Not sure if it's just me or if something is actually wrong with my car, but the clutch has been VERY awkward and I've had it for almost 2 months and still don't have it down right. On my R56, I was completely in tune with the clutch and gearbox, upshift, downshift, throttle blipping, heel-toe both on the street and on the track, it was absolutely perfect and I could time every shift in regular, and sport mode.

I know the clutch is much lighter in the paceman than my R56, but it almost seems like something is wrong with it. For one thing, it doesn't grab until the pedal is almost all the way out. I was expecting with it being brand new, the grab point would be more toward the bottom of the throw. It just seems like a HUGE throw in the pedal when releasing the clutch, it doesn't grab until right before the pedal is all the way out. Is this normal for everyone else?

I've also noticed a rattle, but I'm not sure if it's normal or not. It does it regardless of clutch being in/out, when stopped it makes quite a bit of noise, as well as driving. I can hear it over road, engine, and wind noise with the windows down driving around town. Only time it ever stops, is when decelerating in gear. It goes silent and as soon as I touch the gas pedal or put the clutch in it comes back. I can't tell if it's the direct injection making a ton of noise or if its transmission related. Car has 2800 miles, I really started noticing it around the 1000 mile mark. Haven't had time to go down to a dealer and see if the other paceman's on the lot do this. I know for sure my R56 did not make the same noises though.

 

I agree with the engagement point being rather high. I have a brand new clutch as the car only has 350 miles and I too thought the clutch engaged much too high with a long throw but I am getting used to it. Its a sensitive clutch and accelerator when trying to blip the throttle. I am getting used to it myself.

As per noise? I dont hear a rattling whatsoever. I would head to the dealer and check it out. Today on my ride home I will open the windows and turn off sound and see what I hear. I havent heard anything but I also havent been listening for one specific sound.

Good luck and I will report back tonight!

Quick edit: 3 year/36,000 warranty includes one free clutch replacement so might as well bring it to dealer to find out.

 

Awesome thank you! I know these engines have a very distinct sound because of the direct injection, my R56 sounded terrible at idle. This car sounds similar, as expected, except for this rattle I'm getting. It is constantly making noise except when decelerating in gear. It goes away completely and I'm not sure if its because the car is cutting the fuel off when coasting (which my R56 did) or if its something else.

 

I haven't noticed mine being in a weird position on mine at all, and in general it seems like a decent clutch. Every once in a while (like twice in the 2 months I've owned it) I've lugged a little on take off and had it bounce but this is fairly normal when you screw up in any manual transmission car.

 

@arsci, I think I know what you're talking about. Sometimes I feel like I'm driving mine for the first time, and I've had it for about five months now. I've been driving manny trannies for almost 40 years now, so I think I know what I'm doing. Never had a problem on any other car, but for some reason, this is a very difficult clutch to get used to. Somebody here on the forums said it feels like it isn't connected to anything -- that sounds just about right.

 

This is the oddest clutch I have ever had in any car. I had the issues in my '12 CMS, and the clutch was replaced with the "updated '13" clutch. Still to this day, after owning this car for 2 years, I still can not get my car going from a dead stop without the whole car jerking. I either almost stall it, or I ride the clutch a second too long, and get the dreaded burnt clutch smell. I am over 40yo, and have owned over 15 cars/trucks that were manual. This is the only car I have ever had a single issue with!

 

I find the whole clutch discussions very interesting - the clutch in my 2011 CMS All4 was pretty much the reason I got rid of the car. A very well equipped car that I really didn't like to drive, because of the clutch.

I would've thought MINI had put this behind them after the 2013 clutch rework on the 2013 CM.

Also contributed to my opting for an automatic on the JCW.

Interesting to follow!

 

I highly recommend two cheap mods to vastly improve clutch feel:

1. BMS clutch stop ($10) - You no longer have to push the pedal as far, and it engages right away when you let off. I have it installed with 2 shims and it's perfect.

2. NM Torque Arm Insert ($60) - reduces engine movement and improves clutch feel.

 

ohhh thank you for posting this...I just ordered the clutch stop. I think it's exactly what I'm looking for. I'm finding I screw up my shifts more when I put the clutch all the way in, it has such a long throw to it.

