[ontheroadagain]

Well, let's hope that things will work out well. At this point you have only been working through your dealership, yes? Have you considered writing a letter to both your Service Advisor and the Manager of the Service Dept, with a copy to your Motoring Advisor? Just so that everyone knows exactly what is what? I'm correct that you have not contacted MINI USA yourself, yet - yes?

Naturally one does have to remain controlled, but at the same time one does need to be sure that the complete story is known and, in my opinion, the best way to do this is to put in writing - a 'hard copy' not an email - what the circumstances are and what you're looking for as a response - this way there can be no misunderstandings and you will have it in your "back pocket" to show to another resource if needs be.

Just my thoughts. I feel for you.

Also - it's a very busy time around the New England area as MINIs are massing for MOT 2007, so don't feel badly if you don't get many posts in response to your questions.

Hang in there!

[joyfulboy]

Thanks again for your reply, ontheroadagain. I perhaps was more rambling than clear in my original post--we have not been in direct contact with the dealership (ONLY MiniUSA) since their service manager told us we needed a new transmission but failed (or perhaps refused) to specify why a total replacement of such a major part was required.

At the risk of trying people's patience, let me recap our situation briefly, because it's a bit unique from the other CVT problems that I've seen posted, and because I really am hoping for some input/advice to help bring an end to this nightmare...

: 2003 Cooper; 80K; no major problems in 4+ years of motoring; 2 weeks ago, car started making a "whirring" noise only while in forward motion; everything else seems fine in terms of performance, and there are no warning lights or other telling signs that might indicate a major problem.

we took the car into Princeton Mini for "diagnostic tests" 10 days ago; 3 hours later we were told it needed new tranny to the tune of $7500+!!!

the problem is that no tests were actually performed; all we've got to work with (and i quote from my invoice) is:

"customer states there is a noise coming frm the front of the vehicle when excellerating [sic]
car needs new transmission and cooling fan."

given that the transmission has NOT failed, and we are experiencing no other issues, are we wrong to think that we are entitled to a LOT more specificity in regard to the problem before simply handing them such an ABSURD amount of money?

anyway, we have been dancing around with MiniUSA for the past 9 days; finally got the word today that they are willing to meet us half-way on the cost of replacement. that's good news, i suppose, but we still think we deserve a diagnosis of the problem that has some actual substance to it before having to cough up close to $4000. (a good analogy, i think: would anyone go ahead with a heart transplant if a doctor merely "listened" to their chest with a stethoscope?)

thanks for reading (again), and thanks in advance to anyone who has any help/advice to offer.

david

[ontheroadagain]

Just sent you a PM - so check your private mailbox.

Again, this is slowwwwww time around the Northeast due to the MOT pilgrimage.

[Sejanus]

That really does seem ridiculous. Is there another dealer in the region you could get a second opinion from? Or since you are no longer under warranty maybe just a good nondealer mechanic?

[joyfulboy]

well, i think we've made some progress with the situation, although i'm at a bit of a loss as to what my next move should be...

on friday, fed up by the limbo i was caught up in, i decided to search the TSBs at alldata for myself. (thank you, free library of philadelphia, for subscribing to this service!). almost IMMEDIATELY, i turned up a bulletin from may 2006 that matches my car's symptoms to a tee (howling noise when in drive/motion; no noise at standstill or in N or P).

cause: excessive wear of the main ball bearing in the CVT transmission
correction: replace the bearing. (duh!)

attached to the tsb are 8 pages of detailed and illustrated instructions for the repair; according to the document, the specialized tools necessary for the repair were shipped to all mini dealers about a year ago.

upon informing them of my discovery, both MiniUSA customer relations AND the dealer's service director claimed no prior knowledge of the tsb in question. the dealer further confirmed that none of their technicians have any training or experience for doing the repair.

meanwhile, my second opinion (from someone who does nothing else but work on minis) confirmed the bearing as the source of my problem.

