Engine gets louder at 40mph+

[jem24uk]

I’ve had my MCS for just over 3yrs now and have done 52k miles. I’ve had a lot of problems with the run-flat tyres but now I have a new problem!

Every time I take my car up to 40mph and over the engine suddenly gets louder and makes more of a ummmmm sound than it use to. My boyfriend thought it was the super-charger, but when I took it into my local none BMW garage they advised me to ‘get rid’.

The garage said it’s a gearbox bearing and that MCS’s have a bad ‘gearbox’ reputation. He recommended that I get another car within the next month or two before the gearbox needs replacing. This garage is owned by a family friend and would not benefit from me getting another car.

Is this true???? Do MCS’s have a bad gearbox reputation???

I love my car to bits but can’t afford a new gearbox at £2000+. I think I need to get a BMW garages opinion, but dread to think what problem they’ll find (or make up).

Has anybody else had a similar problem????

Any comments/advice would be gratefully received.

[OneDriver]

Cripes... I'm afriaid it does sound like bad news.

I had the exact same issue.. which will only get worse. The older Midlands gear box is known to be weak (it was later replaced with the 'Getrag' gear box).

I had to replace mine and was advised at the time to replace my flywheel and clutch - total cost about £3k!

Luckily with a little complaining MINI put it through their goodwill system and I only had to pay 900. Not cheap but I got a new gearbox out of it along with a clutch and flywheel - my car was also out of warranty.

My advice is to just get it fixed with MINI, so long as your car is looked after and serviced regularly by them you shouldn't have a problem.

Selling it with a dodgy gearbox is... well.... dodgy! Could you live with yourself knowing that you had just sold something to someone with a blatant problem? They will only end up having to have the work done themselves and possibly come back at you with a legal case.

My car feels a million times better now its fixed and to offset it I was just going to run it for an extra few months; in the long run its not so bad.

Swallow hard and bite the bullet is my advice.

[deggles]

Quote: Originally Posted by jem24uk (original)

... The garage said it’s a gearbox bearing and that MCS’s have a bad ‘gearbox’ reputation ...

I'm not sure that's true. Agreed the old Midlands 5-speed box on the One and Cooper has a bit of a reputation for poor reliability, but I thought the MCS has always used the six-speed Getrag 'box which is supposedly much better?

[Root Ginger]

Yes, I think you've been given a bit of misinformation here. The Ones and Coopers have a "bad gearbox reputation" but the MCS never has.

There are a number of things it could be and without proper inspection you'll never know.

Seems silly to get rid of a car without actually knowing what the problem is. Either take it to BMW or a MINI specialist to be looked at.

[OneDriver]

Eek, Mis read that.. not sure why I didn't make the link.

The MCS has a totally different gearbox - the goodwill may not cover this in the same way but I would still say get it to the dealer and have it looked at. If the worst comes to the worst you can always have the box rebuilt (if indeed it is the gearbox).

I always found it was more pronounced in different gears.. i.e 5th was the loudest, followed by third. 2nd and 4th were relatively normal even when the box was getting really shaky.

[jem24uk]

Thanks for the info. I'll ask the lovely Scotthall to have a look this week.

[Root Ginger]

Whatever happens, you'll probably lose more money by selling the car and getting another, than you would repairing the car and holding on to it.