2005 MINI Cooper S: complete transmission failure

5 of the 314 complaints about the 2005 MINI Cooper S describe complete transmission failure.

owner complaints: 5
of this car's complaints: 2%
typical mileage: 72,878
recalls: 0

Is there a fix? 4 service bulletins cover this area of the car. See below

Complete transmission failure by model year

2009
1
2007
2
2006
9
2005
5

What owners say

Filed Feb 13, 2016 · Transmission · 48,000 miles · CA

Transmission previously replaced at 48k miles by manufacturer due to noise. My transmission is broken. My tires chirp every time I push on the gas because the transmission does not know what gear to be in due to the bad body control valve. The transmission needs to be replaced because I cannot verify how much mechanical damage has taken place during the time that the valve body has been broken. Once the valve body breaks down, the mechanical unit also begins to break down. Mini needs to issue a service bulletin telling the dealers to commence servicing the aisin transmissions every 40k by replacing the fluid. Bmw/mini's transmission fluid is not lifetime. Volkswagen issued a similar bulletin a few years ago because it also uses the aisin transmission. The independent repair shops may not replace the fluid right because the transmission fluid is hard to drain and in many cases if it's not done right, great damage is done the engine. The consumer stated the vehicle was under powered upon acceleration. The vehicle would jerk, and buck. The valve body in the transmission began to break down because the shavings from the transmission gears began to cloud the fluid and inhibit communication from the valve body solenoids to the mechanical components. Updated 03/23/16.

Filed Mar 22, 2013 · Transmission · 72,878 miles · CA

I am the current owner of a 2005 mini cooper s. I purchased the vehicle in 2006 from mini of irvine with 3,000 miles. I have recently been experiencing issues with the CVT transmission. The car jerks when changing gears at any speed, as well as when switching from drive to reverse. I have taken the car to mini of san diego to be diagnosed and have been notified that the transmission needs to be replaced at a cost of $8,000. The vehicle currently has 73,000 miles and find it completely unacceptable that the transmission is failing so early on.

Filed Aug 14, 2012 · Transmission · 66,312 miles · CA

The transmission has failed at 66k miles - as I am researching this problem, I can see that many people have had premature transmission failures with their mini cooper and bmw has not been willing to address the problem. The cost to us will be approximately $10,000 to repair.

Filed Jul 28, 2012 · Transmission · 119,900 miles · NJ

While proceeding down a normal dry road I manually shifted the transmission (using manual mode on the CVT automatic transmission) from 3rd gear to 4th gear. The shift normally would be smooth however on this occurrence the engine idled extremely high and the gear kicked in after a couple of seconds with a loud banging sound when the gear finally took hold. The car behaved itself for a while but this event started happening more and more until it became a regular occurrence. Most of the time there was no loud noise but the 4th gear would not catch and I adjusted my driving so that I would shift from 3rd gear to 5th gear as quickly as possible to avoid the over revving. I brought the car in to a local transmission shop. They looked it over and advised me that there was no way of repairing the transmission and that I would have to replace it entirely. I am currently working to locate a new transmission as during the last occurrence (july 21, 2012) the car did not go into 4th gear and I was stuck on a highway without being able to move, I.e. The car would not go into any gear. After pulling over to safety I was able to put the car up to 3rd gear and return home. The car is currently unusable. I am not working with the manufacturer / dealer as previous experience has shown me that they are extremely expensive and financial gain is there primary objective. In addition all the internet blogs that I have reviewed, and joined / commented on has shown me that bmw / mini does not work with their customers to rectify this bad, unsafe product. I am hoping that bmw / mini will work with their customers who are stuck with his bad product and I am on a list to support a class action suit against them.

Filed Jul 19, 2012 · Engine, Transmission · 89,600 miles · CA

Defective CVT transmission! The dealership said that it was no fault of ours that we needed a new transmission, but due to the way this transmission was designed!!!!!!!!