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Supreme Being
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Last Login: Today @ 4:29:48 PM
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It's definitely bad when your transmission sounds like a cement mixer... oh yeah, Midlands gearbox #2 went *BOOM* last week in the Cooper. In a big, big way.
The tranny actually started making some odd noises in its last few days - some kind of odd popping noise from time to time. Then one morning last week while pulling out of our housing development in 1st gear, there was a big *BAAAANG* followed by subsequent smaller *bangs!*. The car bucked like crazy in 1st gear, so I shifted to 2nd.
"Hmmm, I thought to myself, this doesn't sound good. I'm fairly certain that a transmission shouldn't make banging sounds, nor buck like two chicks in one of those, "Oh no you diiiiiiidn't?!?!" type of arguments. You know the kind - like on break.com?"
The pitch of the tranny changed, too. I'm was used to the old sound, you know, the singing of gears in a harmonius kinda love thang. The new sound is, well, different. It sounds like someone mixed in some aggregate of some kind, maybe a touch of sand, and a couple of BB's. Reminds me a bit of a concrete mixer, 'cept a bit more metallic.
At the next stopsign, letting out the clutch in 1st and *WHAM*, *WHAM*, *WHAM* in repetition. I shifted into 2nd, which was more tolerable thanks to smaller *whams*. From this point on, I started off in 2nd gear, which at least didn't cause the car to buck like a mule.
Imagine, if you will, revving it way up and slipping the clutch in 2nd - oh yeah, and the popping - lots of great looks at stop lights.
Oh, the other thing? I slipped the clutch out a bit (1st gear) to ease forward and *KABLAM*, so I pushed the clutch in and when I had almost rolled to a stop *KAAAAABOOM!* and it freakin' STOPPED. Engine was still running, I mean, but it tossed by head forward like I'd locked up the brakes. Hrm. That ain't good, either.
The sound is definitely cyclical - it's completely undriveable in 1st gear, but the other gears at least 'work' (so to speak).
The tranny is not leaking a drop. I'll pull the drain plug, but it's freakin' done, man.
So what to do? Welp, I found a brand new Getrag 6-speed from a Cooper S. And, I ordered a new Exedy Hyper Single clutch/pressure plate/flywheel setup, along with a Quaife LSD and all the various Cooper S interface bits that I need to convert from the crappy Midlands transmission to the new Getrag goodness. I figure, people are pushing the Getrag over 400 whp with nary a problem, so my mere 140ish whp shouldn't be a problem - hell, I have less whp than a stock Cooper S.
It's going to be a fun bit of surgery - and hopefully, the last time I have to do it. It only requires tearing off the entire front end of the car. Hooray. Again. Dr. Mike is likely to fly in again for the surgery - and, it's looking like Dec 1-2 will be the date. If y'all wanna come watch (or help, or just drink beer), well, shoot me an email and I'll let you know where we'll be...
Oh and one more thing - to the person that decided on sourcing a British gearbox from Midlands for the Cooper? You suck. A lot. No, seriously. I mean it. Did you really think the British could build a transmission?So, since I'll have a decent gearbox, the Cooper may come out of retirement for next AX and track season. Mmmm, LSD...
I'd rather be autocrossing...
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: Today @ 5:18:50 PM
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| What preceeded this problem? Anything to cause it or just out of the blue? I would guess a few teeth are missing in 1st and that is why the wham wham series.
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: Today @ 4:29:48 PM
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What preceeded this problem was the fact that BMW sourced the transmission from Midlands...  While the 2002-2003 cars were being built, Midlands workers' union was renegotiating their contract with the company - and, there are stories of bits being left out, things "kinda" torqued to spec, seals driven in "sorta", etc.In all actuality, there was zero warning that something really bad was going to happen. The car is driven hard, we do autocross, and it sees some track time. All I was going was pulling out of my housing development and *bang*. Like I said, this is the 2nd gearbox failure - both Midlands, both crap. This is a known issue on the 2002-2003 build Coopers - many gearboxes have grenaded. Shrug. Not only are the 1st-2nd gear synchro bearings total crap, Midlands also used a plastic housing on the output shaft bearing, the shift forks break, and the dog gears on the synchros are made of crap metal. Both of my gearbox failures were 1st-2nd gear related - on the first one, the synchros went and the dog gears' edges were all worn off (which caused the car to slip out of 2nd gear, mid-corner). On the second, well, I think you're right - the gear's prolly missing a couple teeth.
