Three problems related to manual transmission have been reported for the 2003 Mini Cooper S. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Mini Cooper S based on all problems reported for the 2003 Cooper S.
One morning driving about 100 mph going up to CT I pay a toll take off the car hesitates in first gear then goes ok about a 2 miles from the toll I am doing about 100 mph and switch to the right lane and the car just stop giving me power so I go to change to 5th gear no luck so I let the car roll to the shoulder call Mini roadside and they tow to nearest dealer to my house. The dealer has my car for a total of 8 days and tell me the l/front axle will not stay in the transmission. Then the dealer say that its not covered@ first then tells me that will cover it a day later after the Mini specialist take a look @ it and say we will cover it this time as a favor. Now it is ten days later and the same thing has happen again this time I have to pay for towing and I cant wait to have a talk with the dealer. I will keep u guys posted.
Car loses power suddenly and lurches in first gear when moving off from a standing start.
Engine power loss starting off in 1st gear. When stating from a complete stop in 1st gear the car will hesitate for aprox. 2-3 seconds before the rpms increase. There is no combination of clutch and throttle that will alleviate this situation. The combination of warm temperatures and running the a/c contribute heavily to the power loss. Colder weather does improve this power loss.