Vehicle: 2008 MCS
Mileage: 49k

My wife bought this car about 8 months ago and it's a great little car, but recently we've been having some issues. The car ran fine, but threw a check engine light so I took it to a local shop, they said it was an emissions fault and a vacuum line on the turbo was loose; apparently they tightened it up and we got the car back. Unfortunately, when we got it back we started getting transmission issues.

It's definitely an intermittent problem, but it seems to be getting worse. We'll get really harsh downshifts occasionally, to the point where it feels like you're slamming on the brakes. The shift points also seem very erratic at times, particularly when you're in stop and go traffic. Took it back and they said it was a $1,000 to replace the output shaft speed sensor. Said no thanks, and got the car back.

It's been better for a while, but today the transmission light came on and it was clunking into D and R so I spent the better part of the morning reading a bunch of threads and poking around.

It seems like it could very well be the valve body, but I did go ahead and check the two connectors on the front of the tranny. The horizontal one seems fine, but the vertical one definitely has some corrosion. The wiring from the split to the vertical connector itself is not contained entirely so I'm kind of wondering it's just from water puddling in that connector, not the ATF fluid that seems to be more common.

From what I've read, everybody says the route to take is a new wiring harness and fix the atf leak. It doesn't really seem like ATF fluid, but it's so grimy it's hard to tell. My other issue is it looks like the connector itself has burned through a couple pins.


So I guess a few questions:

• Should those two pins exists?
• Do you think that connector could be the sole cause of all the symptoms?
• Do we need a new wiring harness?
• Think it's a valve body problem?
• Any recommendations on a good MINI shop in NoVA\DC Metro?

Thanks in advance!

 

Also, anybody have the full text of this TSB (couldn't find it in the sticky)? Seems to be relevant.

03000 POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
Bulletin No: SI-M-24-02-0
Date of Bulletin: 11/08/2008
Summary Description:
BMW(MINI): TRANSMISSION - VARIOUS EGS FAULTS CAUSED BY WIRING HARNESS DAMAGE. DIFFICULT TO ENGAGE THE D OR R GEARS FROM PARK POSITION; GEAR SHIFTS ARE EXTREMELY HARSH DURING DRIVE; INTERMITTENTLY THE TRANSMISSION WARNING LIGHT MAY BE DISP

 

It could be the harness causing your transmission problems. Or it could be some of the solenoids on the valve body itself. I'd say your best bet is to have it checked out by a MINI dealer so they can pinpoint the exact cause of the fault.

Does it feel like the car is banging into gear? And when you're driving, does it feel like the car is 'stuck' in what feels like 3rd gear?