on the Valeo clutch kit
---------------------------------------------
$1590.00 Subtotal
+ $47.60 Tax
---------------------------------------------
$1637.60 Total


A little back story:
The AAMCO place initially quoted me about $1500 total using LuK parts. I brought it to them and, now that they have it apart, they called and said 1) they have to use Valero because the LuK kit requires replacement of the flywheel, 2) it'll cost about $1650 total using the Valero kit, and 2) they'll cover it with a 3 year, unlimited miles warranty.

So, I want to know if the LuK kit really requires replacing the flywheel. I searched around and it appears they have a clutch kit made for a dual mass flywheel. I see no indication that it requires replacement of the flywheel for it to fit. I tried reaching out to LuK and their authorized contacts over here in the US to confirm, but nobody picked up the phone.

Can anyone lend some advice on my questions above and recommend some next steps?

Before anyone wants to critique my ability to drive stick:
My other car is a 96 Mustang SVT coming up on 96k miles. No issues with the clutch. I understand the Mini requires a slightly different style of driving and I researched that before making my purchase.

Last note - I'm not a mechanic by any means. But, I do research the hell out of purchases/fixes for my cars. So, to any mechanics or people that work for AAMCO, none of this post was intended to sound accusatory. These are simply the questions brought up from my research that no one has been able to answer for me yet.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.
Matt

 

If you came into our shop we would only install the OEM kit. We have found the aftermarket kits they either fail quickly or don't feel right.
Check out our OEM MINI clutch kit as it is all original parts and includes the clutch fork and pivot pin which is a must replace part. Plus it's way cheaper than the valeo kit you got quoted.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/oem-clu...-cooper-s.html

You only need to resurface the flywheel if it is damaged or really overheated.