An '02 Cooper with a 6-speed? That's unusual

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Simon

The adventures of an owner builder in the Tallarook Ranges

Unless he's a girl and bought an automatic, somone has replaced the box, or it's an S.

Haha no not an auto.
Originally a 5-speed as per all Coopers, but this little one has gone through 4 gearboxes under warranty! So the 5th gearbox was to be a nice strong one - the 6-speed
The guy has done a few motorkhanas in it; it has been to Hay once or twice - funnily enough none of the gearbox failures were during any competition.

Has 'pod' filter, extractors, rear muffler, sounds good..
& Its FUN!

Part of the problem could be in the oil in the gearbox.
Mini50man (I think) has an 02 cooper with 80 odd thousand kays on it and still original box and parts, because he changes the gearbox oil every now and then.

The factory recommended it never be changed, I wonder if that's got anything to do with all the failures?

I did have one problem with the gearbox, it jammed in 2nd gear. I went from 5th to 2nd by mistake, turn 1 at Phillip Island. Rev counter needle pointed at the E on the fuel gauge, 11,00rpm? I had the box pulled out and stripped down, 9+ hours to get to that stage. Found a small clip on the synchro ring had worn slightly and popped out jamming the selector. Combination of bad design, bad driving and bad luck. Mentioned it to the MINI service people. They said they had a few reports of the midlands box jamming in reverse but mine was the first (and I think the last) report of jamming in 2nd. Reverse and 5th are actually outside of the main gear casing. Other reports are of bearing failures. I put in a new box and after 1 month drained the oil. Surprising amount of metal in it. Since then I change gearbox oil around 25,000k intervals. Might increase the frequency as the car is spending more time off the road with numbers on its doors.
Incidentally both the drain plug and the filler plug on the midlands box have magnets on them. Carefully remove the filler plug and see how much metal you have on it. We should offer a prize for the longest string.

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2002 Cooper, when New MINIs were new!

Ouch! Did you go with another 5 speed?
How do you find the Cooper? I'll be aiming to take it out to club track days - previous owner had done two supersprints, says the brakes are the biggest let down. Have you found this too?




Harvey, I'm not sure the gearbox oil change intervals were with the previous owner.

Hi Guys, I went to Melbourne last week and bought a 2004 Mini Cooper,I'm very happy with it except it only came with the spare key. The lady had lost the original. I rang the Mini Garage in Hobart and they said a new key with imobiliser will cost $ 560, I couldn't believe it,but what can I do no one else is allowed to make them, anyway the car is great fun,I suppose I'll just have to pay it for peace of mind,Tony

I wouldn't bother. My car only has one usable key (other is made of plastic) and as long as you aren't stupid enough to lock it in the car you should be fine.

I don't want to pay the money, but it does have an imobiliser and I like to have some peace of mind that I have a key at home if I lose my keys, Tony

Yes, replaced it with the same box. Too many hassles to fit an upgraded box. Had no problems since. I have lost count of the number of Supersprints and Hillclimbs I have done since then. Brakes have been a problem. Fitted after market rotors - drilled and slotted with EBC red pads. No problems at Phillip Island but at Sandown the brake fluid boils after 2 laps. Even managed to melt the leading edge of the EBC red pads? Similar problem at Winton boiling the brake fluid but I ran with EBC green which are only rated as street pads, they didn't melt though. Someone suggested I try EBC yellow pads !!!!!!!!!!! in a 120 bhp MINI Cooper road car. This year I will change the pads and the brand.
I you take your new MINI out on track days you will have a ball. Like me you may have one of the slowest cars on the track (power to weight ratio sucks) but nothing on the track will beat the fun factor of driving your MINI. Enjoy..

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2002 Cooper, when New MINIs were new!