Car was acting up last few weeks slowly got worse until it finally gave up. At first it wasn't shifting smoothly and a couple times got stuck in 3rd gear and yellow gear light with ! came on. If I pulled over turn off engine and start no more light and not stuck in gear. Today it slammed into park but gear selector still in drive. Going about 25 mph and car come to screeching halt. Check engine light lit up. Also trip computer said "cruise control failure." Might have a flat spot on tires. I went through the forums and it appears changing transmission fluid helps. But I'm wondering what the heck happened when it slammed into park? Did that damage or beyond repair? Anybody have this happen?
Also how do I know if it needs a $$$$ valve body or just fresh fluid. One last question. Does 2008 r56 have a filter or not? I've got conflicting information on that. My online oem parts supplier shows it has a screen which is generally not replaced.

 

There is no true filter, just a screen on the inlet. There is a good chance that there is some damage done on your car, but changing the fluid cannot hurt as long as it is still operational. On my car, one bolt on the pan was difficult to get out. dropping the pan showed me lots of sparkly pieces (looked like I was gold mining...), and pulling the strainer released more fluid.

I used synthetic fluid, and the trans does shift smoother and more consistent now.

In hind sight, you probably should have changed the fluid at the first sign of a problem. See the How-To section, there are a couple different threads there.

Have fun,
Mike

 

How many miles are on your car? I've heard of people getting the transmission rebuilt but I would take it to someone with knowledge on MINI's.

What kind of fluid did you use?

 

I used Redline (D4, IIRC), but others have said that they used Amsoil. The transmission uses Toyota fluid, other threads show what the important spec to look for on the fluid.

Mike

 

My 2007 R56 started doing similar things a couple weeks ago. I also had a couple instances of the yellow "Transmission Malfunction -- Still Drivable" warning light, with the car being unable to shift past 3rd.

I took the car in to the dealer and they replaced the transmission wiring harness and found some engine oil in the transmission fluid that indicated a valve cover leak. I took that as my cue to put down an order on a new car, hoping that I could make the R56 last until my new hardtop was built and shipped.

Sadly the wiring harness didn't fix the issue, and a couple weeks after the first repair I had the same yellow warning light, no shifts past 3rd gear, but this time accompanied with the wonderful smell of burning transmission fluid if I idled for too long.

Long story short, looks like the transmission needs to be replaced and I'm in a loaner car until my new one arrives in November. So far the dealership has been really great but the whole situation is pretty frustrating.

 

What was the final solution? Did you ever get it fixed