I started on the clutch replacement today. Last weekend, I found the clutch slave cylinder leaking badly so I replaced that including a new master clutch cylinder just so everything was new while I was there. Bled it all using the motive power pressure bleeder and put everything back together. Start car, car lurches forward and stalls.
Clutch pedal goes to the floor and stays there. lifted it up with my foot and pumped again. Now it was rock hard and wouldn't drop further.
I did not dare push harder for fear of exploding the slave cylinder.
Took the battery tray out again and checked the slave.
Found it fully extended. I knew then I had a clutch problem and the clutch fork lever arm was loose and would go up an down about 3/4". Obviously, the throwout bearing was shot.
After approx 5 hours, I had the transmission on the floor and found the throught out bearing disinegrated. I attached a few photos to document that.

 

Here are some more photos.
I have yet to remove the pressure plate and disc because I have to buy some external torx sockets tommorrow.

 

Some more photos. I cannot seem to upload more than 3 photos at a time.
I found the plastic bushings on the fork arm to be brittle and cracked.
So I tried to dissassemble the fork arm for subsequent bushing replacement.
That turned out to be a nightmare and took me 3 more hours . I could not punch out the drive pin no matter how hard I tried. I ended up breaking the aluminum casting around the bushing area from the hammer pounding. I got a little ahead of myself here and should of studied it further before I hammered away. I hope this helps someone else learn from my mistakes.I will now have to reglue the broken pieces together with an epoxy if I dont want to replace the bell housing.
Anyway, I had to drill out the drive pin using a series of cobalt drill bit sizes but found the lever was siezed onto the shaft after trying like hell to break them apart. I ended up heating the area with my torch and worked the lever loose with a socket and hammer taking care not to damage the aluminum casting further. Finally, came loose.
I plan to reuse the fork and lever but the drive pin will be a 10mm bolt and nut instead. I will post some pictures of this later.

 

Here are some photos of the bell housing damage and modified clutch fork & lever.

 

I will be doing something similar in a few weeks. I got a new bearing guide, but not the end bushings for the fork assembly. Did you figure out a way to get it apart easily, or did that never seem obvious?

I am not looking forward to this, but since I can do it I feel compelled to save the big bucks.

 

Tberardi.....you garage looks like mine, an exploded mini cooper with parts everywhere. I'm just waiting for cv boots and new tranny to arrive.

 

Go ahead and do it provided you have above average wrenching skills and have a variety of tools. The car is not that complicated and everything is much smaller so its easier to handle (compared to my BMW 740). Based on the mods posted in your signature, you certainly appear to have these skills if you did them yourself. I apologize if I seem to come across as underestimating your ability.

An impact gun will help lots with this repair particularly if the bolts haven't been broken yet. If you don't have one, now is the time to buy one along with a good compressor and some impact sockets. A good composite impact gun does wonders and save your arms from soreness for the next 7 days.
The bolts in the sub frame are tough to break manually.

I will also need a new bearing guide tube as I found mine all chewed up.
The fork in the regular cooper is welded to the shaft thus requiring you to push the drive pin out and remove the pivot lever first in order to get the shaft out to replace the upper bushing. If I was to do it again, I would cut off the fork shaft with a grinder & cut off wheel and buy a new fork, pivot, and drive pin for about $50 online.

However, on the S model the fork is bolted to the shaft with a bolt. Once removed, the shaft slides out for bushing replacement. Cant verify this though as I have not actually seen one except in the Bentley manual.
Good luck with your clutch replacement.

 

I see the difference, yes the fork unbolts for me. Tools are not a problem, it is my back that needs replacing and why I hate doing it. Just take my time, and go slow usually does it.

 

Someone on here list his TO bearing as well and disintegrated messing up his bell housing. Yours look like it had some pelleting from the bearings but not that bad.