 

One note, I had to cut off about half of the post to fit into the clutch stop hole in my countryman. It would only go in about halfway.

 

Anyone install the torque arm insert by themselves or is it a professional install? I think clutch stop seems easy but I dont have the tools or jacks to do the torque arm alone, I dont think?

 

Torque arm is pretty easy. You have to rock the engine back and forth a little to get the new insert in, but it's not as scary as that sounds. You only need two sockets to do it, no special tools.

Ramps would be the quickest way to lift the car up, but jack stands work as well.

 

As stated above! Torque arm insert is a good cheap mod. The inserts for the TA aren't difficult but the arm can be a bugger to wiggle back in place. If needed us a long pry bar to hold the engine back while you get everything lined up.

I'm getting the clutch stop shortly. Hopefully it'll perform as expected.

 

I put the BMS clutch stop in my Countryman and I didn't care for it much. It took up a lot of the empty space but I found that because I'm already used to the stock clutch feel that it didn't feel right. I also tried using it by removing some of the spacers and in the end I just threw it in the trash. I'm not saying it isn't good or that it won't won't help someone, but it just didn't work out for me.

 

Clutch stop really improved things for me, a lot less play...makes it feel more like the clutch in my old car. Still getting used to it and I may do the TA...gotta give it a couple more weeks and see how it goes.

As for the noise...it's still doing it, still cant tell if it's supposed to or not. Once I take it in for it's first oil change I'll talk to the SA about it and see what he says. Seems to be driving alright so I'll just be keeping an eye on it for now!

 

Thread's only a year old, so why not revive it. On-topic update, even.

It looks like it's a good possibility that I'll be getting a new JCW clutch. To recap from another thread -- this clutch slips worse than any other manual trans-equipped vehicle I have ever owned or driven, and I've been driving manuals for 40 years now. If I take off hard on flat ground, or just start on any kind of an incline from a stop at anything more than a crawl, it slips. By taking off hard, I don't mean putting it to the floor and dumping the clutch -- I mean a moderately aggressive, controlled launch. But it doesn't even have to be an aggressive launch. Pretty much any time I need to accelerate that requires a downshift or any kind of clutch play, it slips. So far, if it's in gear and I just punch the gas, it does hold. But taking off from a standstill has always been an exercise in frustration, and lately it's just been getting worse.

The icing on the cake for me was last week in stop-and-go traffic on the interstate (which is bad enough on this clutch as it is), I had a shot to cut over into the next lane, which as anyone who's ever driven in interstate traffic knows you can't be timid about it. I was just in 1st gear, probably already moving about 5 mph, which usually isn't a problem. I goosed it and switched lanes, and that clutch must have slipped for at least 3-4 seconds with my foot completely off it before it finally grabbed. And then of course there was that lovely smell.

Next morning I called service for an appointment. It's ready for servicing anyway, and it also needs another new windshield (second one -- this car attracts big road debris like flies on p00p, because this windshield has been hit no less than four more times since it was replaced last year). But I digest .... I 'splained the clutch situation (again) to my service guy, and he seemed anything but surprised. Apparently they've already replaced a number of them on Countryman's, and he told me they've been replacing the stock parts with JCW. Assuming they do actually replace mine (it only went in yesterday and they have not yet advised me of whether they will or not), and it does indeed take care of the problem, it could give this car a new lease on life. It's less than 2 years old and I've already been seriously looking at its successor. I've not ever driven a JCW with a manual trans, so I don't really know what to expect. I do know that, as I noted earlier, this clutch is so light that it sometimes feels like the pedal isn't connected to anything. So hopefully this improves.

Updates to come...

 

UPDATE 1: MINI is going to replace my clutch. Yay!

At first they couldn't recreate the slippage. I advised them to come to a stop on any incline and then take off normally, which they did, and they got the slip. With the holiday and other work they're doing on it, I probably won't see it until next Tuesday. So y'all get a reprieve from my ramblings until then.

In the mean time, I have a 2015 Cooper S to beat on ... I mean to enjoy. I had forgotten how much fun the hardtop is!

 

I had my clutch replaced at 3k miles back in June. At the time I wanted to make sure that I was getting the JCW clutch but the service department could not confirm which clutch I was getting. Seems they have the same part # - so does that mean all clutches are the JCW versions?

