[neilobe]

Just had my copper s back from a service, and i got them to check clutch as didnt seem right, confirmed its on its way out...
Now as its about to go out of its 3 year warranty on friday , they said they may not do it..
Dealer is now in discussions with BMW to see if they will.
Has anyone had there clutch done just before warranty expires or at a low mileage on there S.?
This could be a very expensive bill

[MarkW19]

My clutch went at 34,000 miles on my COOPER.

They blankly refused to cover ANY of the costs and I ended up with an £800 bill..."normal wear and tear". I wrote to BMW saying that I thought it was disgusting they found it acceptable for a clutch in a modern car to go at such low a mileage, but they weren't having any of it.

[TimCrighton]

Thats not an usually low mileage unfortunately. In our experience the clutches aren't that durable. I'm not incinuating anything about your driving, but if you slip the clutch a lot, or hold the car on the clutch then the material in the OEM clutches is quite soft and it just doesn't like it. Be thankful its the clutch and not the box

[MarkW19]

Then I'd say the "material in the OEM clutches" is unsuitable for the purpose it was intended, ie. for use in a sporty/performance/quality car (or indeed any car!).

It's widely accepted that the life of a clutch should be closer to 80,000 miles on a modern car (from "official" sources), not 40,000; regardless of driving style. It's all b*ll*cks.

[humph]

Had the clutch on my three and a half year old Cooper works (33000 miles) replaced under warranty a week ago. The car is currently still under the 1 yr cherished warranty I got when bought her in April. I wasn't there when the dealer was on to BMW so I don't know how hard he had to work but he didn't suggest that there was any problem. Has your dealer actually approached BMW or is this a dealer opinion?
I agree that a clutch should last far longer than this. All of my last three cars were +150k miles when I got rid and none of them had had a clutch replacement. Last clutch I had replaced was on the old classic I had when I was a student and that had 78k on it when the clutch started slipping. I think BMW's attitude to this ongoing problem has been poor.

[Tonyt3]

Unfortunalty, the truth with modern driving in the UK is that we're all in way too many traffic jams, and use the clutch poorly, in an almost semi automatic fashion. You cant really blame the manufacturers for this.

My last Mini, had 230 bhp, was used in many track day events, and had no clutch problems. So I think the clutch is strong and durable, but it probably doenst like forever being in slow moving traffic.....

[MarkW19]

But as Humph says, he's had cars that have lasted for a longer than 150,000 miles with the original clutch! Every single other person I've spoken to, with old cars, new cars, performance and otherwise, have never had a clutch go at such low mileage, it really is poor! Everyone I've spoken to doesn't do much motorway driving either, just stop/start city driving. I do equally motorway and city driving, and never hold on the clutch and hardly slip it, so I do feel very ripped off at having to pay £800. But, it appears we can't do anything about it.

Again, if it "doesnt like forever being in slow moving traffic" then it's unfit for the purpose it was intended - an everyday car, in the UK. I hate to think what experiences London MINI owners have had.

[simeds]

i had one go at 11,000, miles but it was replaced under warranty

[humph]

Quote: Originally Posted by Humph (original)

All of my last three cars were +150k miles when I got rid and none of them had had a clutch replacement.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tonyt3 (original)

Unfortunalty, the truth with modern driving in the UK is that we're all in way too many traffic jams, and use the clutch poorly, in an almost semi automatic fashion.

Above comment from TonyT3 is true, I spend at least half of my 80 mile daily round trip crawling in traffic on the Manchester ring road, so clutch use is heavy. However I have had to do this journey with all of my recent cars (Astra, Focus, Rover 45, Skoda Superb) and as I say +150k on original clutch. I also agree that there will be always be some that are just faulty and go early, some that are abused etc but it seems all to easy for BMW (or some of their dealers) to flatly refuse to honour their warranty on this issue. I got lucky as I have a good dealer.

I would like to meet the designers who decided they would make it a full days job to change the clutch.

[Tonyt3]

Lamorghini Gallardo cluches need changing every 4000 miles!!!!! And thats an engine out job....

[MINIMANIAUK]

I bet theres some moaning at the Lambo dealers!
It is one of the weaker points of the Mini ,the clutch,more so on the cooper/one than the S
and a modern car should not wear at that rate,I have been looking at the standard ones we have removed to see if there was a common fault or what exactly is failingand comparing against the aftermarket ones which do not fail, the main problem appears to be the lining material used and the rivet fasteners , there has been evidence of movement of the lining in the fasteners ,and the material seems to give off too much dust , with out adequate venting of the housing to let the dust escape or indeed cool the area ,the dust collects on the bearing and splines, and can make the clutch heavier to operate. the aftermarket "heavy duty "clutches are a lot lighter in operation .
Another worry is that the old clutches are I believe returned for overhaul by the oem suppliers Valeo and if there is a slight defect in the clutch assembly then it simply gets returned back into the stock spares system. I could be wrong about overhaul on return of the old clutches and it may be for "green" disposal , but they certainly go back
whatever ,it would not be rocket science for better linings to be used , and I dont see why BMW did not do so,then again the gearbox fix was not rocket science either!

