After a huge pain in the butt dealing with mini service, I found the problem. I was made to feel like a complainer or that I abused the car or that there was nothing wrong.

Short version, After having huge piles of BS dumped on me about why my clutch didn't feel right and seemed to be wearing out, I told mini na to F-off and that I would fix it myself. I finally got under the car to start removing the tranny to find out that the clutch slave cylinder has been leaking fluid. Had they even attempted to find out what was wrong I would not need to replace the clutch now. Man am I'm mad!

They kept focusing on the clutch disc and assumed my complaints were related to it being worn even though I explicitly told them that it didn't slip or judder (signs of worn surfaces) and that I thought it was related to leverage like pressure plate fingers, pivot arm, or a SLAVE CYLINDER.

Here are some of the lines I got the pleasure of hearing.

1.There's nothing wrong, they all do that.
2.There's nothing wrong, but if there were it would be your fault anyway.(My favorite)
3.There IS something wrong, but we won't fix it because you bought it at another dealer.
4. You overheated the clutch causing the throwout bearing grease to evaporate causing the clutch to wear out. your fault no fixy.

So if you hear or feel a creaking in your clutch peddle when slowly releasing it, it may be the slave cylinder. You can check it by pushing the boot on the slave cylinder over to the side and looking for fluid that has collected in it. It will drip out and be obvious to you.

Up shot,
Light weight flywheel and performance clutch. At my cost of course.

I'm glad to get that off my chest.

 

Sorry man to hear about your bad experience How do you like the new lightened flywheel set up? If you don't mind sharing with us on the brand and the pros/cons.

 

I'll be installing it this weekend if I can get the new cylinder and tools. I went with the spec stage 2 clutch and flywheel (14lbs?). I'm doing a track day may 2nd so I'll being giving it a good workout. I'll report back once it is broken in. The saddest part, other than the money, is that this didn't need to happen. If it had been replaced when I was comlplaining about it, the clutch would still be fine.

I did get a great deal on the clutch and I am excited to see how it performs.

 

Can you tell us what year car Cooper or S How many mile now how many when you noticed the problem. Good luck dude hope you like the light weight fly wheel Oh and who the incompetent dealer is??

 

It's an early 03 mcs. The dealerships were in the SF bay area. I don't know that they are incompetent as much as programmed to be defensive. I worked at one of the dealerships for three years and knew the people I was dealing with, none of this mattered once their evil salesman mode kicks in. It is like you are talking to robots.

From my experience working there I learned that dealerships are not the authority on engineering that people think they are, not even close. One SA still refers to the bypass valve as a blow off valve and said my girlfriends stock mcs threw a code because the "faulty blow off valve caused an over boost situation". Does that sound like someone that has any concept of how our engine works?

Well enough negativity for one night. I'll let everyone know how the new set up works when I'm done.

edit: started at 30K now has 40k mi.

 

I just had my slave cylinder replaced this week. I too have an early '03. Unlike yourself I knew it was the problem and went off to Mini of Peabody to have them take a look. 45 minutes later I was handed back my keys and told I was all set as they put in a new cylinder under warrantee. Mini of Peabody (Peabody MA) is a TOP notch dealer.

I was talking with an '02 owner who had the same problem.

 

I had suspected it, but considering how new the car is and how much the dealerships were blaming me, I lost focus. I was familiar enough with the problem from old bmw's that I left the slave boot unclipped so that I would notice the fluid loss. That's how I cought it before it completely failed.

Did your dealership mention if there is a known problem with this part or if it was just random?

 

Did you have a kind of lumpy clutch feel? Mine when I slowly release or press the pedal slowly it is not smooth at all. Feels like it almost catches in spots.

 

That is exactly how mine felt. It got worse when the car was heat soaked and in stop and go traffic. If I go somewhere quiet with the engine off and the window open I can hear a squeeking that corrsponds to the feeling.

I just called the dealer to order the new slave and they are about $25. Look into it before your clutch becomes a casualty of such a cheap part.

 

How difficult is the install? I'm guessing it reguires bleeding the clutch afterwards. What's required to get to the boot to see if the seal is leaking?

