My 2002 MINI has been making a tractor like noise for a month or two and I finally got it into the dealership- one drive around the block with the shop forman confirmed that I will most likely need a new tranny.

Which is only sort of bad news.

First off its totally covered- so that rules.

Also- My car is a 2002 and so has the first gen trans.

My question is this... do you think they will grandfather it into one of the new getrag boxes- which are now standard on the cooper?

Thoughts on this? Does the new design just bolt right on or are there any major differences I should be aware of?

Thanks!

 

Nope,at least not up here in Canada.Waiting for my new tranny to come in,and it will be a Midlands.Bad seal,extreme cold issue with the seals,new seals are better they say.Got my car to the dealer before I lost to much tranny oil,but the tranny was full of fillings,so I get a new one.

 

Oh man- I hope yer wrong (but I have a feeling yer not)

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed , guess I'll have to wait and see- maybe I'll get some more info from the dealer tommorow

-S

 

IF you get one of the newer transmissions I think Im going to have to find a way to break my transmission without being blamed for it so I can get one of the '05 transmissions

 

My guess... There'll be a rebuilt Midlands coming your way...

 

Hey...sorry but I have a friend who has an '04 and they wouldn't do it for him...he even is an MA...LOL...still no dice...If they do it...lemme know...I'll be heading your way...LOL

 

Well I guess we could get a buyers group together.

 

Talked to the dealer last night- he said they are going to replace the transmission - under warranty (which is cool)

I asked him which model tranny was going in he said it was made by:

"Etrik" or "Etrak" or "Etrag"(no idea how to spell) - anyone ever heard of this?

Any chance he was mispronouncing Getrag - I'm confused

Thoughts on this?

(Good news is that in the meantime I get to keep the new 5 Series loaner through the weekend )

 

Ill put $50 that he doesnt know how to pronounce getrag!

 

Well seeing as there are Midlands and Getrags available, the "Etrak" sounds lots closer to Getrag than does Midland. Still it could be a hearing issue, best to confirm.

That would be great for you to get the updated 'box under warranty. Hmmm, wonder if I could get the '05 updated gear ratios for my '03?

 

Just talked to the dealer again- he said that it definitley will not be the Getrag box- as the mating points to the engine are different and so not compatible-

He's going to look into it and get back to me- now I'm really confused
-S

 

Uh, if it's the same engine, how is it that the mating points are different? Sounds like he's full of crap.

 

yeah i dunno- I know this guy pretty well so I would doubt he's trying to snow me- I'll wait to hear back though- at least it'll be free

Told him i wanted to know the manufacturer for my records

 

This is turning out to be a much bigger mess than it needs to be

 

nah- only a mess because I'm a curious pest - they are actually doing a pretty good job so far (just wish they knew more about the parts they are installing)

I'm sure most customers wouldn't want to know what I'm trying to find out.

 

true

 

Has something to do with the same reason we can't bolt the S 6 spd. Same engine, different mounting/mating points--if I recall, different output shaft or similar..., the differences were posted a while back (Someone wanted to swap the 6spd for the 5spd... ).

I betcha the the new 5spd and current/older 6spd Getrags are interchangeable.

 

Still have not gotten my new tranny,next week,it's in but I have no time.
The old tranny seems fine after getting the new kind of seal,a month ago.They flushed the tranny,and it has been -45F here since.Now the shavings that were stuck on the magnetic plugs was scary to see,but the old box is hanging in there.
It would be nice to get a Getrags for the gearing,but except for this seal issue,I have no problem with the Midlands.Third gear,6000RPM ,70MPH and still heading to bounce,priceless:smile:

 

Ok- I know you've all been waiting on pins and needles to hear what happened when I went to pick up the MINI from the dealer today...

Interesting story actually-

I got a call Friday evening that the car would most likely be done on Monday- The service rep- also wanted to let me know that while the techs had the car apart (transmission pulled out) they thought it might be a convenient time to replace my clutch.

