I'm not the most technically inclined, so bear with me if this is somewhat ignorant. I'm just stressed about my poor Mini. I was letting my SO drive my 02 MCS in San Francisco and he hasn't driven a manual in steep hills much. Long story short...

There were a couple steep hills in which he was seriously burning the clutch. I was trying not to stress out because I know he felt bad, but I just got my mini a month ago and want to keep it in tip-top shape (it has 40K miles). I've never had to replace a clutch and I've only driven manuals for the last 20 years. So my question is, is there a way to gauge how much damage may have been done? I took over driving, but only had to drive it a short distance to our destination and haven't had a chance to drive it since. The clutch seemed to engage normally (though the smell nearly made me pass out--poor, poor mini).

I'm still under warranty and actually am taking my car in next week for unrelated minor fixes...should I have the dealership service "take a look at the clutch"? Is there anything I can do to assess the situation?

any advice appreciated

 

If there is no juddering or slipping and the clutch takes up drive like before then don't worry. As for inspection, there isn't really anything to look at. You would probably notice a difference in behavior before a tech. I have read that organic clutch discs recover well from being overheated. On a side note, Before changing out my clutch and flywheel I drove my clutch harder than I ever would normally to see the result. I never smelled any burning, but slipped it more than anyone should. It looked brand new at 40kmiles with no signs of wear or glazing.

 

Don't fret, manini. Reality is that in order to 'take a look at the clutch' they have to drop the tranny, at which point it makes financial sense to simply replace the clutch at that time.
Just pretend it never happened, and you'll be happier. There have been a few reported instances of clutch replacement on MCS's, but I haven't heard of even 100+K mile cars needing replacement, so it's probably pretty sturdy. Even if he did shorten its life, there's nothing you can do to mitigate any wear, so just Motor On!

 

As long as the pressure plate didn't overheat (which softens the springs and forms hard spots on the wear surface to produce the mentioned juddering) then it's only wear. It's the same material as brake pads, so you know the disc can take a LOT of abuse.

The previous owner may have been hard on it as well.

 

thanks to all you for the quick responses!

ok, i'm feeling better about it. i'll see how it goes when I drive it again. if all feels well, i'll just pretend it never happened like someone suggested

thanks again

 

It should be fine, but, if you want, replace it. Well, have the dealer do it.

 

Also keep in mind they usually won't replace a clutch under warranty as they blame the wear on the driver & a new clutch installed at the dealership will run you around $1600 on an S

 

I've done 5 massive launches back to back in a period of 10minutes. Next morning the clutch definitely was slipping alot more, but after that it went back to normal. Unless you see smoking pouring from under your motor, no worries

 

Finally had a chance to drive her again...and whew, no juddering Clutch feels fine.

I'm glad for many reasons, but mainly because I'm pretty sure that the dealer wouldn't cover a new clutch because it would be "wear and tear." (like someone else thought too). And I probably would not have been able to convince them otherwise.

thanks again to all of you! you guys are great. i sure wish I would have paid more attention to my dad when I was young and he wanted me to learn about how my car worked (my first car, a beloved '74 BMW 2002); if any of you have teenage daughters try to get them to learn something about cars. 20 years later I wish I had!

 

My first was a 71 2002, hence my name 002 (double 02). That car is the whole reason I work at bmw now. And in my mind the mini is this generations 2002.

 

002,

Yeah, I have the same feeling about my mini as I did about my 2002. That car was such a joy to drive. When I sold mine, I though I was upgrading by getting a 3-series but I never had anywhere near the same feeling about that car and driving it as I did about my 2002. Getting a Mini has really made me look forward to driving again; it's the 2002 tii that I always wanted.