The large bolts holding the differential together can loosen and cut through the bellhousing,” remarks Rich at Mad4mini as we discuss the worrying noise that’s coming from the gearbox area of the 2005 MINI One seen here. If caught in time, the bolts can be tightened and all is well, so we quickly decided to have the gearbox removed to investigate further. Removal of the gearbox is quite time-consuming, requiring the front bumper to be taken off and the front subframe lowered to the ground, though Mad4mini has seen it all before and rarely break into a sweat.
The following steps show the gearbox removal tasks. In the next issue of CM, we’ll be looking inside the gearbox to follow its rebuild at a transmission specialist.
GETRAG 5-SPEED GEARBOX REMOVAL
1 Technician Fred at Mad4mini started the gearbox removal job by disconnecting and removing the vehicle’s battery,
