Midland Gear to Close, Getrag to produce 5 & 6 Speed MINI Gearboxes.

MINI has confirmed that BMW is to wind up their Midland Gear operation, based in Birmingham UK, in June/July 2004.
This means the current Cooper and One manual gearbox will be replaced in summer 2004 by a new German produced Getrag 5 speed.

Ironically, the decision to switch gearbox supplier was forced ahead by ex-BMW owned MG Rover, who have decided to drop the Birmingham built R65 gearbox from their model range, in favour of a French built 5 speed manual Getrag box.

The 5 speed manual in the MINI Cooper and One has been criticised for it’s inherent ‘weakness’ and outdated design, so for those seeking to squeeze extra horses from their Cooper or One in the future, this could be very welcome news.

The first MINI to feature the new Gearbox will be the convertible MINI Open model.

The MINI Cooper S and MINI One D already have manual 6 speed gearboxes supplied by Getrag.