Just hoping someone could give me some advice. I have a July built 2003 6 speed manual Cooper S,
When moving off from a standing start in first gear just as the clutch is disengaged I get a flat spot and the car has a hesitation and hop . Once off the clutch and accelerating the hesitation is gone and the car accelerates fine. There is no hesitation when changing through any of the other gears it is just after the friction point in first gear. I have driven manuals for many years now so I don’t think it is me but it will do it even if I alter the amount of accelerator when balancing the clutch.
I just cannot get the balance right between accelerator and clutch when taking off.
There are no unusual sounds from the clutch and it does not seem spongy.
The clutch bite point is about half way up the pedal.
The clutch is a little heavy but I thought it may just be a heavy duty clutch. The car has a good service history through the local BMW Mini dealership.

I have found that if you use more accelerator the hop becomes a little more pronounced. On rare occasions if you get the amount of accelerator just right it will not hop but it is a real balancing act with the clutch and accelerator pedal.
The clutch is not slipping at all thrust bearing seems fine with no noise.
I can pull away from a stranding start on a flat road without using the throttle and the car does not hesitate.
What I have also noticed is that the hesitation comes when the clutch is disengaged ie just at the point when you lift your foot off the clutch pedal.

Any ideas
Tsmsoccer

 

Had the mini out for a run today and discovered something I had not noticed before to do with the engine hesitation.
If you change up from any gear and do on use the accelerator just using the clutch to change once you take your foot off the clutch and then push the accelerator the car will flat spot.
I am now wondering if this whole problem could be a vacuum leak causing the car to hesitate when you first hit the gas pedal after changing gear.

Anyone have any ideas

 

The first bit of travel on the throttle is a dead zone, so it could just be the not-so-sensitive pedal response you're describing. I time my clutch engagement to hit the friction point right as I rev to just below 2k RPM and that seems to help. So does the sprint booster.

 

The dead spot is where the car car is transitioning from the boost valve is open, no boost, to closed...on boost. Sometimes refered to as a yoyo on the s, there were various things done to try to fix it...
Dealers tried software updates...worked on some cars...
Owners tried varios mods like VGGS (vacume gain mod), or replacing the bypass valve with one with a stronger spring (dt tuned makes one) or even a newer oem valve, they had a stronger spring for post 2005 builds....
Some cars have had this issue, some never....

 

Check out Sprint Booster...

I don't have one, nor have I used one. A search of the forum will give you the pluses, minuses and interesting points.

Cheers...

 

Well today I took the car booked in at the nearest Mini/BMW dealer.
I dropped it off at 9.00 and told them of the problems with hesitation.
After 2 hours the tech came back and advised they there were no error codes and he could not simulate the problem. We went for a test and I was able to get it to hesitate straight away so back it went again.
They decided to do a full software update which took 2 hours to download.

When they finished the tech advised that the hesitation was still there although it was a little better. The dealer wanted to charge 4 hours labour at $150 per hour thats $600.

I refused to pay $600 and still not have the issue resolved after a heated discussion I reluctantly agreed to pay $250 and drove off never to return again.
So I now have the latest software version and still the same issue with hesitation.
Most frustrating

 

The firmware update might take 4 hours to complete, but I doubt it's a fully attended process, meaning that was time on the shop floor, but not man hours. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I know it sounds dumb, but if you haven't already, check your coil terminals. It only takes a minute or two.