 

After about a week and a half of waiting, my parts arrived and I completed the clutch replacement last weekend. From start to finish, it took me 16 hours. Not bad for first time. Cetainly can shorten it significantly with next one.
I can only thank this board with helping me with this by presenting the experience of others. I hope my experience will help others who attempt this repair to save money and learn a little more about their car.
I spent about $425 in parts plus flywheel machining $75 and replacement oil $45 for a total of $545.
Here are some photos that highlights the major components.
- 1st photo shows crank seal not leaking so I left it alone.
- 2nd & 3rd photo shows interior of transmission bellhousing with new fork shaft, throwout bearing and bearing guide installed and greased with the special ESSO S2 grease avail from the BMW dealer for $13. Also shown is my JB weld repair of the broken alum reinforcement for the lower fork shaft bushing.

 

Photo's Contnued.
- 1st photo shows the resurfaced flywheel being installed with new bolts. Notice the blue threadlocker on the new bolts. Also note that the inner disc contact portion of the flywheel is slightly raised than the outer portion ~ 1mm. The machine shop charged me an extra $30 to maintain this relief. Total machining cost was $75 cash.
Note that this is a 1 piece flywheel and not the dual mass version that comes on the MCS. You cannot machine the dual mass unit.
- 2nd photo shows the new Valeo clutch disc held up against the flywheel.
- 3rd photo shows the clutch plate bolted onto the flywheel with the disc in between. The valeo clutch kit comes with a plastic centering tool that worked perfectly fine. You don't need to buy the expensive BMW tool for this. U also should use new e-torx bolts to bolt down the clutch plate with blue threadlocker on them as well.

 

Photo's continued:
- 1st photo shows the clutch installation from the top. Lots of space to do the work.
- 2nd & 3rd photos shows transmission reinstalled and now preparing to reinstall the subframe. Reinstallation of transmission was easy enough by raising the unit on my jack and then have my adult son balance it. I then pushed and wiggled it in until she seated against the engine block while my son prevented the transmission from slipping off the jack. (I know, someday I will buy a good transmission jack but I can be cheap sometimes).
Note that I did have to rotate the trans input shaft to line up with the splines in the clutch disc by sticking and rotating a big screwdriver into the gearbox where the drive axles go in. This caused the transmission gears and input shaft to turn and line up. Slides right in like butter once the splines are aligned. Reassembly was straightforward after that. Just take your time.
Car is now ready to go except for oil. Had to order 3 quarts of Red Line MTL at a local race car speed shop as Red Line it is not stocked in my city. Paid $12.99 per quart in comparison to BMW oil at $60 per liter (remember its Canada) at the dealer which is outragous. I am very happy with the result and I would not hesitate doing this again. I will update this post after the oil is installed and I have had some driving experience.

 

Fianlly received the redline oil and installed it same day. Took the car out and it ran fine except for a little whine at ~ 3,000 rpm. Not quite sure whre it is comming from but it seems clutch related. I will see if it quietens done after a week or so.

Update, its March 3, approx 45 days and 4,000 kms later I am happy to report the clutch works great and no more whine at any speed.

Trans is shifting very smooth and quick now with the redline fluid compared to the original BMW oil. The notchiness is gone too.
After 3 days there are no leaks.
Thank god, because I was worried the axle shaft seals would leak with the redline synthetic fluid. Fingers crossed.
Update, no leaks after 45 days.
I am happy with the overall result and thanks to this board with all posts, comments and suggestions made.

 

Maybe someone else can chime in but it looks like you over greased the spline and throw out bearing. You're only supposed to put a very light amount of grease on the spline otherwise you take the risk of getting that to splatter on your clutch and contaminating it. Could potentially be the cause of the little whine you're hearing.

I also just noticed that in one of your pictures you're holding the clutch disc itself with your gloves. Not sure if you had any oil or grease on your hand but certainly not a good thing to get any oil or grease on it.

 

Hmmm. point taken.
Shoot, I thought i was being very cheap with the esso grease on the spline shaft. It could be possible I put on too much.
I was careful not to contaminate the disc before it was installed.
At the moment, the car engages very smoothly with no slip.
I would assume the disk would slip if it was contaminated with grease?

