I've been the happy owner of a second hand Mini One (RA31, 2004/09 from Belgium) for about 5 years and never had any serious issues until now.

Every year with the cold temperatures I have the same problem of a stuck shift rod where it is only possible to move from neutral to third or fourth. Anytime this happened I just move it around, back and forth, left and right until it eventually loosens enough to engage the first gear.

This time I stupidly tried to force it and now the lever is completely "loose": I can move it around all positions (e.g. I can change it from third to first without passing through neutral). Also, when I put the lever in the first gear it feels like the third. Finally, when I put it in reverse, the car goes forward and feels like the third ...

Because I didn't hear any cracking sound when I forced the lever into first gear, I thought I simply dislodged something so I tried removing the boot and only noticed that there are visible separations along the plastic bushing (blue arrows below). Are these normal ? Furthermore the three small plastic clips on the bushing seem to be properly in place.

From the looks of it I have no idea whether I've dislodged the ball mechanism and simply need to push it back (gently this time) into its position or if the problem is deeper inside the assembly. Does anyone have some insight or helpful advice here ? (Apart from having the whole assembly replaced which is an option I'm well aware of).



Small spaces along the bushing.

Whether this is relevant or not, I don't know if the models of shift assemblies are the same as the R53, but it looks like the Condition B described on another forum (https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-assembly.html)



Overview shift assembly (black with no ridges).