Looking at a possible automatic transmission failure at ~40,000 miles

[bayerische]

Basically, I think it's slipping.

I just took my cousin's '02 mini out for a quick drive and I'm pretty sure the transmission is on its way to hell. In automatic mode, at ~50mph, when I give it a bit of gas the speed stays constant and the RPMs slowly climb. In steptronic mode or whatever it's called, I leave a stop light and it starts to slip so much at around ~20mph that I have to either upshift to about 5th or leave push it back into auto mode.

I don't know much about these cars and even less about automatic transmissions, but this seems like a sign of possible failure soon. Have there been any recalls or does anyone else have any experience with this problem?

tia

[G. P. Burdell]

Has the fluid ever been changed?

The MINI CVTs have been known to suffer premature failures. Search the MINI forums (North American Motoring and MINI2) for "CVT failure." It's a very expensive replacement - initial dealer quotes have ranged from $6,000 to $10,000 for an out-of-warranty car.