Ok, my mini has had a SHORT life so far. It's been well cared for by two owners (I'm one) and garaged it's entire life (I called and spoke to the original owner - ALWAYS take your stuff out of the CAR!). She was not a happy camper with it either BTW.

After 2 weeks I got it back and had a LONG LONG Talk with the mechanics at the BMW Dealership (Mini USA offered "Good Faith" discount of $500 after a $900 towing charge- IE: More expensive). The one mechanic worked for a Mini dealer in MD. He said his JOB was replacing transmissions, that's all he did (sound like there's a problem?). He said BMW knows the problem, knew of it when they put the Midlands boxes in the car but figured they would last past the warranty long enough to sell the cars and it worked we all got suckered into them. This is also why the 2006+ have 6spd Getrags (same ones used by GM on the SS Cobalt BTW).

He said the ONLY way to keep these from breaking is to change the oil at 7500 miles. Use synthetic and hope for the best. The problem is in the bearings on the shafts. He showed me on mine where it failed. The bearing shreds then the bits get jammed into the gears which causes them to break apart. There not double heat treated gears so they are brittle but strong. Double heat treating would give them some flex which may actually cause them to bend and break up faster.

As for the CVT's when I asked he just laughed. He said every 5k miles change the fluid. Not sure if you can add a oil cooler to the auto's but it's all about the heat deteriorating the oil which causes the system to fail.

So there you go from the horses mouth, change the engine oil change the tranny fluid. Also on new boxes he reco'd changing at 500 then again at 3000 miles.

2006+ don't have transmission problems. He said he never worked on a 2006 or newer unit and he worked for them until Dec 2007.

Also when you replace the tranny replace the mounts too. The BMW dealer actually replaced them at no charge for me as well as the flywheel IF the gears punch a hole on the clutch side of the box itself. The core charge for the tranny is now $1000.

 

The reason why the mechanic hasn't seen too many 2006 with CVT problem might be because the 2006 models are still fairly new, and have not reached the 50K- 60K miles when most CVT fail. I have been collecting names for a year now for a Class Action suit against MINI USA,a nd have collected quite a few names. We are in process of recruiting a good lawyer now. Next step might be going on a News Channel.

 

The class action suit has been tried before and BMW stomped it out pretty quickly. Good luck, though.

 

I just looked on Google and did not find any pre-existing Class Action on MINI USA. If you could direct me to somewhere on the web in regards to this case (at least which state this was held, and what year it happened), I would very much appreciate it. At least then I can compare that case with the problems the people I am working with are experiencing, to see how BMW won the last case, etc. On the other hand, the complaints against MINI has ben building up on Consumer affairs on line:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/mini.html

THis, if anything, should help us with our case when we fidn a good lawyer.

 

Hey Guys,
I was driving my mini home from an hour away and when I pulled into my parking lot I heard a loud pop and no change in the sound of the engine. I still drove it about 10 feet to a parking space, it was still idleing fine for 30 sec. and I turned it off. When I got out I saw a huge puddle of oil I guess and some metal casing peices and a plug on the ground. It is a manuel trans and has about 90,000 miles on it. I was hearing a fluttering noise that I was told was the bearings comming from the front drivers area. Does anyone have a clue what happened? Thank you so much for any wisdom.
Update...damned if it didnt end up being the transmisson case that burst. Count me in on the law suit.

 

When you say, "The problem is in the bearings on the shafts." Would this be considered an internally lubricated part, as is spec'd in most warranties? The problem is these transmissions are not meant to be repaired as there are no "internal" parts available to the service centers. They have to just replace the tranny. The Warranty co on the other hand requires the thing to be "cracked open" to prove something inside is broken. duh.

I have a 2002 with a trans that is starting to Whir and not shift into 3rd gear properly. This was after a broken shift fork was replaced and we replaced the clutch while the trans was out.

 

My mechanic is going to change the tranny fluid in 2003 MINI....got the noise in driver's side front.30 or so mechanics have driven it (It's the first one in town...so having a fun ride for a diagnosis is becoming a game) We are guessing ..what is the noise?..Got any recomendations for the type of fluid? Thanks.B

 

i too have had a manual transmission issue. at 160,000 kms i had a berring noise in 3rd gear. when tech from bmw listened he agreed the tranny would need to come out. asked about reabuilding and was quickly told that you can't rebuild bmw trans. garbage!!!
after a long conversation with no happy conclusion. i ordered a transmission and decided to replace it myself. what's the worst that could happen? i break it?
a day to get it out and a day to get it back in. but saved lots in labour.

i wished i documented it and could post it but i just wanted my car back.

if you decide to do it yourself you should have a good knowlege of automotive repair because the whole front needs to come apart.

next time my transmission starts acting up im gonna run it till she lets go. it'll cost the same in the end anyways.....well plus a tow i guess

 

had to replace transmission for 8K at 60,000 miles. what does anyone know about class action suits besides that one failed?

 

Would you give me some more information in regard to the Class Action Lawsuit. If my problem fits the category I would like to get involved
The clutch blew out on my 2007 Mini-S at around 1800 miles. I know of a few other people, all competent manual transmission drivers with plenty of experience, who have had the same problem at even lower milage.