Since around 45k miles, my transmission has become noisy. It sounds like a toy car where you can hear the gears winding up, more so when down shifting. The last time i had my car in for service, I mentioned this and they checked something, and pretty much blew it off. Now, the noise has gotten progressively louder, and the clutch began slipping.

The first time, i thought that possibly, the tranny fluid was low, and mentioned that to the service consultant. His response was that it was lifetime fluid, and never had to be changed/filled. My thought was, 'if you say so...you fix it if something breaks.' Now that the tranny is definately making loud noise, it sounds as if the main synchros are failing. I plan to call to make an appointment to have it looked at tomorrow morning.

Has anyone else experienced this? And I believe the clutch is covered under the 50k warranty, anyone know this for sure?

Thanks,
Matt

 

I am with you on this - I have read several postings from Atlanta MINI owners plus others in the US that have had their MC 02 and MC 03 trannies replaced under the 50K powertrain warranty. I have asked about it as I am having trouble getting into reverse. My service advisor agrees that closer to 45K ( I am now at 40K) he and his technician will evaluate the situation and possibly side with me and install a newer 5-speed tranny, possibly a Getrag. But he cannot guarantee it. If it happens I hope it happens this way - because I plan to keep my MINI for a long time.