Originally Posted by JAB 67

I'm pretty sure that the transmission at issue in the Baron & Budd suit mentioned in post # 22 above is the CVT, not the Aisin 6-speed.

Originally Posted by 05SConvertible

I have a convertible 05 S 6sp auto. 39K miles. Tranny seems to be fine in D, fine in SD. I can shift it manually with the gearshift and it works fine. The paddles don't work right. When in D, the paddles will only downshift, not upshift regardless of RPM. When in SD, the paddles will only upshift and won't downshift at all. Both paddles behave the same way.

Is there a way to reset the software for the adaptive tranny (without a visit to the dealer)?

Has anyone had this issue, if so was there a fix?

Also, has anyone tried using an 'inlet pump' to flush all the tranny fluid in one shot? Unrelated to my question above, I did a proactive flush phase 1 yesterday. I got about 2.75 quarts out on the first pass. I'm planning to do 2 more, or if I can do it...an inlet flush so I can get it all in one shot with a new pan gasket and screen (i'm going with the VW kit for 1/5 the price).

BTW the tranny is the TF61-SN not the 60.

Originally Posted by pcoldfield

Read the filing and contacted the Baron and Budd law firm. While the initial suit was only focused on the CVT, they are getting enough interest from both manual and 6-speed owners that they are considering broadening it.

Originally Posted by gmcdonnell

Apparently ours are not isolated problems:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111214006452/en

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The national law firm of Baron and Budd, led by attorneys Roland Tellis and Mark Pifko, has filed a lawsuit against vehicle manufacturer BMW concerning safety issues and the company’s refusal to disclose its knowledge about premature automatic transmission failures in first generation Mini Coopers to consumers. Though the Mini Cooper was marketed as an affordable, yet stylish car with high performance features, the lawsuit alleges that BMW rushed the Mini Cooper to completion and, in doing so, the company cut corners, sacrificing safety and quality to maintain price targets, resulting in the installation of poor transmissions in first generation Mini Coopers.

“BMW marketed the Mini so aggressively that people were lining up to get their hands on one when they first hit the streets -some people waiting almost a year,” said Mark Pifko, attorney at Baron and Budd. “But what BMW promised with the Mini, a premium car for an unheard of price, was too good to be true. Sadly, over time, owners of the first generation Minis have found that their vehicles’ transmissions just don’t last. Given the safety concerns reported to the NHTSA, it’s particularly appalling that BMW has carelessly concealed this issue from the public. With a car that’s not much bigger than a golf cart, people need to know about the potential risks of transmission failure, which could leave them exposed to collisions, stuck in the middle of intersections, or suddenly without power to the wheels while at highway speeds.”

According to the lawsuit, BMW sacrificed quality to meet demand and keep prices low for the Mini Cooper. As a result, the company hastily churned out vehicles equipped with substandard parts and poor workmanship, which led to premature transmission failure. To fix the problem, consumers would need to spend up to one-half of the vehicle’s original retail price. Not only that, but transmissions can fail without warning, putting drivers and passengers at serious risk. Despite knowing about these issues, BMW concealed this information from the public.

Baron and Budd is a nationally recognized plaintiffs’ law firm with more than 30 years of experience fighting to protect what’s right for consumers. The firm prides itself on remaining on the cutting-edge of meaningful litigation that protects people from negligent companies. Earlier this year, Baron and Budd served on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC) in the Bank of America overdraft fee litigation that resulted in a $410 million settlement for consumers that forced Bank of America and many other financial institutions to change their overdraft fee policies. The firm is also involved in many other consumer issues, including online scams, deceptive food labeling, and other financial issues.

To learn more about the BMW Mini Cooper lawsuit, contact Baron and Budd at 1.866.844.4556 or visit the firm’s website: http://baronandbudd.com


Given what I went through with my car I wish Baron and Budd the best.

Originally Posted by gmcdonnell

My story is similar to the O.P.'s.

I started having issues with the 6 speed automatic transmission in my 2005 MCS last year. The car had about 80,000 miles on it when the tranny started to fail. I've never tracked the car and it has only the most minor of mods - a JCW exhaust (for a while it did have an Alta intake as well). Most of my driving is in town.

The symptoms were minor at first - when hot the transmission would occasionally "flare" when shifting from 3rd to 4th, flaring being a near equivalent to what happens in a manual when one misses a shift - the transmission drops out of one gear and then doesn't make it into the next gear. It would not matter if the transmission was shifting of its own accord or I was using the paddle shifters. After a few weeks the issue started happening on occasion when shifting from 2nd to 3rd.

