I thgouht i'd throw out my own theoretical question for you all..
Would it be possibel to change out the cvt tranny for a manual? and for that matter could you shoe horn another engine and tranny, form an s or a 5-speed coopa? I knwo the S is slightly different form the cooper under teh hood... but hey worth asking adn seeign if anyoen has done it. I initially bought acvt mini becasue a 2 hour commute in stop and go traffic killed me in my wife manual, so I went automatic, however now that i'm moving I was thinkign abtou how much a conversion to a manual would cost?

 

Might be cheaper to just buy a new MINI

 

Probably more than it would cost to trade in your CVT on a new 6spd S. Defanitly more if you take future resale value into account.

 

well you'd think that, but I have one major factor screwingme.. the car has been in an accident, and even tho they have repaired to a workignorder better thanit was BEFORE the accident, it was just a rear quaterpanel,, with over 10k of work done by mini techs. The car is goign to be a hard sell, I'd only break even selling to an individual, I would do it to break even but I don't think I can, and even if I did i'd be hardpressed to be able to afford a new S. My '03 cvt was 23k to start with. See my dilema? I love my car, and I love ownign a mini, I would want to get another one, I just couldn't afford it, if I broke even on my car, but all money aside, is it even possible?

 

It would most likely be rather cost prohibitive, the tranny alone (basing it on a MINI MANIA 6-speed tranny) is $3000, plus install and modification to interior and undercariage.


Would be better to trade in and buy a manual!

 

Sure it's possible. Anything is possible with enough time and money.

I would guess it would cost at least $3k to get a 5spd in your car, but probably closer to twice as much. That would be finding a used 5spd and associated parts for dirt cheap, and findning a friend to install it for you for something less than a shop rate. Sounds like alot of time, money and hassle that isn't worth the trouble when you could probably sell your car, and take that 3k and get yourself a used manual Mini that hasn't been in an accident.

 

If I was going to drop that kind of cash I'd find a wrecked SRT-4 and drop the engine/tranny in the mini. Theoretically, at least, it should work. You could the sell your engine/tranny.

 

Keep in mind that not only are you spending the money for the tranny you have to consider the cost for the interior rework and relocating the battery/electrical to the boot.

If youcan break even by selling it I would go for it as a new S shouldn't cost you any different from what you paid for your current MC. I paid $24,800 for my loaded (no nav and no leather) 05' MCS so I am sure you could get a new MCS minus a few little features for the $23K you paid for the first one!

Good luck either way you go

 

I had a customer of mine ask me about this before. So I came up with a parts list try this.

5spd trans, both cv axles, engine wiring harness, clutch pedal assembly, lines, master cyl, slave cyl, shift cables, shift lever mech, clutch switch, rewire reverse lights, remove shift lock cable, theres other mis parts. The big problem is the EMS2000 programming would have to be changed to eliminate the shift program. Hope this helps, my cust. decided against it due to cost.

 

well maybe I can get my car on overhaulin... lol!! Yeah, but giving up my mini is like giving up a peice of artwork, It was the "exact" car I wanted color, interior,and everything, and I put 6k down on it to bring the price down,, thats 6k I wouldn't have anymore to put on a new one.. :( well still it was fun to think about... I knwo I shouldn't put too much pride and loving into my car, but I can't help it, this is the first of the umpteen cars I've owned that I totally purchased and customized and bought NEW on my own. theres a lto of sentiment there, hmm, well, guess I'll stick to what I've got..

 

Hey Chollomo you do you have one option if you plan on keeping the car awhile.

Start buying parts. You can find salvaged MINI's pretty cheap or just go to junk yards and start trying to pivkup the misc parts and when you get the majority of the parts like interior pieces and stuff then what will be left is the labor and some other stuff that may bring the price down considerably.

my 2 cents