My Cooper (5 speed) has 9200 miles and I took it for it'sfirst service a few weeks ago. Not long after when starting out in first gear it felt tlike the tires had slipped on something then caught. Didn't think much of it. Then it did it again and again. A day later I was trying to cross a busy street and so rev'd up the engine a little more and put in the clutch, as it started to catch there was a harsh bang and jerk from the wheels. I crossed and on the other side I did it again, and sure enough the higher the rpms the worse the banging and shuttering of the car. Feels like something is hitting the car inside. If i baby it, it drives fine, but as soon as I get aggressive it is terrible. Now even if I baby the clutch in but let the rpms in 1st gear go above 5000 the clutch starts to slip and the car shudders. Have an appointment on Wed at the dealer but it may not make it that long. I have had a number of sticks but this is the first time I have had this problem. I know what a slipping clutch feels like. This is more sticky than that. Anyone had this trouble on a MINI or anything else?

_________________
Mr. Bridger

BRG Cooper

 

 

Damon,

Sorry to hear about your MINI problem. From the problem that you have described I will not wait until Wednesday. I would take it straight in for service first thing Monday to have them diagnose it right away as it is unsafe to drive the car and it could cause more damage if you wait longer. The only good thing about this is it's under warranty. Better find out the problem now than after the warranty has expired. Good luck and keep us posted

_________________

<IMG SRC="https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...humb.jpg" >

 

I will post a follow up when I find out what it is. Thanks

 

Well, the car didn't make it past yesterday. Last night the clutch gave way. It started slipping more and more until within 30 miles it was gone and no matter what gear I shifted into there was nothing. I called the roadside assistance and had it towed to the Concord BMW dealer. Had to wait a hour for the truck. This morning they got to work on it. I went over and told them the whole story. They started to say that the clutch could be damaged from owner abuse and until they get it out the can't say. They also started in on the fact that I put Nology plug wires and a MINI-Madness air intake so they would have to talk with the service manager about the "modifications" to the car. I can see it now they are looking for a way out of the warranty repair. I drive the car like any other stick and sometimes I like to have a little fun, isn't that the point? I don't ride the clutch or abuse it. If it can't hold up to 9200 miles of driving I hate to see what else is going to break.

I had to fight them to give me a loaner car. I reasoned that I paid a $2000 dealer mark-up, $4000 for 17" wheels and tires, running lights, stripes, boot cargo holder etc. The alternator pulley bearings went out at 3000 miles and I had to make 4 trips to the dealer to get it sorted out and a new alternator. The switch for the running lights was defective when they put it in and now I've been stranded by the side of the road after 8 months with a new car. My Alfa Romeo that I gave up was less trouble than this and that is pretty sad so the least they could do on a holiday weekend is dig into their profits and pay for a rental. I now have a GMC pickup. Hows that for a change?

 

MINIUSA should monitor this board and
address problems directly. :evil:

 

Dealer called on Sat afternoon. Since this is the first MINI where they have to tear apart the transmission/clutch, they didn't get it out to see what is wrong. Isn't a clutch job usually a few hours? The tech is off Mon. & Tues so they won't get into it till Wed. Still need to find out what is wrong, order parts and put in and MAYBE back to me on Sat. over a week, MAYBE! This car is quickly losing it's place in my heart. It is fun and great looking but has been more trouble than my 1994 Alfa Romeo 164LS!

 

Anyone know if the S and the Cooper have the same clutch?
I know the SHOs had clutch problems early on...

 

Mini's service is pretty poor as far as I have seen. Long parts ordering times, or they ordered it but it's no longer here?? That was the excuse I received this weekend after a 200 mile roundtrip for service. I will part with my Mini this summer. There is only so much abuse I will take from a dealer. I will buy a used Nissan and fix it myself again. :evil: :evil:

 

I too had my idler pulley bearing go bad, but not the transmission / clutch problem yet. This scares me !!! I have 12K miles on mine as of today and I just ordered the cold air intake for the MCS

As of 12K miles:
Idler Pulley Bearing
Water Tank (Twice)
Front left wheel bearing
steering rack bearing

Uh Oh.

