I saw an old thread on this in the 1st gen forum, but thought I'd post it here:

Wednesday, parking when I arrived at work, I stepped on the clutch pedal to shift from neutral into first, and heard this metallic noise under the dash, like something breaking. Weird, a little scary, but the car still functioned, so I parked. Looking under the dash, I could see a spring, about an inch and a quarter long by a half inch diameter, dangling with the "hook" broken off one end, and still attached somewhere under the dash. I figured it had to be related to the clutch pedal, but couldn't see where the broken hook had attached.

Drove home after work (7 miles) and called dealer. They took a look yesterday afternoon, but didn't have the spring in stock. They overnighted the part, and I picked up the Clubman last evening. Work order says "separated clutch return spring", a $1.50 part. I had asked the service mgr if there was a redundant backup spring, since this one seemed kinda lightweight, but he checked and told me this was the only clutch return spring. I feel pretty lucky that the car still drove.

Kudos to the service dept for insisting I bring the car in right away. Between the Enterprise rental (an Impala ), the overnight fees and the 1.7 hours (!) of tech time, MINI ate a pretty big bill for a $1.50 part. Any wisdom from you tech types out there as to why the car still functioned, if the one & only clutch return spring failed?

 

I had the same thing happen to me (not too long after getting my car). I heard the noise, and I saw the spring on the carpet. Without it, the clutch pedal was just loose. It still functioned fine. When I went to have it repaired, it seemed like this was not an uncommon thing. It is kind of a pain, though.

 

Here's the parts listing:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...13&hg=35&fg=05

 

The slave cylinder pushes the clutch pedal back out, even without the spring. The spring is there to give the pedal a balanced and solid feel.

 

Thanks for the insight.

 

I just had the same thing on my '08 Clubman, but this thread really helped me figure out what happened! I'm going to the dealer tomorrow to get a new spring installed, dealer says it's a really quick fix, as the spring is easily accessed under the dash at the top of the clutch pedal arm.

Update: Habberstad MINI replaced the spring in under 1/2 hour and I was on my way.

 

Happened to me too.
I liked the lighter clutch feel.
I might take that stupid 'sporty' spring out.

 

I just had this spring break on me too. Anyone know if it's something I could replace myself? The dealer said it would be over $100 just to look at it, and I don't have that kind of cash XD

Thanks!