switch from midland to getrag for cooper

[drumzz]

hi guys,
after reading all the posts on this forum regarding the inferior life of the midland 5 speed for the cooper i wanted to ask when they did the switch over from midland to getrag? the dealer told me it was in january 2004, others said it was in april/may and others said it was after the facelift. my car was built in may 2004 so i wanted to know if it would have the midland or getrag box.
thanks in advance

[frylock]

Mine was built in Aug '04 and it does have the getrag. I think it was added at facelift.

[drumzz]

is that a definite? anyone with a may/june 04 car with getrag?

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

I can tell you for sure that it was fitted at the time of the face-lift in 7/04.

Don't worry about the Midlands Gears box in your Cooper as neither box is really better than the other, they just have their own individual characteristics.

Tigger.

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Quote: Originally Posted by drumzz (original)

is that a definite? anyone with a may/june 04 car with getrag?

Mine was manufactered in May '04 and delivered in June '04 with the Midlands unit fitted. It's done 31,500 miles and it runs just fine. You can tell if it's a Getrag as it will almost certainly crunch when you select reverse, the Midlands unit won't

Tigger.

[drumzz]

the only reason of my concern is the fact that so many of the midlands have broken down. i have 21k on the clock and only 6 months of warranty left so paying out afterwards will be a problem. any signs to watch out for? also, is it ok to treat the midland box slightly "roughly" when driving fast or isit likely it will die on me?

[TypeTnT]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tigger, Eeyore & Roo (original)

You can tell if it's a Getrag as it will almost certainly crunch when you select reverse, the Midlands unit won't

Tigger.

My Mini was made in Aug 2003 (That's 03) and mine makes a crunch noise when I select reverse. I assumed I had a Midland box but now you got me all worried!

[drumzz]

my cooper also makes a slight crunch if i put it into reverse quickly..so i assume the dealer was wrong in saying that the getrags were fitted in early 2004? much appreciated

[Haggi]

im not usre of the exact date they stoped using the midlands but cars with the new face lift bumper and all cabrios have the gertag as for the crunching my cooper is a 03 plate and has a midlands and cruches

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Let me re-phrase that comment; the 5 speed Getrag units tend to crunch unless you take a lot of care selecting reverse and the Midland units tend not to.

All diesel MINI's and Cooper S's have always been Getrag, ireespective of age.

And before anyone assume that they must be a superior / longer lasting item just because the name sounds German, they are built in France by an independant supplier, whereas Midland Gears was owned by BMW.

Tigger.

[Haggi]

its more the fact that the cooper S gertag is way over engenired for the car and carries a torqure rating of near 300 were as the cooper midlands isnt so good at handling power

[phill400]

I have just had my Midlands Box rebuilt (see Gearbox SOS topic) after 60,000 miles. The signs were a very slight rumble on the over-run for about a week then it got really noisy, really quickly!

you can't define it as being a Getrag or Midlands box because it 'crunches' going into reverse. My one is stiff going into reverse but its not really a show stopper.

The newer Midlands boxes are better than the early ones (mine is a 2001), they had 3 peice synchros fitted on 4 of the gears I beleive rather than two of them (harder wearing). I don't have any experience of the new Cooper Getrag box.... The guy who rebuilt my gearbox told me that the Cooper S box is actually quite good and are much stronger, a good thing with the amount of extra torque you get from the Supercharger, plus it is 6 speed which is a good thing for keeping the car fun round town.

[drumzz]

thanks for all the info. does this mean that if there is a midland box in my car and i decide to add some more power to my cooper i.e. upto around 140bhp, it wont be able to handle the power? do the getrag 5 speeds have it in them to take this power much better than the midland 5speed box's?

also, isit a definite that the getrag's only came into play after the facelift for the cooper? any way to check within the car itself?

[Rakey]

its definate that the getrag box appeared on the Cooper only after the facelift, all cars prior to this time had a midlands box.

[drumzz]

thanks for all the info. does this mean that if there is a midland box in my car and i decide to add some more power to my cooper i.e. upto around 140bhp, it wont be able to handle the power? do the getrag 5 speeds have it in them to take this power much better than the midland 5speed box's?