Hi everyone, I have an '05 Mini Cooper S with the automatic transmission. It has about 110K miles and I have some trouble when it shifts into 2nd gear in the standard drive mode. Here's what I notice and would greatly appreciate any help I can get:

1. When shifting into 2nd gear in standard drive mode, the car will often stutter/jolt from 1st to 2nd.

2. Occurs more often from a cold start; after the car has been driven for 20 to 30 minutes on the highway to work it becomes less noticeable.

3. Have taken the car to a Mini dealership and they didn't find any faults with the transmission and aren't sure what the issue is.

4. The dealership also checked the transmission fluid and saw that the levels were good and the fluid didn't need to be flushed.

5. Dealership did an ECU reset and it seemed to drive fine on the way home. But the next day the same issue came back.

Not sure what other info I can give. I've searched through these forums before but didn't really find an answer to my issue. I've heard that an ECU update could help but the dealership didn't know the version I had in my car because they said it was an earlier model.

Again, any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

Search the forum for "automatic transmission slip" and you should find some results.

We have a 05 MCS (86,000 miles on the clock) with auto and have experienced a similar condition. Ours has the harsh shift after the transmission is warmed up after 20-30 minutes. 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd and sometimes 3rd to 4th. and including down shifts. The harsh shift was not as noticeable when cold but you could still feel it at time. Having the valve body replaced and software update done. Having ours done at an independent that works on BMW and Mini's only. This seems to be an issue on the 05-06 Mini's. Have read where some have changed fluid with good results.

Don't believe the dealer, transmission fluid should be changed prior to 100,000 miles and maybe even sooner. We drive BMW and Mini cars and I do not believe in the "Life Time Fluid for a transmission. Find an independent in your area that specializes on Mini's and get input from them. You may want to consider having the fluid and filter changed first to see if that helps.