SO...obviously, i'm not going back to the dealer in question for the repair. but i'm wondering how best to approach the service department at another mini dealer. the goal, of course, is to get back on the road as efficiently and as economically as possible. do i inform dealer #2 at the start about all that has transpired, including my discovery of the tsb, or should i try to go in "fresh" and see what direction they take on their own? (is going in "fresh" even possible, given that i've had such extensive communication with MiniUSA and dealer #1?)

also, given the circumstances, what do you think i might reasonably expect as "good will" from MiniUSA?

again, thanks in advance for any suggestions. i hope that i am not annoying anyone with my fairly frequent postings. above and beyond the assistance/advice that i've been entirely grateful to receive, i hope that recording my story is somehow helpful/informative to fellow motorers, either now or in the future.

david

[ontheroadagain]

Now that is very interesting, and I'm sure that not a few people on here will be quite surprised/interested to read what you've posted...and that you'll get some responses. Thankfully, I see that Sejanus has been around and isn't on a MOT pilgrimage or anything.

Really appreciate your posting and hope the joy comes back soon to your MINI life. I'm deferring to others with more experience to advise you and will look forward to more updates. Hang in there!

[ontheroadagain]

Here's some advice for you from a fellow member of NEMINI.org http://nemini.org/issues-and-resolut...?topicseen#new

Quote:

..if that guy is in Princeton he should call Morristown or Prestige and come north for the repair. I'm sure they will sort it out properly.

Hope this helps.

[joyfulboy]

thanks for the information! i was all set to take the car to another mini dealer for repair (and prestige was on the list, because i've heard good reports about them), knowing what i now know about dealer #1's (lack of) knowledge/experience with my particular CVT issue.

because i'm out of warranty, however, i face the reality that i am somewhat at the mercy of individual dealerships regarding what, if any, "good will" assistance will be offered to defer the cost of the repair. as of this afternoon, there is an unconfirmed offer (via miniusa) from dealer #1 to resolve the issue at no cost to us. if that deal is for real, i may have to stick with them and hope for the best.

i'll keep you posted. thanks again for your concern and for all your help!

[ontheroadagain]

Well I surely hope dealer #1's offer becomes confirmed!

[AprilWhine]

Good luck!

[Tio Barry]

It's about time (I can only hope) MINIUSA stood up and supported us loyal CVT owners so we don't fear being left in the weeds when tranny problems occur after 50k - they really should have done so long before this.

[Michael]

Help in Australia please for a similar CVT tranny prob
My ex has an '02 Cooper CVT. She noticed performance had faded considerably over the past month and asked it be looked into during its recent service. At the time the dealer said there was nothing wrong and questioned what fuel was being used.
She took it back to the dealer late last week and today was quoted approx A$10000 for a new 'box.
Just on 5 years old and approx 90,000km on the clock.

What do we do?????
Help please anybody!!!

[My MINI me and me]

Come on BMW lets see 5 year 100,00mile (160,00Km) year warrentee on drive train components or even the whole car if you dare. Is MINI a premium product built to such high standards that this is reasonable request? $10,000 dollars seems a ridiculous amount to charge on replacing these components on such young cars. How many cars go outside of the MINI dealership network during the first 5 years given the TLC options?

[razman.rahim]

Quote: Originally Posted by joyfulboy (original)

Thanks again for your reply, ontheroadagain. I perhaps was more rambling than clear in my original post--we have not been in direct contact with the dealership (ONLY MiniUSA) since their service manager told us we needed a new transmission but failed (or perhaps refused) to specify why a total replacement of such a major part was required.

At the risk of trying people's patience, let me recap our situation briefly, because it's a bit unique from the other CVT problems that I've seen posted, and because I really am hoping for some input/advice to help bring an end to this nightmare...