 

Sorry to say I agree with the grease comment. That tube was enough for 100 clutch jobs I bet. If it gets hot enough to melt, it will drip and can effect the clutch life. Just cross your fingers, but I would put an amount that is half the size of a Q-tip on the entire shaft. Just make it greasy like an empty butter stick wrapper.

Still, don't borrow any bad luck. If it comes your way, you know why and worry/take care of it then. I still didn't do mine. My LSD just arrived today and I plan to take it apart and check the washers as OBX has dubious reputation of part quality. Now I have everything I need.

BTW, I thought 2 quarts was enough to fill the trans. Did you need more? I only have 2 quarts.

 

2qt with the transmission mounted on the car. The drain plug literally is at the edge Of the housing. Draining while on the car does a great job of draining much of the fluids so I think you're fine at 2qt.

 

Thanks for the feedback.
BTW, I bought 3 quarts based on the 2.1 liter capacity noted in the Bentley manual; (as a quart is slightly smaller than a liter). Remember, i have the 5 speed and it takes a little more oil than the 6 speed according to the Bentley manual.
In reality, my 5 speed transmission took exactly 2 quarts before it started to overflow out of the fill hole. So i am now left with an extra quart for next time.
I filled the transmission from the top using a funnel inserted into 3/8" clear tubing. I removed the battery tray to get easy access.
U will need some sort of electric or manual transfer pump if u want to fill from under the car.
Note that transmission oil change was very easy with the fill and drain bolts easy to get off/on as well.

 

Thank you for this. I'm going to have to do my clutch shortly. I did notice though you didn't take apart the front end on, how hard was it to drop with that all still intact?

 

It certainly would of been easier to remove and reinstall the transmission if the portion of the drivers side sub-frame attached to the bumper was removed .... no question....but that would of required me to take the bumper off.
Its not hard to take the bumper off as I have done it many times before. I just didn't feel like it at the time and previous posts including the videos on you-tube didn't really insist that the bumper needed to come off.
Leaving it on did cause me to have to manuver the transmission around the offending subframe piece (see my photos). Although I was able to remove the transmission by myself, I did need a 2nd hand to help put it back in.
If I was to do it again, I would still leave the bumper on as it was only a minor inconveniance.
Its really your choice.

 

How many miles did you have on your car when you did the clutch?

I'm on the fence at this point of doing it myself or having someone else do it for me. i've been talked to a highly recommended shop and the dealership and they are wanting to charge me anywhere form 1500-1800 for just the Clutch, or 2000-2500 for clutch and flywheel. The only benefit i'm seeing of having someone else do it is that they would at least give me a some kind of labor/part warranty.

I thought i was lucky a couple years ago when my original clutch went out on me around 75k and a friend of a friend who owns a shop and owed a favor did the clutch for me, and said that he works on Euro's but had never done a mini before. Unfortunately that new clutch only lasted me 6 months before i took it back to him and it had gone out. They said it was user error, which i can't believe since i've been driving everything from a mini to a big rig. Replaced with another clutch, at their cost, and it's been less than a year and it's already going out on me, with the same symptoms as the last one.

For the cost of having someone else do it, i could just do it myself AND replace with a Getrag... Or save my money and just replace the clutch (fly wheel if needed) for a fraction and save the extra money to do the getrag swap at a later date when the Midland finally just bites the dust.

 

My mileage was at ~120,000 km (70,000 miles) when i replaced the clutch a few weeks ago. Note that my cause of failure was a disinegrated throwout bearing. The clutch disk and pressure plate were still good with significant life still left. For peace of mind, I didn't want to take a chance so I replaced the disc & plate as well.