I'd rather be autocrossing...
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/9/2008 4:08:58 PM
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| Any update on the fix? Perfect time for a RWD Mini conversion... you could be the first! 
Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com & www.ast-usa.com
"Alpha" E36-LS1 (XPrepared/G Class "No Class") '97 M3 (STU/F Class), '91 318is (STS/C Class)
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 4:29:48 PM
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| Dec 1-2 is the surgery date... I wouldn't be the first, actually - there's a company in Holland that makes M3-powered MINI track cars... I can't remember the name offhand, but it seems like it's Qvick or something like that. They take the inline-6, trans, and transaxle and make it work...  That would be a fun ride...
I'd rather be autocrossing...
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: Today @ 4:29:48 PM
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Welp, we here at TSW have just completed a complete trans-formation on the Cooper test mule. Get it? Trans-formation? 
Sorry for the bad pun, but we spent the weekend swapping a late model Getrag 6-speed into the Cooper (7/04 on with the lower gear ratios). Bye bye went the crappy Midlands gearbox! The process was fairly straightforward, but we did hit a few snags here and there that were easily solved. We ended up with more parts in hand than we needed, BUT better safe than sorry! It's probably pretty safe to say that we're one of the extreme few R50 owners in the US with a Getrag 6-speed - and, I'm sure there will be some confused looks at events when people see a 6-speed shift pattern on the shifter!
We retained the original location for the battery box, and the aFe intake still nestled right into it's home, too. In essence, it's a bolt-up install assuming you have the right parts, some patience, and the tim.
The process began about 2:00 PM on Friday (teardown and tranny removal) and we finished the install about Midnight on Saturday - maiden voyage was about 12:30 AM on Sunday morning, which was followed by a victory beer and stog! We were so jazzed that we stayed up until 3 AM chatting and drinking Shiner. 
Car drives really, really well. Gearing seems to be a fine match for the Cooper, too, which is good. 1st is quite spunky and 2nd's got some long, long legs. It feels a bit flatter from 2500-3500 RPM than I remember, but otherwise, it's goodness. Who'd have thought ~72 mph in 2nd gear at the bumped redline?
A couple of other things - the Quaife is simply awesome. Cornering is immeasurably better when you're putting all the power down. The Exedy Hyper Single clutch is quite firm, but has great breakover and releases right where I want it to... Doesn't chatter or make any noise, either. The engine doesn't rev quite as freely as it did with the Cooper flywheel/clutch/pressure plate, but that setup was also considerably lighter than the Exedy. Still, I'd take the Exedy ANYDAY over the Spec Stage III. All new shift cables make the shifter VERY tight with ZERO slop!
I didn't do any weight comparisons, but I'll definitely be re-cornerweighting the car. With the fuel level the same, I can compare against my original baseline total weight... My guess? ~30-40 pounds of extra heft.
Look for a detailed article soon, parts list and lots of pics, including pics of the grenaded Midlands' internals (1st gear and the mesh gear were WASTED, as expected)... This job is quite repeatable for all the other Cooper owners out there that want to upgrade their tranny to something reliable - especially those Cooper owners who track and autocross.
I'd rather be autocrossing...
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: Today @ 4:59:11 PM
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Very, nice. Congratulations!
Jeron
BMW / PCA / Apex HPDE Instructor
97 M3/4 Byzanz/Magma; 2001 330i Silver/Gray; 97 R1100RT; 91 F-150 5.8l
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: Today @ 4:06:25 PM
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Excellent, sounds like a cool project. Any interest in running your write-up in the dBR? I'm always open for articles!
________________________________________________________________________Yes, I know my wheels are gold, but I DO have a car so check it. My name is Will and I like long walks in the rain...ahhhh my ankle!!! And I have a friend named Richie that abuses his powers.
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