I agree, Mini Service is understaffed, slow, and generally very painful.

Kesh MCS

 

Damon,
You write a very glowing review of Concord MINI in the Dealer Ratings. Maybe you should update that in case the Concord GM checks it.

 

Also that doesn't sound like a clutch.....

That sounds like your tranny thrust bearing got fried. If the thrust bearing fails it usually shatters like shrapnel and the car won't do anything. I had this happen in my VW GTI and it actually smashed a hole in the side of the transmission casing.

Good Luck, please keep us updated. I am very anxious to know the outcome.

Kesh MCS
Kesh420@yahoo.com

 

What causes the thrust bearing to fry? I noticed that the original 15" wheels and Continental tires would spin easy if too aggressive with the throttle and clutch. The 17" wheels and Pirellis do not spin at all so is the clutch taking the brunt of the force instead of dispersing it through the tires. I don't have DSC to keep it in check when I get frisky. I of course don't go around spinning the tires all the time but sometimes on a hill or a when a speedy acceleration is needed you have to get a little sggressive to get the Cooper moving. I can't imagine that the clutch is so flimsy that this causes a failure. Any thoughts?

 

From all the complaints about MINI service it sounds like they were in such an all-fired hurry to get these cars out in the market they didn't bother to make sure they could support them all. Unfortunately the dealer wants to get the cars out the door as fast as they come in and worry about the repairs "when the time comes".

 

>>As of 12K miles:
>>Idler Pulley Bearing
>>Water Tank (Twice)
>>Front left wheel bearing
>>steering rack bearing
>>
>>Uh Oh.
>>
>>I agree, Mini Service is understaffed, slow, and generally very painful.
>>
>>Kesh

2 coolant tanks? The second one still has the seam?
I have been putting this off...but if it is the same tank
maybe I just need some friggin' duct tape. :evil:
And I assume you mean coolant tank or is there something
else I need to worry about.....

 

Damon

In this case I would say a defect. My VW fried after 95K miles of abuse on the stock tranny after several mods inlcuding a high lift, low duration performance camshaft. The car would seem to "slip" then catch with a shudder or jolt like the clutch was shuddering, then go. After about 50mi it quit with a large bang.

Your Mini should not do this at this low mileage almost regardless of how you drive. Also the small HP increase from your intake is not so large that it would cause this devastating failure, be it clutch or thrust bearing.

I am suprised that silly things like pulley bearings are failing these highly engineered cars. I hope yours is truly an anomaly and not the norm like many of the other faults. I am now scared as most of my miles have been on the highway from Atlanta to Tampa...9K hwy miles low wear on the tranny, wonder what's next !

I hope MiniUSA addresses this forum and our concerns.

PS: Did your coolant tank leak ? Have your dealer check while it's in the shop.

 

2Mini's.......

Yep Coolant Tank. I'm on the 3rd one so far ! Takes one day in the shop and no loaner to go back & forth from dealer to work, not the most convenient issue.

Get it done, eventually you will loose pressure and the car will overheat or shut down, depending on your software version.

Kesh MCS

 

>>I hope MiniUSA addresses this forum and our concerns.
>>
>>PS: Did your coolant tank leak ? Have your dealer check while it's in the shop.

Ditto on miniusa. Ditto on the coolant tank.

 

Damon,

Please tell us which Mini you have an also your options.

Is it a MCS ?

I assume a Cooper since you have a 5-speed not 6-speed

Coolant Tank issue is prevailent on the Cooper S, I don't know about the Non-S's

OPINION:
MINI NEEDS TO GIVE LOANERS FOR WARRANTY ISSUES.
DISCOUNT THE INVOICE PRICE OF NEW MINI's TO THE DEALER AND USE THEIR EXISTING COURTESY CARS FOR WARRANTY ISSUES.
SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE... FIND YOUR OWN RIDE !!!

