Well I started the car this morning,and the same bad tranny noise was back when I let out the clutch,backed up the car a few feet,tranny fluid on the ground.So I drove straight to the dealer,takes me an hour to get into the city,got to the dealer just as they were opening for the day.Once again the tech pushed back other cars and took mine in.He was not impressed that the
"New Improved" seal would let go after only 4 days,and it was not that cold.
Get the car up in the air,pull it apart and discover that the reused retaining clip for the axle was bad,letting fluid leak out.The service bulliten for changing the seal said nothing about changing the retaining clip.It seems MINI only says to change the clip went swapping out the tranny or putting in a new axle.Seems MINI blew it on that one.Looks like that clip needs to be changed every time the axle is removed.Got another new seal installed,and a NEW retaining clip.Took 45 minutes in and out of there.
At 3 grand a pop for for a new tranny,one would think they would think this through.The seal is worth $35 the retaining clip can not be worth much,and less than an hour labour,no wonder these cars cost so much up here
Will keep you updated once the new tranny is done.

 

By your description, it sounds like the MINI tech should have used his brains, not followed the bulletin to the letter, and replaced the clip ...

 

My tech has had to do more of these seals than most,this is the first clip to fail after reuse,and most folks run the car till the tranny is dry before they notice a problem,so they get a new clip.Or they don't put the daily miles on their car like I do and listen to the car for 3+ hours a day.
I live in conditions that are as extreme or more so than winter testing is done,and my tech has proved to MINI CA that their fixes are wrong on a few issues.This will be one more.
I see this as a minor set back,what do they know about COLD in England