The Midlands 5-speed from the 2002-2004 R50 MINI Cooper is known to be 'temperamental' - it will not hold up well under abuse. While there are many that run for many years and 100k+ trouble free miles, some do have issues.

I have bought a running 02 mini off a friend with 109,000 miles but it won't move but goes into all gears Ive had a friend remove the trans and check the clutch but clutch has been proven good along with the throw out bearing and slave cylinder. 

is there a know issue with the 5 speed trans that could go wrong internally? My mechanic is tearing the trans open while on his free time to see if its rebuildable.