I recently purchased my first Mini S, an '11 6-speed with 9K miles. I have always owned BMW's with standard transmissions and the clutches always operated very smoothly. My Mini has a sharp chatter when engaging first or reverse at any RPM below 1,000. If I rev the motor above 1,000 the car will move smoothly...below 1K it will shutter and stall. The local Mini dealer (Louisville, KY) tells me this is normal operation. What say ye???
Must be the same dealer when after they replaced my shift linkage I found it difficult to get into gear. They said it had to break in. Shift linkage is not like a pair of shoes. My 2003 shifts fine with +100K miles although I'm sure it's a different transmission than yours.
When speaking with the service "adviser", I asked if the clutch is hydraulic. She said she did not know. Red flags are flying...
Uh.. wow. I don't know a dang thing about Minis, but if there's a Mini equivalent for realoem.com, perhaps a parts breakdown would show whether there's a Mini version of the BMW clutch delay valve. That's the only thing that comes to mind for me - where's a Mini-expert when you need one!
Your response was a great help. I checked and realoem.com has Mini's also. I did not know of this website and have now bookmarked it. Thank's! My clutch is hydraulic...
