OK, I havent posted much on this board, but have been reading threads and articles for almost a year now.

In July, I recieved delivery of my MCS, and have been having a woderful time driving it except for the occasional service I have brought it in for. Well, Thursday, I noticed with the car in neutral and the stereo off I would hear a ticking sounds, almost like belt noise. And, I also noticed that the car didnt seem as responsive as it was when I first took delivery of the vehicle.

I arrived at the dealership at 7:45AM yesterday, and told them my concerns and also mentioned squeaky brakes and a crusty rear washer nozzel, and replacment wiper blades. Me and the tech went for a drive, and he said indeed the was an odd sound coming from what sounded to be the clutch or flywheel. I was a bit concerned becuase I havent had and real issues with the car.

So I left my car grabbed a rental, and went on my merry way. I called later that day to check in and get an update, they were still "test driving" my car at the time and would get back with me within the hour. They never called back.

I call this morning and wanted an update, I spoke with the head customer service guy and was told "were waiting on your new transmission to arrive" my jaw was on the floor. I asked what had happened, and he said the notes didnt really say and the tech who was helping me was gone 'til Monday. I told them I would call back Monday to check in.

I guess I am a bit upset that a car with 1950 miles on it would have a transmission failure. Whats the deal? and experiences with this happenening so soon in its life? I had a BMW with 119K on it with the original clutch and no issues.

 

wow... let us know what the problem was!
good luck getting everything settled!

 

It's pretty weak that with a failure of such a significant component of the car, the dealer can't even be bothered to call you back! A NEW TRANSMISSION?!! That would certainly warrant a call!

That's disgraceful.

 

It's very unusual for an S to have a gearbox failure. Hope this isn't the start of several reported failures.

 

Do you have an LSD?

 

Yes, I do have LSD, and I made it very clear if the LSD type tranny doesn't go back into my car their will be hell to pay.

Yes I agree, a new tranny does warrant a call, I was very surprised I didn't hear back from them for such a large item being replaced.

Yes, I agree I havent found many mentios on this board of a failed S tranny, let alone a manual one. I find it so odd indeed, that I intend to call up Mini USA and inquire about the failure on Monday, perhaps they will shed a bit of light as to the failure.

 

idk if its an 05 thing, but my 05 mc getrag failed at 9k.

differentiala split in half, spider gearts came out, it was a mess.....


no questions asked, replaced under warranty with new clutch and flywheel....

 

ok, well I feel a bit better now. Atleast one other person has had a siilar experience.

 

I thought occasional ticking noise while idleing was normal.
there's a thread about it somewhere.

 

I will have to find that thread, and read it.

But I was very surprised myself by the replacement of the tranny over a small ticking sound, I mean it wasn't that bad, I just found it odd. My real concern was the responsivness on the road, it didn't feel as nimble as it was, and thats really the concern I was trying to adress, but hopefully this resolves that issue too. We will see mid-week.

 

Many dealers may have just sent you on your way, wanting you to come back if it got worse. I think maybe they are being overcautious, which sounds good to me. You've got a new transmission now! Just as there are occasionnal "lemon" MINIs, there are occasional "lemon" parts. You may have had a defect in the transmission somewhere that either caused them concern or have heard about before.

Remember MINI is paying for this work, not your dealership. So in this case the dealership makes money and keeps you happy.

Get all the info when you pick it up and let us know what it was all about.

Cheers!

 

I believe that the Cooper has a different transmission then the MCS so I wouldn't think it was related.

 

it is a different tranny, but its the first year for the new 5 speed Getrags in the cooper. i hope its not a sign of things to come.

 

Update:

So I recieved a transmission replacement, as per what my advisor told me. Upon recieving the car back, I noticed right away that the clutch felt very different from when I brought it in, the engagement point was much lower to the floor and felt very different but very good too.

Now a week later I am noticing that the engagement point is back where it used to be, and the slight ticking sound I used to have is back, and is much louder, so its going back in tomorrow again for service.

Whats even more odd is the ticking sound wasn't that audible prior to bringing it in, I could just barley here it at idle with the clutch depressed, and it was just a slightly hear it, and it was just a side note for the service guy to take care of while they were working on it.

Now since the tranny has been replaced, its much more audible, and I can only guess it is related to the replacement. If this is the case this is the second strick on the Lemon law here in Georgia. After three strikes, the car by law has to be replaced... I hope it doesn't go that far.

I will update later on.

 

I had a feeling when I started reading this thread that this is where we would end up!

The tapping sound in neutral with clutch engaged (pedal out) is probably normal. There are many threads on this topic on NAM (search "throw out bearing"). Replacing the clutch does not usually solve the problem...some MINIs have a loud tapping, some very subtle or not at all. If you let the clutch pedal out very slowly, the tapping sound will usually be almost imperceptible. I have had the noise since new ('05 MCS) and it is not an issue. Documented at the dealer, that is all.

Maybe the last laugh will be on me (hopefully not with parts on the road like not-so-rednwhitecooper!!), but I don't think so.

It is unlikely you have a lemon...just a dealership that is being overly cautious. There is apparently a MINI service bulletin regarding this issue, but I have not been able to find it.

 

nate09565...

Any update on this??