Hi 3 months ago during temperatures of -7 I started to get trouble selecting 2nd and 3rd going up through the gearbox. I booked it into my dealer as the car is still under warranty and was destined to be looked at in three weeks time (beginning of january). During that time the clutch started to slip (only 27000 miles on the clock). So the car went in and was diagnosed with a worn out clutch and flywheel. I got £500 of the price of the job as a good will gesture so was left £1300 out of pocket. Having got the car back the gear selection problem was still there so the car went back in with Bmw claiming nothing was wrong. I have been selecting 2nd and 3rd gear slowly and this seems to alleveiate the problem but I would like to change the gearbox oil to something better as I think this may cure the problem if anyone has any ideas. My second problem materialised last week and is very strange. When I first start the car in the morning or it has been left for some time the clutch pedal feels like it is sticking when you initialy take your foot of the pedal after the first start up. as soon as you put the clutch pedal back down again the sticking feeling had gone and the clutch feels fine. I cant tell if it is the pedal sticking or its a rotating vibration from the clutch or flywheel however the clutch pedal doesnt feel sticky until you start to lift off the pedal. Has any one got any ideas as I reall love this car but its starting to wear me down now. thanks in advance Dave
The OEM transmission fluid is very good, and because you are under warranty, I suggest its continued use. Extremely cold temperatures can alter the fluid's viscosity and calls for more frequent fluid changes. New fluid may or may not improve shifting since it only is an issue between two gears, which sounds like a synchronizer problem. It wouldn't hurt to drain the fluid and have a look at it. If the drained fluid is placed in sunlight and it is full of glittering gold colored flake, that may give you an indication, but it is not a definitive test. I have a customer that lost his synchro after driving with a failed clutch (the flywheel failed and seized the disk), he also must be careful shifting between 2nd & 3rd up or down, however, it is so bad no one could say nothing is wrong. The sticking pedal is odd, or it may only be the description of symptoms. First check out another late model NINI's pedal to see if it feels the same to you. Have a look at the clutch slave to see if there is fluid around the rod, then bleed the slave. Air in the clutch slave can also effect shifting.
opcorn:opcorn:opcorn: Thanks Keith. It's always a pleasure to learn things about our MINIs. opcorn:opcorn:opcorn: Jason
Thanks for the info k-hueveo When the clutch started to slip it would only slip when the car was floored at 2500 rpm. When the dealer test drove it they claimed the car was ok so I had to take them out and show them myself so I dont think the clutch was totaly destroyed. My clutch bite point has always been about 1/3 of the travel off the floor so hopefully no syncros are worn. A mechanic told me it sounded like a bulk ring problem as I only had problems shifting up. when I shift down its ok. I will take your advice and stick with the original oil and if anything materialises it will be before the warranty runs out. My mates brand new cooper s feels a lot different. At around a third of the pedal travel from the top you can feel the resistance drop off as the pressure plate releases where mine doesnt, even though our bite points are in the same place. I am going to replace the master cylinder next just to rule out the clutch hydraulics completely as regards the notchy pedal. Then Its back to the dealer again if that doesnt work. Thanks again for the info. cheers Dave
Since my first post I had a new slave fitted today by a friend who runs his own independant garage. The clutch is better and we found the end of the slave rod had about 3mm worn off. The clutch pressure feels better but only as good as described in my previous post. His garage is around 40 miles away and during the last 10 miles the gearshift was almost perfect but when I got home and the car had cooled off it was back to its normal self.