I have a 2003 R50 manual mini. Ever since I bought it I've thought that it's ran a little louder than normal mini's. It sounded like a slight rattle in the transmission. Only when I was in gear would the noise start up. I have had it for about a year and a half now. Just recently, the noise would stop when I would get to certain rpms then it would randomly come back. When I would come to a stop the past two times and put it back into 1st gear, it would make a loud winding down noise, almost siren like. Then it would stop as soon as my car came to a stop. Going through a parking lot I was in 1st gear and when I pushed in the clutch when I went over a speed bump, it wouldn't go back into 1st and I had to put it in 2nd just to keep it going. It was making an awful grinding sound and when I could get it in gear the transmission sounded like it was ready to give out and my car could hardly run. I had to pull into a parking spot and call a tow truck. I couldn't get it to go again. But it does start and I can use reverse. Wondering if anyone else has ran into a problem similar to this. I have a warranty that I purchased with it and I'm going to take it to a mechanic but before I do, I wanted to see if anyone is familiar with it.