Side note - when cold the transmission would work perfectly, usually for up to 30 minutes though towards the end that time dropped to as little as 15 minutes.

Changing the fluid and strainer helped a bit for a couple of days but the problem returned and quickly became worse. I investigated my options and found the following:

- Have a dealer rebuild or replace the tranny. Unfortunately the only option any of them offered was to replace the unit with one from the factory...about $6500 for the transmission and about $3000 to install. 2 year warranty. The car was only worth about $10,500 as a trade-in. Ouch.

- Have an outside shop replace the transmission with a new unit from the Mini dealer. Less cost (~$7000) but still not reasonable.

- Find a used transmission with a warranty. This proved impossible. Even had trouble finding any used transmission - the only one I found had over 60,000 miles and they wanted $3000 for it delivered with no warranty whatsoever.

- Have my transmission rebuilt. I spoke with at least 6 transmission shops in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Only one was willing to rebuild the unit. The others were unwilling to touch the car, telling me among other things that Minis are too difficult to work on, that no rebuild kit is available, etc. The most telling line was from one guy who said "Nope, sorry - those things scare us." followed by him hanging up.

The shop that was willing to tackle the job is The Transmission Shop (http://www.thetransmissionshop.com) in Garland, Texas. I was quoted $3300 unless the transmission needed a valve body, in which case it would be $4500 (prices include tax). The quote included a new torque converter, which they require because the work carries a 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty. It would be in the shop for a week to ten days owing to the fact that they would likely have to order parts in addition to the rebuild kit (which they had no problem getting) and would not know what they needed until they opened up the unit.

I sold a kidney, got stitched up and dropped off the car. Borrowed a neighbor's massive Ford Expedition, which had just enough gas to get me to the filling station. Dropped $72 worth of gas into it and drove around in amazement that it's actually possible to drive a living room.

It took The Transmission Shop about three weeks to rebuild the unit. The rebuild did require a new valve body. Then the car had to spend some time down at Mini of Dallas having a transmission related code troubleshot which they took care of. Back at the transmission shop a final diagnostic revealed that another valve needed to be replaced which they were able to do by dropping the pan rather than by taking everything apart again.

Final cost: $4500 (including tax).

Time in shop: Four weeks to the day.

Final result: Car runs / shifts better than new.

While I wish this had taken a lot less time and been a lot less expensive I must say that The Transmission Shop did great work. They were even kind enough to wash and vacuum it. I'd use them again though I hope to not do so.

If I had this to do over again I would stop by the transmission shop whilst the car was taken apart, grab the supercharger (which I found out had to be removed to get the transmission out) and replace the water pump and supercharger oil reservoir.

I will also say that it's incredibly disappointing to have to replace the transmission on a car with only 80,000 miles on it, especially bearing in mind that the vehicle has never been tracked and has been, on average, driven very mildly. The shop told me that every clutch disc and clutch plate in the unit was fried and that it appeared the transmission had over 150,000 miles on it. Considering I've never burned up a transmission before during my 35 years of driving (my previous car had 175,000 miles on it with the original transmission, still worked great) I don't think it was my driving style.

Just my opinion but I'd say the transmission is not well enough built to handle the load a MCS engine puts on it.

Originally Posted by PenelopeG3

Back on the topic of failure at 80k miles...

The dealer diagnosed the trans issues on my car as a worn Valve Body. They say that they have done 5 over the last x amount of time. Doesn't seem to be a problem where the trans is actually bad or worn but the Valve Body that controls the flow of oil through valves to the solenoids and stuff that control shifting.

Originally Posted by Noir2005

As far as rebuilt units go, does anybody kow who makes kits/ who I can talk to about getting a rebuild kit. Rebuilding a trans isn't a scary thing to me, just a pita. Nothing's wrong with our trans ( knock on wood) but if that day arrives, I want to be prepaired.

Originally Posted by djdraddy

I have no direct knowledge of this but I have heard that it may be hard to get a rebuild kit. I have always had a hard time believing this because the Aisin Transmission is used in a number of different manufacturers products. I'd call around to as many transmission shops to see who would do what for how much.

Check this out http://atdc.ru/catalog/transmission?q=TF60SN

Originally Posted by Noir2005

Oh, well a valve body then, hell that's takes a ton of pressure of then if that's the mjority problem. If I had to get a new unit, and it was made of aluminum, I'd just send it out to be cryo'd, give it a little more strength, and less friction promotion.

stupid question, but I'm sure the same answer as a rebuild kit, where, or who sells the valve body?