So I had to have my 09 MCS with 46500 miles towed in on Friday. Thursday evening I am driving across town, 15 miles at most, and my clutch pedal suddenly feels light and the clutch starts slipping. I'm in rush hour traffic on a road with no shoulder so I can't just pull over. I get to my destination and the clutch smells horrible. I pull in to a parking spot to let it cool. 20 mins later I get in and push on the pedal and it drops to the floor and will not come up. Put the trans in nuetral and start the car. No clutch pedal and won't go into gear. Friday morning I call roadside and they tow it in. I get the call from the service advisor today that the friction material on the pressure plate side of the clutch disc is shattered but the material on the flywheel side is worn but not so far to be down to the rivets or warrant a new clutch had the other side been the same. He then tells me that this is not a warranty issue and I will be out of pocket $2000. Now I'm pretty familiar with how a clutch works and I thought that the disc should wear the same on both sides. I am wrong in this thinking. I also would think that even with the friction plate busted that the clutch pedal should still move properly.
I really need some advice and clarification if possible because I feel like the dealership is trying to stick it to me. Oh and btw, the car was just there tuesday for the recall where the tech and myself drove the car to investigate a clattery sound. When i brought this up to the SA he said that he had spoken to the tech about that and he had stated that the clutch was working fine at that time.

 

The clutch diaphragm spring is probably busted somewhere too and that's why your pedal isn't springing back. The clutches on R56 cars are kind of hit and with respect to quality, at least from judging from other NAM'ers experiences here.

The clattering sound was probably an early warning of something brewing. It's kind of shocking what some SAs consider to be normal sounds with the MINI. Yea the engine makes a lot of racket on cold start ups but clattering is never a good thing. I really think this was the early warning sign that a big clutch failure was imminent. This is the time to repeatedly bring this fact up to the dealer's management. You're still under warranty and when a clutch is operated like it's meant to be, they should not be failing this early. There really is no excuse. Keep putting pressure on them but don't lose your cool. If you can't make any forward progress it's time to talk to another dealer.

 

I'm hoping to talk with them again this afternoon. I have brought up the fact that the car was just there on Tuesday with me asking about a sound they they claim is normal and now the clutch is gone but the SA keeps saying "yeah but the clutch disc isn't covered under regular warranty. If you had the maintenance agreement it would be covered under that." Clutches don't just go out like that from normal wear.
And again, is it normal for one side of the disc to wear out before the other?

 

Unfortunately some dealers will do everything they can to make you pay for the clutch. You just have to be very firm with them and call MINI USA if needed (not that they are much help usually)

Check your users manual and see what the warranty statement says. I doubt you will find the warranty removes the clutch from being warrantied.

It also sounds like you have a few other problems besides just the clutch plate. So be firm with them and get a lawyer if they wont fix it.

 

Well so far I have spoken with the SA and the Service Manager. I expressed my thoughts to both of them that I would completely understand if the clutch was wearing evenly and was just worn down that I would need to pay but this is not normal wear. He then implied that I had to be abusing the clutch for this to happen. I quickly assured him that I did not in anyway abuse my car and that the MINI was just one of 10 manual trans cars I have owned and the first to ever require a new clutch. The SM finally agreed to get ahold of a rep from MINI USA to ask for a goodwill i could tell by his tone that he was not going to put much effort into it. Less than an hour later I get a call back from the SA that the SM had told him to tell me that my warranty request was denied. Does MINI really work that fast? I know a request to Honda for warranty consideration takes days.

 

The cluth is a maintenance and wearable part like the brakes and is usually never covered after 12000 miles or 1 year.

 

I do get the point of the OP, however.

It isn't as if the clutch wore out: drove "a while", then it started slipping, was disassembled, found that the clutch disc surface material was worn away, i.e. it "wore out".

The symptoms here are not that, but instead, a rapid, sudden failure (with a sound track, even).

An analogy: brakes. So brake pads are a wear item, they wear out: the friction material gradually wears away to the point where sensors flash / gets thin after so many miles. However: a sudden brake failure, due to a master cylinder hydaulic failure, a brake caliper coming apart due to a casting flaw, etc. would be something to ask about under a manufacturer's warranty against failing parts (not due to wear). Or so I'd think.

Staying tuned, as another late model R56 interested party...

 

Nearly 50,000 miles on clutch is ok for a high hp performance car....for a lower hp car, it would be terrible...generaly the more hp, the shorter the clutch life, even when driven nice.
The uneven wear is a bit odd, but unless you can attritubute it to a broken spring in the clutch pack, and then contend it was a factory defect, and not abuse related, i think you are paying for a clutch. Look at it this way...clutches on a stick are cheap compared to getting auto trannys rebuilt....just a cost of car ownership....thing that sucks is a non dealer would cost so much less $$$.

 

The dealer does not make the ultimate decision as to whether it is covered or not. They go by past experience and written guidelines from MINI who warrants and pays. It is to their advantage for the repair to be covered. They are guaranteed the job, paid for the repair, and have a happy customer going forward for repeat business.

The fact that the dealer looked at your clutch only "days" before the failure is a moot point. If the clutch is worn, that wear certainly did not happen all at once and cause the failure. It was cumulative and only disassembling would have discovered the future failure. A long term wear pattern would still have been factual.

The pressure plate being worn on only one side is also a moot point. Unless you can prove this was caused by a mechanical failure of a specific part and not driving habits, it is still a part subject to normal wear and tear and maintenance.

