Gearbox rebuild or exchange?

[al 350i]

Should I rebuild or replace with exchange unit? Car is an 05 cooper 6 speed

Will be doing work myself, any useful tips or recommended suppliers would be great

[Justin S]

Thought the getrag 6 speeders were pretty solid boxes unlike the midland ones. There is probably plenty of decent second hand ones around, i would have thought, although they maybe untested.

[al 350i]

my mistake its a 5 speed!!! i'm a fairly competent mechanic and worked on many cars, i've seen rebuild kits available or exchange units. How hard is rebuilding the gearbox or is it just best to get an exchange unit?

[Justin S]

plenty of mini places that do exchange boxes, seems a lot less grief just to swop it. Wouldnt get a second hand one either as could put you back in the same situation. Usually the boxes fail as the bearing races break up and can cause casing breaks etc. Rebuilt boxes use steel caged bearings I believe for fixing the issue.