Clutch Clinic: MINI R50 1.6

Rob Hawkins travels to Mad4mini to renew the clutch on editor Martyn Knowles’s 2005 MINI One Seven.

The work involved in renewing the clutch on a MINI is time consuming because so many parts need to be removed but, in the long run, this makes it much easier to manoeuvre the gearbox in and out from underneath. Parts such as the engine bed (aka the subframe) need to be moved out of the way. This holds the steering rack, so it also has to be detached. However, with all the extra space, there’s no need to fully remove the driveshafts, just extract them from the gearbox.

You need to set aside at least six hours to tackle a MINI R50 (hatchback), R52 (convertible) or R53 (Cooper S) clutch.

Our car has the five-speed Getrag gearbox, which replaced the earlier Midland unit. The following steps show how Mad4mini tackle this job, and they’ve learnt through experience where the shortcuts exist and when precautionary steps need to be taken. They claim to be able to remove a gearbox in under 20 minutes if two people are working with power tools, but we slowed them down with photographs and tea breaks.