Nobody wants to pay $2,000 to have a repair done on any car. The fact that it is relatively new and still under some form of warranty makes it even harder to accept. On the other hand, think of how many clutches MINI looks at and the fact that some last reportedly 150,000 miles and others fail in less than 10,000. If you were making the decision, you would have to assume they were all manufactured the same and the only variable would be usage. Unless you can demonstrate some mechanical failure causing the problem, you seem destined to pay for a new clutch. Perhaps a personal appeal to MINI in writing could result in a good will assistance of some amount.

 

Jallen4 I have accepted the fact that even though the car is under warranty the clutch is a wear item and not covered under warranty. At this point I have in a claim with MINI USA asking for some form of goodwill assistance. I expressed to them that I am a person that is brand loyal. This is my first MINI but will not be my last. I owned only Honda for the past 13 years until they lost sight of who they used to be. Now i'm hoping to do the same with MINI. I can only hope now that they show a little mercy.

 

Be sure to point out to the dealer that if you were aware that it was not a covered warrenty item, you might have brought it someplace more "convient" , ie a lower labour rate, typically about 40-60% lower to save some big $$...they might discount the labour a bit.

 

I got my call back from MINI USA today. According to the customer service rep they cannot offer me any goodwill assistance based on what the dealership service manager reported to them and because he has researched the issue and there have not been enough complaints or reports concerning clutch issues. REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

I'd bring up the Valeo technical service bulletin that was published because of improperly manufactured flywheel:
* http://www.valeoservice.com/data/mas...78.pdf?rnd=102

- Erik

 

I don't really know if it will do me any good to site this because according to the service manager at the dealership there was nothing wrong with the clutch or flywheel. My clutch failed because of abuse. Thats what he told me and MINI USA. Nevermind the fact that the SA already told me that the tech that had driven it 2 days earlier said there was nothing wrong with the clutch then. I assured the customer service manager at MINI that I certainly did not abuse the car and that it pissed me off that the service manager would just assume that. The CSM said that unfortunately they have to base their decision on what the service manager reports. It really pisses me off because the dealership SM is talking out of his *** and that has kept me from potentially getting a little financial assistance that I sure could use about now.

 

I am really sorry that you are going through this.
It strikes me more and more as I read this and other forums that the dealership is the key to cooperation from MINI USA. If your dealer goes to bat for you MINI seems more likely to go along with their recommendation. If your dealer doesn't support you, neither will MINI USA. Why a dealer would alienate a customer is beyond me. They lose not only that customer, but their reputation suffers as well.
Since the SA told you that the clutch would have been replaced under the maintenance plan had you extended it then he must not have thought that you abused the car. I have heard that they will deny claims for cars under the maintenance warranty if the problem was caused by owner abuse or neglect. If they would have replaced it under the extended maintenance warranty then it seems that they could have tried to work out a goodwill repair of some sort, even if they didn't pick up the entire cost of the replacement.
Have you spoken to the GM at the dealership?
That's one person who should be interested in maintaining a good relationship with a brand loyal MINI customer.
I am very grateful for my dealership and the service that I receive from them.

 

Thanks for the advice to contact the GM of the dealership LittleWing. All I had to do was leave a voicemail asking for a call back to discuss a current service issue and within an hour the other service manger (BMW) called asking for details and how he could assist. I mearly told him I was requesting some goodwill assistance with my payment and that the other SM was in no way helpful. Within 30 mins he had cut my bill from $2005 to $690.
I drove the car home and noticed a slight shudder at takeoff Friday night. Got home and couldn't back up the driveway because of so much shudder and chatter. Took it in today for diagnosis and was told I need a new flywheel. Even though the current one looks good it must have some play in it. The SA said they are covering the cost completely. I'm amazed and thrilled. It's awesome what a little polite persistance can accomplish.

 

Nice, that's good news! Glad the dealership stepped up to help you out. Don't forget to add them to your christmas card list!

 

Excellent news!
Thank you for the update.

 

Just got the car back last night and it drives beautifully again. No more shudder or chatter. New flywheel fixed it. I'm in love again. LOL

 

I would venture to guess that most of the time a car that goes through a clutch that quick is driver related. It probably does not matter if its a high performance car or a Yugo, a wear item is a wear item and if the clutch is not used correctly its going to wear faster. Its as if a car were to be driven around with the brakes partially applied and not expect them to wear out faster....

 

Hmmm... Sounds like a DMF failure.

"Valeo Service warranty department receive clutches returned for a warranty claim clearly exhibiting evidence the failure of the clutch is not attributable to a manufacturing defect, but as a direct result of a faulty Dual Mass Flywheel. A failed DMF will cause rapid and severe wear to the clutch drive plate, and in some cases a drive plate failure could occur."

 

I feel your pain my clutch started showing signs the other day. Thought to myself to go to the shop to get it checked out this weekend, well other night on the highway went to pass car and engine revved but nothing. Was able to get pulled over safely but had the tell tale burnt clutch smell, but did have full pedal. Hopefully the news is ots only the clutch. My MCS has just over 52K on it. at least I know Im not the only one at that mileage. Since I'm out of warranty I had mine towed to local Performance shop Oxspeed.

 

When I got my 2010 in 2010, the INSKIP sales manager said, "Mini will give you one clutch." With a DMF, it is ridiculous that they did not replace the flywheel when they initially replaced the driven disc and PP.

DOC

 

I am on my way to the repair shop to see what is left of my old clutch. My MCS has 52k on it and supposedly there is nothing left of the friction plates will post pics.