The decision to do the clutch replacement yourself will depend on your mechanical ability, availability of tools, a suitable space (like a heated garage) and time.
The work itself does not require great skill but you will need a fair knowledge of wrenching. The forums and Bentley service manual are great resources provided you are willing to read, read, read.
If you are not prepared to do any of the above or cannot afford to lose the use of your car for a few weeks (and possibly more if you break something), then I suggest you have the garage do it.
On the other hand, if you are prepared to do all the above and are not scared of breaking something or redoing it if you make a mistake, then proceed full speed ahead. You will end up becoming much more intimate with the car and you might end up enjoying it as well.
I make a living as a consulting engineer and working on my cars provides me the oppurtunity to destress on the weekends while having some fun and saving money. Everybody is different I suppose.

Note that the flywheel is a solid version in the MC and therefore can be resurfaced provided they didn't go beyond the min thickness with your previous clutch replacements. Also, make sure the machine shop does a two stage resurfacing job with the disk contact portion. The contact area needs to be raised from the outer surrounding area by a certain amount. You have to ask for it specifically and pay the extra cost as it takes much more time and skill to produce (see my photos).
It was not worth it to me to swap the 5 speed for a 6 speed unless you can get one very cheap. You will also need a different clutch kit than for the midland unit so if you buy a kit for the car now, you wont be able to reuse it later if you decide you want to swap it. Who knows what else is needed so make sure you research it well before you do it.
In my opnion, the car is just not worth the extra expense and time to retrofitt higher performance parts from the S or JCW model. If you really want performance, then I would suggest you just sell the MC and buy an "S" or "JCW" model instead.
The difference in cost is not that much but you would end up with a whole different car that is factory designed and beefed up for the purpose.
I hope this helps you make a decision either way. Good luck.

 

Well i defiantly have a pretty good sense of wrenching and done my fair share of engine rebuilds, transmissions, and emergency repairs for other people's cars; however i've always trusted my car to other people. So I guess it could be worth me doing myself. Figured a case of beer and a weekend if all goes right.

As far as the 6spd swap, i do have a couple leads on some transmissions, and actually there is a nice step by step guide that TSW did a while back that give you a good idea of what is needed. Believe it or not looking at the MC vs MCS Clutch, FlyWheel, Pressure Plate, and Bearing, the MC is about 839, and the MCS is about 695. That alone was something i liked...

 

My TO bearing was about to self destruct and grenade the bell housing. Fortunately, this didn't happen as it was caught in time. I have seen the after effects of ball bearings destroying the bell housing and it isn't pretty. Major destruction and that part simply can not be welded back reliably.I had my very trusted independent MINI mechanic install the Valeo single mass flywheel clutch conversion. When he teared down the car, he found the TO to be nearing that point of self destruction. Fortunately the dual mass stock flywheel was still good and the clutch disk still had plenty of material left on it. No hotspots or blueing anywhere on these parts which is a very good sign.It took him 10 hours labor to do the job. The clutch kit itself was $595 with next day delivery and labor amounted to $850 which is not bad for having this PITA job done professionally and correctly the first time. He also replaced the rear main seal while there.The pedal effort is much softer than stock but I love it. The engagement point is about 1 inch off the floor. The car shifts better than new. And for being a single mass solid flywheel, the Valeo setup feels very similar in smoothness (NVH) to the OEM dual mass setup. cars accelerates quicker too and I also have noticed a slight improvement in MPG.Overall, and after 500 or so miles, I am a happy motorer. If you own a R53 S and the car sees mostly street driving, I highly recommend the Valeo single mass flywheel conversion as a very cost efficient aftermarket clutch replacement option.If your clutch pedal feels hard (Requiring extra effort to push down) and makes a rubbing/crunchy noise, suspect the TO as being about to fail. Don't wait. A grenaded bell housing is a costly after effect of a failed TO bearing.

 

If you are thinking of doing the 6spd Getrag conversion on your R50 MC and your MINI sees mostly street driving, I recommend the Valeo single mass flywheel conversion clutch kit. Way Motorsports carries it for $495 (or there abouts) plus shipping. I am loving mine!