Ryan

 

Lift the front end up. Rhino stands are fast and easy. Remove the skid plate, 2 philips and 3 10mm. Look between the radiator and transmission, you'll see it half way up on the transmission. Push one end of the boot loose, (even though one end looks like it is threaded it's not and comes off easily) feel around in the boot if nothing drips out right away. It is very easy to do.

There are only two bolts holding it on and one for the hose. The only hard part may be bleeding the new dry part. I have a pressure bleeder for that.

 

Ah. That is simple. Will have to check it out tomorow on the lift at school. I have been looking for an excuse to get a pressure bleeder.

Thanks for the help.

Ryan

 

I get a ugly noise still on my clutch upon release/catch on gear. Its definately the clutch and i got "Theres nothing wrong, and noises like that are somewhat normal"

 

Only 40k miles on a slave cylinder, that sucks Definitely not normal. Your dealership sucks for not having any brains and shafting you with the repair.

 

I got started on the project today and not a moment to soon. The slave was dripping fluid just sitting there. The subframe, axels, and starter are out and I'll attack the tranny tomorrow when I have some extra muscle around.

 

Everything's back together, I'm still waiting on the slave from bmw. This job is do-able in your garage, but only for the brave. It was a lot of work, but I feel invincible now.

Turns out Bmw was really wrong this time. The clutch came out in perfect condition, 43k miles. My neighbor that has been working at bmw for 15 years said that he has never seen one come out in that good of condition, even out of SMG's. The only problem was the slave cylinder. I'm glad I didn't pay bmw to change the clutch

Also found out that the stiff shifter was not my short shifter as bmw said, but a bum cable. It was just as stiff even when it wasn't attached to the transmission. So there's my next project.

I should be able to drive it tomorrow night and I can't wait. It's been three days already and I'm having serious withdrawls.

 

hi, i have been reading this thread. my clutch is stiff and it is becoming harder to shift gears. my mechanic thinks it is the clutch and has not mentioned the slave cylinder. from your description i definately will check it out first before i go to the expense of replacing the clutch. but in the event that i have to would you please tell me who you bought your spec clutch and flywheel from??? thanks.

 

www.jscspeed.com They only have a few items for the mini, but they always have the best prices and fast delivery.

Its hard to say if it's your slave, but it's easy to check, easy to replace, and about $25 retail.

 

thanks for the information. i will ask my mechanic to check out the slave before i go ahead and change the clutch.

 

Must be more than a random issue with the slave. Mine went out with less than 20k miles on the car. Had intermittant problems not engaging the clutch for a few months before it finally stopped working all together stranding us. I guess I refused to acknowledge the early warning signs and refused to believe that a slave could go that quickly. My car is spring '04 build. So there's definitely something up with this part. Mini of Hartford fixed it at no charge. They had no way of knowing what changes were made to the internals of the tranny, but let's just say they knew I had lots of other mods as some are impossible to hide and they made comments about the car "flying". But it did not get in the way.

At another dealership in a different state, I had considerable trouble getting any service on an obvious manufacturing defect. This was even before I made extensive mods. So just hang in there and don't give up if they give you trouble. And definitely keep an eye on that slave!

 

Hi,

Could someone please post a more detailed how-to.. i cant figure out 2 things.

1, how to remove the hose.
2, what pressure bleeder is reccomended and how do u bleed the slave?

Thanks.

 

Our 05's was replaced on 8/13/2007, 38,250 miles. My wife was having problems shifting into gear at a stop light. Noticed it right away. I ran it up on ramps and found it leaking bad. Called Mini of North Scottsdale, replaced and back on the road by 2:00pm. Sad that if failed, but got good service getting it replaced.

 

Here is a fluid change how-to that includes the clutch slave http://www.lonestarminiclub.com/foru...read.php?t=476

The hydraulic line removal seems straight forward (remove retaining clip, pull) but p.m. 002 to post details.

 

I suspect that a bad clutch slave cylinder is responsible for the problem I occasionally have with my 2004 MCS. Does anyone know whether the part has been improved in the past several years?

 

That is just what i was looking for.
Thanks alot!