OK, Heres what I know...
06 JCW MINI, bought new, 12K miles on it. Fully "broken in" per the manual, no major issues with the car ever. But...

When my car gets hot from sitting out in the sun in a parkking lot, 8 times out of 10, the clutch "pop" upon letting it out. Its very pronounced, you can feel in on your foot, about 1/3 of the way up, catch on something, then pop...like a cork popgun you played with when you were a kid. Still engages, still works fine, it does this in every gear, it does this when in gear and when in neutral. The clutch doesnt seem problematic, as the car drives normally, and there is no real slip in the clutch or anything. Its totally mechanical too, because when the car is off and keys out of the car, it does the same thing. And then I get home, the car sits overnight in the garage and cools off, and it goes away.

And I have another issue with my power locks.. al slow speeds, on downhill decents, after going over 50mph, the doors unlock all by themselves. This only happens with my key, very rarely and seems to be worse when its raining...anyone else seen this?

Taken it to MINI twice, and "they cant reporduce the issue".

Its bugging me, because it starts me 2nd quessing the clutch, and there could be nothing wrong...

 

A similar thing with the clutch happened to mine (03 MCS) not by sitting under the sun but by driving in a stop-go traffic. When releasing the clutch, there was definitely a "catch". It felt like it was sticking to something. As in your case, it was never there first thing in the morning -or if I drive miles and miles with light traffic. Once it started to happen, it was there in every gear and even when the car was off...

Of course, the dealer could not replicate the problem and the warranty expired. In the mean time the "problem" got worse. So, I arranged a "post-warranty" appointment with the MINI Regional Manager for a test drive. He was very helpful and understanding. After driving around for about 45 minutes, the clutch started acting up. We went back to the dealer, he shut off the engine and the "click" was still there. A week later, he authorized the repairs and the clutch was replaced along with TOB, bowden cables, etc etc even after the warranty expired.

Good luck with your problem!

 

I knew I wasnt the only one. Did you ever get the details on just what was failing? I would like to go prepared...
thanks

 

I will find the paperwork when I get home (stuck in a boring meeting at the moment), but I vaguely remember something similar to "there was a play in XYZ component".

 

Sorry. I had a busy week and did not have time to look for this.

Here is the information directly from the paperwork:
- Customer states still having clutch problems.
- After driving vehicle for 30 to 40 min. clutch makes noise upon release. Clutch release bearing and fork have play.
2121501 - replaced clutch assy
2151500 - replaced luctch release lever, shaft and bearign
2199000 - replaced bushings

I hope this helps. Good luck!