New Mini Cooper Problems

Oct 24, 2005 9 Replies

I was wondering if anyone on here could help me. I was following my girlfriend in her Mini on Saturday and she pulled over because she could smell some sort of burning, she told me it popped out of gear when she stopped which made me think it might be something to do with the clutch.



The thing is she says when she took the car home it was changing gear with no problems whatsoever, so i'm scratching my head.



Anyway, i wake up Sunday and see a pool of oil sitting under the car.



Now, i have no clue what this could be and don't really want to go to any old mechanic for them to tell me this and that needs doing, you know trying to pull a fast one. So want recommendations for decent/honest mechanics in/around West London.



Thanks Andrew



Popping out of gear suggests LOW GEAR BOX OIL. The puddle of oil underneak suggests a slow leak.

If you are sure it is oil - dip the level - if this is normal then it definately is gearbox oil as the dip only shows engine oil level. my advice is contact the mini dealership, and do not drive it anymore, lack of oil can destroy the 'box. hope its still in warranty. Next time you post for this car you might want to try the correct newsgroup - alt.autos.new-mini

thanks RS

is it a new old mini, or a BMW Fitzy

Are we talking BMW here? If so, take it back to the dealer. They are used to dealing with these sort of problems. They have lots of them.

Regards, David Betts snipped-for-privacy@minilist.org The Mini Gallery:

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"They are used to dealing with these sort of problems. They have lots of them"

Yep, just like the failing wheels on the Mini when it first came out.

OP, try

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If you learnt to post properly you wouldn't have to repeat what I said to provide context, would you?

Real Minis had all sorts of problems when first rushed into production, yes, but then we are talking about the 1950s here. Not sure I remember wheel failures being one of them. Biggest problem was that they leaked like sieves and water used to get into the electrics.

I have no intention of getting into a disucssion about the unrelaiblility problems of the BMW thing, which are better discussed elsewhere. I believe that discussing recalls, catching fire, etc., is the primary function alt.autos.new-mini.

Regards, David Betts snipped-for-privacy@minilist.org The Mini Gallery:

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Hi, David, yes there were wheel failures in the very early Minis, but this only became a problem when the Mini started racing. The metal of the wheels was too thin to stand up to the hard cornering and the centres often ripped out. When the problem was realised the metal thickness was doubled. Keith

Thanks Keith. It's coming back to me now. Of course, Issignonis had no interest in competition and didn't design the car to be used in this way. He was opposed to the Cooper versions.

First tiime I saw Minis on track was in the infamous all GP driver 'demonstration' at Silverstone, when no car emerged without body damage.

Regards, David Betts snipped-for-privacy@minilist.org The Mini Gallery:

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Yes BMW spent years developing the Bini Blob and still got it wrong.

Taffy

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