What failed? And what do you mean "it's not covered but it was no cost"?

 

Clutchmasters only shows clutches for the R53, not the R56 (unless their website is just 3 yrs behind the times).

 

my mini is currently at crevier... my clutch has been burning... i dont drive it that hard and it only has 7K miles on it. wtf??? they said they may try and charge me $1550 to replace the clutch if they can prove its my fault... again, i dont race it on the track, but i let it out on open roads... isnt that what you are supposed to do w a mini?

 

And you had to have it replaced because ???

If not covered by warranty, them why and how was it at no cost ???

Your fellow '09 owners want (and need) some more information!

 

FYI clutch isn't cover by warranty, it's covered under the service maintenance contract.

 

Yep, you are right in that it wouldn't be warranty. But I was thinking maintenance when I replied.

However, there have been a number of people who have reported that a clutch replacement in the first 3 years / 36000 miles was not necessarily covered. So it's still important that we get more details as to what happened and if there was any difficulties getting the no cost replacement.

 

Ok weve been thru this a bizillion times on this forum. the 4yr/50K warranty is bumper-to-bumper, inc all drive train components. If the clutch and/or flywheel is exhibiting a known defect, of which there are many documented, inc R56 models, their replacement is covered under yr 4/50.

I went thru 2 defective Luk clutches and flywheels in 27K with my R53; $2700 warranty c/b to bmw per claim. I know the drill here.

to the poster who mentioned Crevier might charge $1500 to prove fault, this is one of the oldest service tricks around: stonewall the customer into guilt with psychological warfare. Resistance is not futile, threaten an end-around to MINI-USA and/or take yr. biz elsewhere if service density allows. There are some real demons out there...

 

sure if it's a known defect it's under the warranty (potentially) but if the clutch wears out in 30K miles or the brake pads needs to be replaced within 30k it's not covered by the warranty, but rather the maintenance contract. ie, normal wear and tear items are covered by the maintenance, known defects are covered by the warranty.

 

of course a SA will try to snuff out someone who races their car and/or arent very good about their heel-toe technique, and deny warranty, but most documented service issues regarding LuK clutches and flywheels arent caused by the humans that operate them--they're caused by very spotty QC and build quality issues in general.

and there are many dealers out there out to save a buck, or worse yet, offer to comp the flywheel ($1300) if the now-guilty customer forks over $1400 large for the clutch (and its plastic t/o bearing.)

 

I had the clutch replaced by my dealer at 2500 miles, the flywheel was defective so it all had to go. I asked how much it would have been and they said around 2000. I also had the transmission replaced 4000 miles later which would have cost 8000...but it was also covered. There was also a bunch of other things they replaced on that car, and the dealer had enough of that so they are giving me a new car! Hooray for the Illinois Lemon Law!!

I just hope my 2009 doesnt have any similar issues...

 

Wowsers... what were the symptoms of each failure (clutch and tranny)?

 

While I see the post I can't imangine MINI would be selling 10's of thousands of stick shift cars with some design flaw that makes then burn clutches up in every few thousand miles. Warranty or service contract MINI is paying to have the work done by the dealer. I don't see a buisness reason to do it that way vs fix the problem or get a new clutch supplier. All my cars have been stick shifts and I have never replaced a clutch(my higest milages car was 90k) so it is possible to make one that will last. It's a very simple thing unless the disign can't handle the power and is slipping all the time or the disk is way to soft it should not burn up so soon(<5kmiles) no matter how bad the driver unless they are driving with there foot on the peddle and in that case they should smell the probblem early on. I guess it's a good thing you can get the extended service contract up untill the original 3/36 is up.

 

I agree. It has to be an isolated thing. My GTO has 82,000 miles of hard driving on the original clutch and it still works great. This includes 1 day at the road course and 1 trip to the drag strip. Not to mention the burnouts during that time.

The clutch on my MINI feels great so far with no hint of any problems. (True not many miles yet but so far so good.)

Pat

 

Just adding to things, I had my clutch and slave cylinder? replaced at 13k exactly on my 07. Clutch was making a screeching sound when clutch was partially engaged, SA said it was a known issue and replaced it under warranty.

 

Let me ask something of you fellow R56'rs.... if you are sitting there with the engine idling and the transmission in neutral and you move the gear shift lever towards reverse (still in the middle dead spot, not in a gear), do you feel some vibration when you move the shift lever to the left and back to neutral or is it smooth with no hint of a 'spongy rotational' feel?

 

My clutch replacement wasnt due to prematurely worn clutch plates, it was a defective dual mass flywheel. Idling, there would be excessive vibrations and odd noises coming from the engine bay, that would cease when the clutch was pressed. My friend likened the sound of it to a helicopter

The transmission was replaced cause when i downshifted into 2nd there was a weird metallic rubbing noise let out. It was tough to replicate, but the techs did it. After 2 weeks of testing on the car, the dealer seemed fit to replace the entire transmission.

Another 2 weeks at the dealer and they gave me a new throttle intake valve and manifold. For the cold start issue. Under illinois lemon law if the car is in for service for more than 30 business days within a year of purchase, they give me a new car.

 

So any issues with the 2nd car?

 

Still waiting for it to come in. I had to custom order a replacement. I took this as an opportunity to get some stuff i wanted that i didnt get, and also not get some things that i didnt need. Should come in by the end of april.

 

Well maybe it's because what's in the R53 is identical to what's in the R56, clutch/DMF-wise.

 

the battle is starting... i just got the call from the SA... "clearly not under warranty" is what i was told... said the damage is from wear and tear... at 7,000 miles??? he says that he has experience with minis, and they should go to 120,000 miles no problem.... "oh really jackass?" if the clutch were really that good, even if i abused the crap out of it, which i didnt.... shouldnt it be ok?

im 34 now... my racing days are over... that said, back in the days is was launching and racing around in my civic... 120K on original clutch.... so wtf? i am so pissed right now...

funny.... he didnt even say anything about the cold start rattle...

 

MINI-USA. call them and plead yr. case in a nice, yet firm sort of way. they may refer the car to a 2nd dealership and get another opinion; how many other dealers are fairly close by?

But Crevier should give you one warranty replacement NQA. dirty bastards.

cold start rattle? you expect someone who stonewalls you on a clutch issue to acknowledge something that potentially explosive?

 

Marshall07 while I understand they can say it's not covered under the warranty since it's a "wear and tear item" how can they say it's not covered under the service contract? From MINI

"Full Maintenance covers all factory recommended maintenance, as determined by the service interval indicator. Additional items that need replacement due to normal wear and tear, and that are not covered by the original MINI New Passenger Car Limited Warranty – such as brake pads, brake rotors, and wiper blades – are included, provided wear and tear exceeds MINI specifications. Any adjustments required due to normal operating conditions are also included. "
it says wear and tear items are covered.

 

I think they are saying the clutch has been abused without actually saying it. Seems to me that is the only way they could deny it.

 

long story short, i came from dealership.... they will not fix under warranty or service agreement. $1650 just for pulling tranny... not sure how much they'd charge for the clutch, didnt ask... accused of wearing the clutch b/c of stop and go traffic driving... apparently, driving in traffic voids the warranty... thank god i havent gone to a track day... wtf?

 

This is sickening and down-right ludicrous. Please tell me that you aren't going to accept this decision.

What's your next move?