[robby71]

Minimania - just out of interest how much would you charge to fit the uprated clutch in a 2002 cooper? can you also replace the plastic bearings with metal ones at the same time 9any idea of cost)?
Thanks

[MINIMANIAUK]

the cooper clutch is slightly easier than the S and would be £300 the clutch depends on your requirements lightweight or not and what friction material stage 1/2/3/4 £300-500
it would be the opertune time to fit the lightweight flywheel (£275) if you wanted one as they work very well in the cooper/one with less adverse effect than on the cooper S as a road car.
We do an exchange box with upgraded bearings/synchros/diff £600 , and fully synth oil - not the cheapest of jobs but still better than the dealers and solves the issues, may help resale of car also if you can state modded gearbox as people may shy away from a car out of warranty with the early midland box, its a shame we couldnt offer these as a warranty claim with BMW from the outset

[neilobe]

Thanks all. Now confirmed they will not replace under warranty, been on to BMW head office they wont budge,,

They quoted £1400 to replace the clutch ,, wat a joke..

Have rung around couple of places, Mr Clutch in my area will do for £655.. better , they have never fitted one before, even they thought it was low mileage for one to go. they use orginal part from Germany and even give 2 years warranty , BMW only give 1 year..

Will need to think now wat to do.

[~Marcus~]

My clutch went at 35k miles, the car was only 18months old it was replaced under warranty. I do a lot of central London driving but it should still last more than 35k!

MINI is going before warranty runs out as I don't trust clutch, the slightly stroppy Midlands Gearbox, and the power steering that went at about 30k miles (again a warranty job)

Hope my fothcoming R56 Cooper will be better!

[robby71]

neilobe - where about are you? isn't there a specialist like Minimania nearish?
you could join the AA/ RAC and get them to trailor your car to them as it'd still be cheaper 9depending where you live)

just a thought?

[IanW]

My warranty has just expired (3 yrs old). Took the car in for a couple of faults (A/C not working well and making strange, noise). Asked my dealer to do a general check over the car for any other faults and they called me to say my clutch was faulty.

Car had done 21k on mainly country lanes - I drive it quickly but never dump the clutch or slip more than normal. Had many cars before and only had one clutch go at more like 80k miles on another car.

Dealer was vague about specific root cause of clutch failure. He mentioned the mechanic heard a clutch noise on take up which wasnt normal (rattle). Dealer volunteered it would all be covered by warranty so I had it done. He also mentioned them changing a 'turret' as well as the clutch (not sure what this is).

Having read all the posts on this site about clutch failures I put it to my dealer that the clutch is either a poor / weak design or there were a large amount of clutches with manufacturing defects. He denied both points saying that they have changed very few clutches since Mini launch in their dealership and my clutch wouldnt actually have failed if it wasnt changed (plenty of friction material left, etc). Implication was it was rattling a bit, but wouldnt have failed if left for considerable time - however as warranty covered it might as well get it done (good dealer!).

Still cant believe there isnt a fundamental problem reading these kind of posts and mileages mentioned.

My opinion is if you car is in warranty and the dealer refuses to change the clutch for free. Reach a compromise that once the clutch is removed, if the friction material is worn away then it is reasonable that you pay (wear and tear) but if there is another fault (bearing failed or rivets gone, etc) then it is a design/manufacturing defect and Mini pick up the bill. Not a perfect solution but better than nothing......

[MINIMANIAUK]

from the dealers point of view its a wear and tear item,what is fair wear and tear?,and has something worn due abuse/overheating ? I dont know at what point an item becomes a design fault . parts manufacturers have a MTBF ( mean time between failure)but not always applied to some parts,and it would not pay to have things last 30 years,although simply achieved. batteries are a case in point years ago they lasted ages,and were abused by dynamo charging systems,nowadays they are sealed for life,lightweight,but lucky to go beyond 4 years in some cases! and just how much extra would a stainless exhaust cost over mild steel? £50 ? who wouldnt pay the extra £50? The power steering pump failures could have been fixed at an early point with a better motor or cooling fan,bearings,loom upgrade,even the noise could have been addressed with an attenuator/accumulator,but the cost of recall would have been massive and ultimately there is always going to be a new model released,as it perpetuates sales.

[JG.26]

The problem with manufacturer warranties is most of them will have a wear n tear exclusion clause, ie they will not cover such things as the clutch, exhaust, tires etc, maybe the waterpump, if you think about you can't blame them, when you see how your average jo public drives their car these days with little mechanical sympathy. This applies even more so with the MINI as I bet most get thrashed or driven to their limits, I'm not blaming the owners, it's just the nature of the car that it likes to driven with gusto.

The problem with MINI's is they ain't the cheapest car to fix so if you wan't a cheap car then drive something else. There is no way I would own a MINI without a waranty and as soon as mine was up I took one out with Warranty Direct who cover all wear n tear items, Think about it £23.99 a month for my S and it gets to be repaired at a BMW dealer or £19.99 to be repaired at one of Warranty Directs network dealers, so a new clutch or gearbox etc would be a bargain.

I can sympathise when your still have the manufacturers warranty and BMW won't honour failed items and this was one of the reasons why I refused to take up BMW rip off extended warranty at £560 for one year. Much better to go independent.

[minimul]

Ok, my 2001 ONE has done 36,000 miles and I'm getting worried!
I've had a look at Warranty Direct, the (inclusion) cover says for clutch "CLUTCH The master and slave cylinder, clutch cable and pedal assembly. "
So if I take this warranty up will I be completely covered if the clutch dies, or is it not as simple as that?
They have quoted me £230 for the year, so that does sound good.
What do you think?