Here's how that went on Friday evening:

dealer rep: "Hey Steve- the techs took a look at yer clutch and we thought it might be a convenient time to replace it- what do you think?"

me: "Um...is it free?"

dealer rep: "No- we could do it for about $400, which is a great deal actually because you are getting the labor pretty much for free since we already have the tranny out under warranty..."

me: "Is the clutch bad?

dealer rep: "no- not really, this would be more of a pre-emptive repair- for peace of mind"

me: "yeah thats what I thought- no let's hold off on the clutch- just do the tranny- thanks.

dealer rep: "Ok just wanted to ask- Talk to you on Monday"

So that seemed pretty straight forward to me- I'm not exactly hemmoraging extra cash right now so - While he made some sense, when presented with the option I respectfully declined. Seemed simple enough to me.

Here's what went down Monday evening:

dealer rep: "Hey Steve car's all done- one slight problem..."

me: "um...what happened?"

dealer rep: "Well the tech looked at the clutch again and said that it was actually worse than he thought- so he just put in a new one..."

me: "um...ok..thanks?"

dealer rep: "So I know we didnt ask your permission, so technically you aren't responsible for it- but we can cut you a great deal on it- give it to you at cost for around $210 -which is what we paid for it- and the labor would be free...

me: "Um...so even though I told you not to replace the clutch- you put a new one in anyway?"

dealer rep: "Yeah we thought we would save you the trouble of coming back and having it cost $1200- this really is a great deal"

me: "but the car is all done now and I can come pick it up tommorow morning?"

dealer rep: "yep all done"

me: "see you at 7:30- let the service manager know I'd like a word with him when I arrive"

So I went there early today- arrived at 8am and was greeted with smiles all around and shown a destroyed clutch in a box (that supposedly came out of my car- it could have but there's no way to tell).

The rep explained again what a great deal i was getting on the clutch and what a favor they did for me. He sounded sincere. I listened attentivley.

When he was finished I told him that while i had their loaner car I had installed Nitrous and a Short Shift Kit as a favor but that it was only going to cost them $1000. We both laughed.

Then I asked to see the service manager.

I usually deal with the service manager anyway- so we know eachother and he's a really good guy. He told me that he had only heard about this clutch business for the first time today. Even though I have a good history with this guy, I was sort of gearing up to make my case for not paying for the clutch and didn't expect to have an easy time of it.

That's when I had the best surprise of all. I told him about Fridays phone call in which i declined the replacement clutch. That was it- he said "End of story- have a great day."

And that's how you do business.

Granted it was a mistake on their part, I did benefit from it in the end. But they handled it in such a way that put be back at ease and let me know that they weren't trying to pull a fast one and that it was just an honest mistake.

I'll certainly take my car there again and they have retained my business.

Oh! and the icing on the cake is that before I left I asked one more time about which tranny was put in the car- this time the answer came back "Getrag" - and they gave me the part # on my reciept.

123-00-7-520-071 - so if anyone knows where I can look up that number to verify - that info would be appreciated.

The car feels brand new and is running quiet and awesome again.

And that friends- is my story.

If anyone is interested in knowing which dealership I was dealing with drop me a pm. They get my endorsement.

 

u should call up classic and see what kinda part it was for the part number.. im sure they can answer your question

 

Good to see a dealer do the right thing...:smile:

 

My MC goes in for a new tranny tomorrow.
Will let you know how it goes.
The major surgery is scary

 

Now one of two things are going here . As for the person who told you that said they can't put a 6 speed on a 5 spd cooper they are either lying because they dont want to to the job or just don't know what they are talking about. Steve's Auto Clinic 818 891 6109 installed one last month and the car is running fine.

 

I hope the surgery goes well, and that your MINI comes back home better than new!

 

Well I took Poco in today for the tranny,and new outside door handles,and some door rattle/buzz noises,and a new block heater,and a coolant leak.Well the coolant leak was a bad water pump.So I get the car back tomorrow.
But they did give me a X3,nice car/suv.But I feel like I'm driving a bus,and that I may topple over,even stoppedAnd way to many buttons for my taste,but I have been pushing them all to see what they do