 

Same part number for the clutch in both cars? That's odd. SA told me the JCW clutch is 'beefier' and that's what they've been replacing them with in the Countryman when someone has an issue. Bottom like new is, how does the new clutch feel to you compared to the old one? Regardless of the part numbers, the real question is if it solved the slipping, or whatever issues you had to warrant replacing it at 3k?

 

UPDATE 2: Paceman is back home, and with a new clutch. I expected (and was a little bit concerned) that the new clutch would be stiffer than the old; but right off the bat I was surprised that it isn't. The only initial difference I could feel was that the friction point is a little bit lower, which could easily be attributed to the fact that it's a new clutch.

Once I hit the road, it was immediately apparent that the car is simply much more driveable now. The clutch is more predictable when leaving from a dead stop, and I simply could not get it to slip like it used to. I'm quite pleased to say that the car is actually enjoyable to drive now all the time. I really can't understand why MINI didn't just put this clutch in the car in the first place.

But the bottom line is, I'm happy with the result. Combined with the JB+, my Paceman S All4 is now almost as much fun to drive as my previous Cooper S, just a little more sedate and "mature", for lack of a better word. Seriously thinking now of installing a thicker rear sway bar, and that should be the end of that ... until I get that itch again for something completely different.

 

I somewhat agree about clutches on MINIs haha. One of the very first that I test drove way back when I first started looking into MINIs had a horrible clutch engage point. You had to nearly floor it in order for it to catch, there was basically no ratio whatsoever for gas/clutch. My husband killed the car in an intersection and panicked because he couldn't get the clutch to engage at the point he expected it to.

The '07 MCS I first purchased had a perfectly functional clutch. I never killed it, never stalled it, nothing. I don't think I ever even heard strange noises resulting from not engaging correctly.

In my current '11 fJCW, I have had a couple incidents. Nothing bad enough to where I smelled anything funky from the clutch but there have been a couple times where I've gone to shift and thought it was engaged completely and let off a bit and the car barks at me. It's ALWAYS been in 3rd gear though so I'm thinking maybe it's just picky with 3rd?

I generally don't narrow down weird clutches to any particular sort of car. I've driven a Chevy with a manual, a Mazda 3 with a manual, two MINIs.... each car has its own sweet spot for sure!

 

Glad to hear they upgraded your clutch. Do you happen to know what the cost of the parts was for the upgrade to the JCW clutch? My car is a lease, and my biggest disappointment about this car is the clutch. If I can find a decent clutch upgrade I'll buy this car out of the lease and keep it. It's an awesome car otherwise.

I don't have the slipping problems as much (maybe it's trained me to take it easier around town?) but its just a terrible clutch feel and I still struggle with it from a start. I can almost guarantee the dealer won't do anything for me because they know I track it. They're great about still doing the maintenance and everything else but I highly doubt they'll back me on getting a clutch replacement knowing it goes on track.

Are there any decent aftermarket clutches anyone knows of? I'd love it if the pedal was stiffer as well. I want the clutch feel of my old R56! That was such a perfect car.

 

Interestingly, I did not receive any paperwork for the clutch, only for maintenance and a windshield replacement, which I was a little surprised at. I might drop in and ask the SA about it. It's still behaving very well -- a couple of hard launches, no slipping.

Don't know about after-market clutches, either. But I will agree, my '07 R56 was damn near perfect, even more perfecter than my '10 R56. The '07 ran awesome right off the lot -- it was before BMW detuned them because they were too close to the JCW's, while the '10 needed a tune to run like it should have. Unfortunately, it's that kind of idiotic thinking, and the non-thinking that went into the Countryman and Paceman clutches, that's going to put both my wife and I into something other than a MINI next time around.

 

You shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly. I have a 2014 JCW Paceman with a perfect clutch. I believe the clutch problem was only on 2013's.

Whenever you have an introduction of a new model there will be problems.

 

You should review your facts. The clutch problem existed on the 2011 & 2012 models and was supposedly resolved with the 2013 models but apparently there have still been a few owners of the 2013's & 2014's having the same problem.


Really?