So I was dreading the day my MCS would need to be repaired on. A noise recently has been coming from my engine. It sounded like a knocking noise, similar to the one when your low on oil and the engine begins to knock.

Car info: 2006 MCS 33k. I don't race it or beat on it. Daily driving both highway & street. Upgrade Alta CAI.

Turns out its the flywheel & Throw out bearing. I'm sure many of you have experienced this unfortunate defect. I have a few questions to those who may know someone or have replaced the flywheel/throw out bearing:

1) if you did replace it, did you upgrade your flywheel?
2) did the noise go away?
3) Did you also replace the clutch since they replaced the flywheel and throw out bearing.

I went to the dealer and they want to charge me over $2300 for it. That seemed kind of steep to me. I'm waiting on other quotes from other mechanics who specialize in fixing mini's.

Any feedback would be great!

 

75% of the cost is labor, so replace everything. Sounds like you should replace with stock. You should have better luck with the next clutch. I am at 106K and I beat my car like a rented mule. That doesn't mean the clutch has to slip though.

Find a local place that had worked on mini's before and you should get a much better price.

Maybe someone knows a local place they can recommend (where are you?)

 

I figured most of it was labor because I was looking at different clutch kits and flywheels and they didn't seem too expensive.

I did call a local place that specializes in Mini's. I'm in the chicagoland area and found a guy through the mini forums. The person I spoke with seemed to know exactly what's wrong with my MCS.

Now the the difference between the dealers price and the local shop is only $100. Should I go through the dealership or local?

 

For $100, I would go through mini, but, I think you need to keep looking around a bit. Not that I can say for certain, but, it seems an independent shop (lower rent, staff costs etc.) should be a lot cheaper than the dealer.

 

I just don't know how I feel about a mechanic who isn't familiar with MC. I haven't seen any mini certified mechanics around the area, only ones that people recommend are dealer and the local shop. We'll see what happens.

I don't have the money right now to pay for it so I'll put the mini away for now and check around. Thanks for the input.