Glad to hear you got it fixed, but sorry that you had trouble and $$$$
IMHO the biggest fallacy on these cars is the "lifetime" fluid.
It needs to be refreshed at regular intervals.
The other big thing to watch out for is doing "power downshifts" in manual mode - downshifting aggressively and using engine braking. This overheats the fluid in the torque converter and is typically where black/burnt fluid comes from. Once the fluid is overheated, other problems will occur.
Now that I know the above, and act accordingly, all is well with mine. Not implying the OP did any of this "wrong" - just adding some more cautionary notes for others.
Have you checked the listing for our sponsors at the top header? There is a pull down menu that can give you map locations of the MINI specific garage near you. Other than the dealer, it's a good idea to work with someone very familiar with the MINI.
there is a huge computer chip in the tachs printed circuit-we have fixed these issues with a new tach twice on 06 S models! try swapping one from another r53 suto if you can to check it out
thanks for the tips. picked the car up from he dealer today and brought it home. drove fine other than no reverse and that hard downshift when stopping. will mention these things when i take it somewhere else. did find a local shop on the forum that i talked to today. they can get it in next week. thanks, again.
I had a 06 auto that I loved but started having transmission issues. I ended up trading it in due to the lingering fear of having to change out the transmission.
trying to locate the control module/brain box. i hear a buzzing sound from behind the driver side kick panel near the fuses. attempting to remove the panel today and look around. i see a few salvage modules on ebay in the $200-300 range. sounds better than $2300+labor and programming that the stealer quoted for the module. plus they said they wouldn't replace it without doing the trans, too, because it "might not be the problem". they couldn't say that the transmission was definitely bad or what might be wrong with it either, though. could be worth a try.
update..after bending and contorting myself for a few hours, the body control box (not what i was searching for) is behind the kick panel on the passenger side ahead of the bonnet release lever. the transmission control box is on the driver side, under the dash and behind the steering column. easy removal. now to locate a replacement.....
I can't help but wonder if this is the dealer's way of avoiding working on this car? Do you suppose they have seen this before or have much transmission experience?
I am having a similar problem with my ASIN 6-Speed automatic on my 2006 Pepper White S-Model with 82,000 miles. Mine will go into neutral while just driving along. The automatic transmission is being replaced as I writing this email. I took my Mini Cooper to an independent shop that works on Mini Coopers. It‘s going to cost me around $5200.00 to replace the automatic transmission. It comes with a 3-year 100,000 mile warrant. This is a lot better than what I was quoted by the Mini Dealership 9500.00. Also there is a class action lawsuit going on against Mini USA. The shop I took my Mini too said he could fix the automatic transmission cheaper by replacing the defective parts. However, Mini will not sell the internal parts just complete automatic transmissions. He also tried to get the parts from his parts distributor but was told ASIN was told not to seller parts because the Automatic Transmission was made specifically for Mini Cooper. Anyway will be getting the Mini back this week fixed.
bought a used control module and tried that solution....same issue/no change (glad i bought a salvage unit for $200 instead of having the dealer change it for $2300 plus labor). next step was taking it to an indy trans shop, and i found one with mini eperience who actually diagnosed the problem and knows how to fix things instead of just replace parts until it works. they did some tests and then opened up the trans....found blackened "lifetime" fluid and some metal shavings, a sign of failure in the trans. they'll pull it and tear it down and get back to me tomorrow with an estimate on a rebuild (how novel), probably in the $4-6k range, depending on what they find. pricey, but definitely better than $11k.
well, it came in just under $6k and will be ready tomorrow. a piece broke off the reverse clutch and worked its way around causing trouble in its path. rebuild trans, replacing all clutches and seals, rebuilt torque convertor, and replace valve body. they weren't expecting the valve body so that pushed the cost up. work comes with a two year warranty. all this with only 46k on the odometer! i will definitely recommend to anyone buying a mini to not even consider an automatic trans.
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