This is my first post as a Mini Owner and my first plea for help. I have a 2003 MC with 70k on the odo. and I let my roommate borrow it (bad already I know) to pick up his mom and sister from the airport 6 days ago. He's ok at driving a manual but when he attempted to climb a very steep hill here in SD (Laurel St.) He went from third to second but simply smoked the clutch going all the way up the hill as first gear would have actually been optimal. In other words second never engaged it was just smoking up the hill. I was not around but now when I drive the car very gently around town and park, the burnt clutch smell is persistant and awful even though I've simply done about 5 miles of normal driving. It does not slip in the higher gears under load but it only catches when the pedal is almost all the way out.

My question is this.. why is it still burning, could anything else have been damaged? (I doubt that because it's distinctly a burning clutch smell) Do I just wait until the clutch wears out to replace it or should I have it inspected? If I do need to take it in, I'm 30 miles from the nearest dealer, would taking it to a local independent BMW shop be acceptable?

 

if your friend fried your clutch the smell will stay there for a long time(happened to me on my honda). i would recomend taking the car in to any shop that's reputable and have them take a look at it.

the removal of the trans. is not that complicated so a good tech should be able to replace the clutch assembly. good luck!

 

>but it only catches when the pedal is almost all the way out.

that is not a good sign. have the dealer check it out for you.
might want to run a search, but i think the MC's clutch pedal
is self-adjusting like the MCS...meaning, you might be coming up
to the end of the clutch's life.

 

It looks like I will be taking it in very soon to have the techs look at it. I'm still driving it and experiencing the smell consistantly.

 

Clutch Fried.
Friend should be fried.

He'd better pay for some of that repair.

 

Are you in San Diego or South Dakota? If in San Diego, I know Laurel street well, there use to cycling races up that hill down to Sea World, Torrey Pines and then back that kicked my butt...

If you want an indie shop, try Baron's Auto (858-578-2800) off of Mira Mesa. Both the owner (Dave) and one of his mechanics drive MINI's, so they know them well. Might be cheaper and closer then Brecht.

If you are in South Dakota, I can't help ya, but I would definitely get it checked out...stinky clutch smells are a bad thing...

 

I never even knew there was a San Diego, South Dakota I'm in San Diego, I will check the place out you mentioned. Laurel is crazy steep and with a car full of 3 people and luggage I knew it couldn't have been pretty