Kesh420@yahoo.com
MCS EB/W Driving Lights. Bone stock right now

 

>>Damon,
>>
>>Please tell us which Mini you have an also your options.
>>
>>Is it a MCS ?
>>
>>I assume a Cooper since you have a 5-speed not 6-speed
>>
>>Coolant Tank issue is prevailent on the Cooper S, I don't know about the Non-S's
>>
>>OPINION:
>>MINI NEEDS TO GIVE LOANERS FOR WARRANTY ISSUES.
>>DISCOUNT THE INVOICE PRICE OF NEW MINI's TO THE DEALER AND USE THEIR EXISTING COURTESY CARS FOR WARRANTY ISSUES.
>>SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE... FIND YOUR OWN RIDE !!!
>>
>>Kesh420@yahoo.com
>>MCS EB/W Driving Lights. Bone stock right now
>>
>>

I have to start saying off that I love my MINI, and I don't think that even having serious problems with it will cause me to change my mind. One thing that all of us need to remember is that this is not only a new car, but it's an entirely new model from the ground up. This isn't a new PT Cruiser body that they dropped on a set of Neon running gear. For some points I'll actually stick up for the dealers.

Concerning loaner cars, I don't blame MINI for not giving everyone a new MINI to drive around when their car is getting worked on. They can't build them fast enough to prevent 6 month waits for new cars, so why hand then out for free and then sell them used in a couple of months. Chevy didn't hand me a new Blazer when mine was being worked on. At least they got me a rental. My MINI dealer (Rasmussen MINI in Portland) told me not to expect a MINI loaner, but I would get a rental. That's good enough for me.

Concerning the shortage of parts at the dealers, that's the way all new cars are. My friends got a new 2002 Audi A4 when they came out. When a drunk hit them a month later they had to wait WEEKS until the parts came from Europe because it was a brand new body style (just like the MINI) and manufacturing couldn't keep up with the demand yet. Oh, my friends didn't get a new loaner A4 either, they got a Suzuki Grand Vitara for 2 months! Try a $500 a month Audi payment when you're driving a rental 'Zuki!

I'm not worried about MINI getting things put together. Yes, they might be having some teething problems now, but no manufacturer ever puts out a brand new model (designed from the ground up) without a few problems. I think BMW will take the time to make things right.

Just my $.02 worth.

Let's Motor!

 

To Jimmer,

Very true. It is a brand new model. I want my Mini to be perfect and I never want to be without it. I'm a little nutty about Coop as we probably all are.

It's good to have all opinions and perspectives voiced.

Kesh

 

I agree with the new car issues and I did get a rental after having a heart to heart with the service manager. I also knew that there could be problems with a first year car but I didn't buy a new car to have to go to the dealer on an average once a month and to be broke down on the side of the road and have to have it towed. Perhaps in ther effort to keep the MINI inexpensive there are going to be too many parts that fail because of the lowered standard of quality. pulley bearings, coolant tanks, boot latches, trust bearings have all been around for quite a while so there isn't any excuse for having a bunch of them failing so early. Could it be too good to be true?

I love the MINI and I hope this is the last major problem I have so that I can have lots of good motoring.

 

Our Tahoe does a similar thing, but its undrivable now... but its problem is the transfer cae... and your MINI obviously isn't 4wd... so I dunno what to tell you besides STOP DRIVING IT IMMEDIATELY, you don't want to cause further hidden damage. Your warranty should cover everything.

 

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>>I HAVE READ WITH GREAT INTEREST ALL OF THE STORIES OF THE CLUTCH PROBLEM,
>>ETC. I HAVE OWNED MY MINI FOR 3 WEEKS. YOU HAVE ME WORRIED, AS I AM
>>4 HRS. FROM NEAREST DEALERSHIP. MY QUESTION? IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE
>>WHO HAS AT LEAST 15,000 MILES ON THEIR MINI WITH NO PROBLEMS. PLEASE
>>REPLY. THIS IS IMPORTANT.


Drive your car for 15K miles. Find out for yourself.