Manual Transmission problems of the 2003 Mini Cooper

2003 Mini Cooper. 5 speed manual transmission. Car transmission flew apart while driving.

I bought a new 2003 Mini Cooper with a 3 year 36k warranty 6/26/03. While under warranty and receiving recommended maintenance through the dealer, the car required repair of the driver's seat which was frozen in the reclined position. Shortly after the warranty expired, and 10,481 miles after a dealer maintenance check, the brake light indicator began flashing. I took it immediately to the dealer. I was told the entire brake system needed replacement for $886. 60. At the same service visit, I was told the front struts needed replacement to the tune of $1600. My male friends who are mechanically inclined and/or engineers said that one would need to be doing stunts in a car to need that kind of repair at 50,293 miles. It was not clear why the indicator only tells when brakes are totally shot, or why the most recent service check had not shown worn pads and disks. Later, at 53,007 miles, the driver's side window failed and that cost $497. 51 to replace. At 62,516 miles the air conditioning system died which cost $1173. 58 to replace. The automatic door lock on the driver?s side does not work and lord knows how much that repair will cost. Now at 69k, the manual transmission needs replacement. My present mechanic (cheaper and more reliable than dealership) says the replacement of the transmission and clutch with a remanufactured system will be >$4000. This is an outlandish amount of repair and repair cost for a $19,000 car with 70k mileage. I have had 2 previous hondas that were cheaper than the Mini and never needed a clutch or transmission. My son drove my $14,000 '95 Honda civic until last month and it had 200k miles. I will never buy another Mini, or BMW for that matter, based on this experience. I will be sure to discourage others from buying one. I hope a class action suit is formed.

I will be installing what will be the third manual 5-speed transmission in my Mini. Same problem, seems to be the final drive bearing is failing likely due to lack of lubrication. I have records of all service and check it regularly and it has never been low. The bearing is apparently not getting a proper supply of fluid. Problem number two, my power steering pump failed on me once. It exploded while I was driving. The hoses basically got too hot and blew up. I fortunately was able to limp it to a shop without any fire. On another occasion the power steering fan continued to run even when the ignition was shut off, needed to replace the entire pump this time which cost me $500 installed with a remanufactured pump. Third, I have had to put three windshields in the car. None of these repairs were warranted! Mini needs to suck it up and claim responsibility for these shoddily made cars, they have made their money and don't care to help with anything. I am a loyal BMW customer but I think I will stick with the older models now as they aren't impossible to work on and find parts for. God knows I will not pay 23 grand for this nightmare again.