i have had bmws since 1998, with no clutch replacement issues, and bmws have a rep for manual trannys that last a 100,00o easy.

whats with all threads about clutch replacement on the mini with pretty low mileage?

even my salesmen told me that cluth replacements at 70,000 miles on the Mini are common...

 

My original clutch went at 58,000 miles.

And yes, I see a lot of postings about clutches failing at some rediculous low mileage. 58k isn't too bad although I've had many, many clutches in other cars last over 100k.

Just changed one in my 95 Jeep because the transmission went out. The factory original clutch looked like it was only about half worn.

This is a weak spot for the Minis and one of about 3 or 4 things BMW should REALLY do something about.

 

The original clutch on my MC went out at 35,000 miles. WTF? I had to pay for it too, $1400 at the dealer. Hope my MCS has better luck.

 

There are a few things that can cause early clutch failure.

In bumper to bumper traffic, you could use the clutch to start the car moving 100 times in a mile. Living in L.A. or another big city is tough on a clutch. It is one of the reasons that I had automatic transmissions for 20 years.

When I first went to College I was surprised to find that my city friends went through brakes in 15K and clutches in 30K in urban traffic, when my suburban use would get 60K from brakes and 120k from a clutch.

If the slave cylinder hangs up, as was a problem on some MINI's, and the driver does not realize that the clutch is slipping, it can be destroyed farily quickly. Some of the "kids" use the clutch as a mechanical torque converter, that will destroy a clutch in a few minutes of abuse.

There is at least one post by a member that regularly tracks his car and he has lots of miles on his with no problem.

John

 

Wondering when mine is gonna go...got 65,000 miles, 66,000 by the time this weekend ends...it's all got me wondering. I'm finally replacing the original brakes after 3 years, our miles are mostly from long highway drives which has to be the reason they lasted so long. We'll see...I'm looking to go 100,000 on clutch, but doubt that's going to happen. till then, it's all smiles

James

 

My MCS is the first manual car I have ever owned and with all of this talk about the clutch wearing out, I'm wondering how will I be able to tell when it's time to get a new one?

 

You will know. It will feel different when you take off from a stop light. The speed of the engine won't match the speed of the car...

 

The "clutch" consists of a driven disc, the clutch plate squeezed between the flywheel and the pressure plate. When the disc wears down to the rivet heads, the disc surface is no longer tightly sqeezed and the clutch will slip under progressivly lighter loads.

If the clutch is slipping, the engine will rev but the car won't move out as fast. STOP pushing it, and gently drive it to a shop. You may be able to save the flywheel and pressure plate. The clutch plate is a wear part, just like brake pads, but the flywheel and pressure plate are expensive parts that do not need to be changed unless they have been scored, or scorched. The labor to get to the clutch is currently running around $1,400.

In my cars, there has always been a "shudder" as a worn clutch engaged which provided plenty of warning that it was time for a disc replacement.
I have a 1978 MINI that I am driving with a shudder in the clutch, and I don't plan to change it for a few thousand miles.

John

 

My stock clutch got a bad shudder when hot and a creaking noise when moving the pedal. Everyone said that I abused the clutch and wore the disc out, burnt it etc... When I took it out all the sufaces, disc, flywheel and plate looked brand new with no wear at the disc. The replacement after market disc was actually thinner than the one I took out. After 10k miles my after market clutch is juddering and feels like it's slipping and is starting to creak and have inconsistant pedal feel. The new set up has all different parts except for the pressure plate, that has the same number on it as stock.

I have never needed to replace a clutch in any of my cars until the mini including an e30 325 that had 250k and still worked like new.

I suspect the mini problem is related to the pressure plate. The search is now on for an alternative manufacturer before doing this job again.

 

I don't remember if I read it in the MINI or the Mini service manual, but if the drive straps on the pressure plate are not properly seated on the shoulders of the bolts, then the plate can be off center and will cause a shudder.

A sloppy pilot bearing will cause a nasty shudder, as will excessive end play in the crank bearings.

I don't have a clue how the MINI dual mass flywheel works, but I wonder if it could be involved??

John

 

The s doesn't have a pilot bearing and I don't have the dual mass flywheel anymore. Every time I consider what is going on I come back to the pressure plate. The juddering seems to coincide with the engine being hot (after an hour or so of driving) and a creaking noise coming from the bell housing. I have already changed the clutch slave, flywheel, clutch plate, pressure plate and throwout bearing. The spec2 pressure plate and bearing did have stock part numbers on them, so again I am back at the pressure plate or bearing. I think the pressure plate housing or fingers are warping with the heat.

When this clutch gets bad enough I'll try one that is not built on the stock part. Hopefully that will be the end of it.