Hello all.

Dealer says that the valve body in my Aisin auto trans needs to be replaced. Dealer tells me that fluid is leaking into the valve body, causing the transmission to be sluggish in its response.

I don't see a procedure to replace the valve body in my Bentley manual. In the Bentley, the valve body appears to be called an Electrohydrolic selector unit.

Is this the kind of work that should only be done by the dealer or an independent shop with MINI experience? It's my understanding that there are a lot of shops, such as AMCO, that specialize in transmission work. Is this something a shop like AMCO could do?

Dealer is quoting me $2,500 after a 30% discount. I'd like to get that done for less, obviously.

For anyone that is wondering, I got the vacuum pump replaced for $665.71, much less than the $1000 plus originally quoted. No, I did not report anyone to anyone else or write any indignant letters.

 

What year and how many miles? There is a TSB service bulletin for this. If it's the same as mine which was fine for free.

 

My MCS is a 2009 with about 72,980 miles on it.

Can you give me more information about the TSB service bulletin? What does TSB stand for? What exactly did you get for free? I would love to have a copy of your invoice. Maybe you could PM it me if you don't want to share it publicly?

Good lord, if I could get this done for free, you would be on my Christmas card list forever, RadioFlyer.

 

Well I was still under warranty. I will find it in the morning. You could always ask for a "good will repair" too.

My repair was the wiring harness look which was being covered by leaking transmission fluid. Might be same thing?

TSB: technical service bulletin. Not quite a recall but a note toothy dealer about a problem or issue.

 

That does make a difference.

Ask who? The dealer? MINI corporate? If the second, do you know how I'd get in touch?


Sounds like it.

 

Yes you ask your dealer. I haven't found the RO yet. Looking again.

 

I found the RO but it doesn't list the TSB number on it. I'm sorry.

 

What does the RO say?

When you ask your dealer for a curtesy repair, is it coming out of the dealer's pocket or from BMW?

 

Here Ya go

The goodwill repair (that's the name of it) is split I think.

 

Thanks!

Does that mean that the dealer paid for half of it and MINI USA paid for half? Or that you paid for half?

Did you have to ask for the goodwill repair or did the dealer offer it?

Hmm. . . a wiring harness seems like a lot less than a new valve body. I think that yours was a much lower ask than mine.

 

Mine was all warranty.

The goodwill repair can range from 100% covered to you splitting it too. You have to ask. They want offer. And you way be beyond the scope with your mileage but it can't hurt to ask.

 

Any news?

 

I asked MINI USA before the holidays. Today, they finally got back to me with an offer of 50% assistance. Evidently, that leaves me with a bill of almost $2,000, because the valve body costs over $3,000. The service manager is double-checking the cost of the valve body, and should confirm this afternoon.

Does anyone know how much these things cost? I've been googling, and evidently the BMW part number is 6F21WA. I can't find a cost for a new one, but a remanufactured costs about $1,000.

At this point, it may make sense to go with a remanufactured. Does anyone have any suggestions as to from whom one should purchase a remanufactured valve body?

 

Revmax has rebuilt, upgraded valve bodies for our MINIs for $659 with a $350 core charge.
I've read some good things about this company.

http://www.revmaxconverters.com/inde...lve-body.html?

Dave

 

What have you read and where have you read it?

 

Engender: Don't expect to get any 'good will repair' help on this if you insist on buying the part elsewhere.

 

Right here, do a search for "revmax", there's a lot of information right here on this site.

Dave

 

I did take look at their site. There is a thread in the r53 forum that suggests a rebuild from Valve Body Pros. Heard anything about them?

Also in that thread, ECS Tuning links to the genuine BMW new valve body it sells—which you can see here—for $1,666.94 as of this writing. Now, I have some basis to ask the dealer why MINI is selling the same item to itself (essentially) for $3,000+. Additionally, the ECS site suggests that MINI does have new valve bodies and not just rebuilds.

EDIT: Here is the valve body for $1,726.47 from a MINI dealership in Georgia, MINI of Kennesaw. MINI of Kennesaw indicates that the "list price" for the Valve Body is $1,897.21. So, where is my dealer getting $3,000? Maybe I should drive to Georgia.

 

There was an update with the part with pricing and the now includes a Core Charge also. They are re-manufactured from MINI now. That other site is most likely behind on the price. I wanted to let you know. Its a Geunine MINI part.

 

The end (I hope) of this saga is that I ended up taking the 50% discount from the dealer. I went back and forth over the estimate for a few days. Finally, I called an independent, well-regarded transmission shop, and got a quote of about $2,700. I told the independent trans guy about MINI's offer, and he said I should take it, so I did.

It's been about a month now and the trans seems great. I did notice some hesitation between second and third on cold starts immediately after getting the car back. Now, I'm worried that that issue is a separate problem with the transmission . . . .

Also, I noticed my "Service" light counting down quickly from 3,600 miles to 1,800 miles, to today when it says I need to bring my MINI in for service. Of course, the service light isn't going to indicate a problem with the transmission, but can I stay out of the dealership for more than a month at a time!?

 

Thanks for the update.