Annoyingly at less than 12k miles my 2003 Plus 8 is making that telltale whining that disappears when you just 'breathe' on the clutch pedal - is this an engine out job, or is there some magical "arthroscopic knee surgery" technique to get at it?

As I recall, the golden rule if replacing the clutch lining was "do the bearing while you're at it" but it seems I am rather unlucky to have this issue at such low mileage.......is there a downside to doing nothing and putting up with the noise a while longer?