: 2003 Cooper; 80K; no major problems in 4+ years of motoring; 2 weeks ago, car started making a "whirring" noise only while in forward motion; everything else seems fine in terms of performance, and there are no warning lights or other telling signs that might indicate a major problem.

we took the car into Princeton Mini for "diagnostic tests" 10 days ago; 3 hours later we were told it needed new tranny to the tune of $7500+!!!

the problem is that no tests were actually performed; all we've got to work with (and i quote from my invoice) is:

"customer states there is a noise coming frm the front of the vehicle when excellerating [sic]
car needs new transmission and cooling fan."

given that the transmission has NOT failed, and we are experiencing no other issues, are we wrong to think that we are entitled to a LOT more specificity in regard to the problem before simply handing them such an ABSURD amount of money?

anyway, we have been dancing around with MiniUSA for the past 9 days; finally got the word today that they are willing to meet us half-way on the cost of replacement. that's good news, i suppose, but we still think we deserve a diagnosis of the problem that has some actual substance to it before having to cough up close to $4000. (a good analogy, i think: would anyone go ahead with a heart transplant if a doctor merely "listened" to their chest with a stethoscope?)

thanks for reading (again), and thanks in advance to anyone who has any help/advice to offer.

david

Just the same happened to me on my MINI Cooper '02 CVT, light whirring noise started at 28k miles, and now at 28700 miles it's bordering knocking.

- BMW's option was to replace the transmission, off course a long time after the warranty expires!

The thing is, the cost of the transmission is MYR 30,000.00 (USD 10k), yet in the UK it's £1225.00 from any BMW dealers, as for me in Malaysia, the price is completely unfriendly or even fair for a customer who has to take the burden of a design flaw by the manufacturer.

BMW used to make good reliable cars, a transmission should even last longer then the engine itself. My MINI had only done 28k milies.

There's nothing better then the cogs. BMW relearn how to make cars, it's us that's suffering.

- Well, in fact we were their guinea pigs, the '07 MINI's are coming with proper 'planetary cogs' (gear) auto-transmissions.

Which leaves us?

As their testing beds, it's consumer abuse, someone should bring this up, its corporations abusing consumers rights.

for the first time, BMW I am giving you a thumbs down.

[85NIXMIN]

Hmmm after reading this I am rather scared...
I have a 03 Cooper CVT hopefully it doesn't decide to kick the bucket anytime soon... espeically when I'm still its owner... I have a 3yr warranty that I took out on the car when I bought it so I've still got another 2 yrs left... hopefully that would cover it if anything like this ever happened.... *yikes*

Surely you would think that with being labelled such a "prestigious" vehicle that these components wouldn't be breaking down quite so early on in the cars life. Obviously this is not the case... *thumbs down*

[Alan L]

We have had our 2002 Cooper for about a month and was getting to like the CVT. The car has 37,000km on it.
Now the EP code has come up on a trip last w/end. Could drive it in DS and +/- mode OK and got home on that. But if you put it in D mode it tends to get stuck in high gear and runs out of revs on hills etc. When we bought it we had the BMW dealer check the programme out, and install the latest upgrade. There were no faults showing then.
Now he tells us it has some sensor problem with sensor # 22 or 24 - one deep inside the g/box. He says the box has to come out and be sent o/seas for servicing at $10,000.
Not impressed. And not convinced with the diagnosis - in that they just seem to treat the CVT as an unknown black box. No one in NZ services them. Since it still seems to function in DS and +/- mode, I am suspiciuous the problem is not a mechanical one in the box, but an electronic one to the servo/controller /whatever in the box. They are saying the bit that controls the ratios is malfunctioning and is some sort of servo. But the ratios work OK in the other modes.
Does anyone have acess to some sort of wiring scheme for the gearbox brain. I am reluctant to send this off o/seas for months and $10,000 when it may, just may, come back with the same problem.
Any suggestions. It did go into EP mode about a week ago on start up, then went back into D after about a minute.
I am getting very suspicious/nervous about CVT - but initially it was very good to drive.
Alan

[andyjaffs]

Alan,
Sorry I have no advice to help with your problem. I just thought I would add my experience to the thread to help any other people who read this thread and panic. I have had a whirring noise when accelerating only in D/SD, the car feels sluggish and unresponsive.
It's in the main dealer now and they tell me that the bearing in the transmission needs replaced, at a cost of £300 plus VAT. This is a lot better than what I had thought after reading the previous posts.