I have to apologize to all of you before writing this, as I have seen literally dozens of postings on this issue, with very few definitive answers. So I am going to re-kindle the discussion on this, seemingly very common problem with 1st gen MINI's.


If I drive my car around town, no problems, no clunking, no issues! I pull her into the driveway leave her sit for a bit, get back in, back out and turn the wheels to pull away and KLUNK!!!!!!


The sensation is that it is coming from the right front but acts almost as though its on both sides, only to a drastically much lesser extent on the left. Its VERY pronounced on the right. The problem is, it just doesn't do it all the time! The only time it consistently happens is when Im backing out of the driveway and going from reverse to forward. Yea yea yea, I know, engine mounts, right! Brand new! All of em! Gear box mount? NEW! Dog bone mount? DONE IT! Brand New! The gear box mount has the urethane inserts in there, the engine and dogbone mount are brand new OEM.


If I put it in Reverse and get her rolling a bit, and than put her in 1st I can SOMETIMES replicate it, but it will usually take multiple tries to get it to KLUNK.


Now, the details........................


This is an 06 R50 with a 5 speed Getrag Manual gearbox with 99K on the odometer. I have aftermarket lower control arm bushings (non-liquid filled). I have checked EVERYTHING! Strut mounts, sway bar mounts, sway bar end links, re-checked lower control arm bushings, lower ball joints, axle mid-bearing, looked the subframe over and could not see anything loose under there. She has almost new front wheel bearing hubs, brakes, and a about 10K ago, she got a new clutch and pressure plate. It has a single mass flywheel so we can put that to bed too!


Maybe Im checking these parts incorrectly! I checked for play in the lower ball joints both with the suspension hanging and loaded, as did I with the sway bar end links and bushiness. No real movement on the upper strut mounts either.


I tried to rock the car back and forth with the car in 1st gear, no real engine flop, no sounds, no noise.


I even went so far as to change the caliper bushings to solid brass just on the possibility it was the calipers clackin around, but it does this with or without the breaks on.


Folks, I have thrown my hands up! I simply cant find this noise outside the car! I could sure use a helping hand on this. There is not one single operation I cannot do to a car, anything from a clutch job to re-programing a PCM and I am simply stumped!

 

My only guess would be axle knuckles, I can only assume you have inspected the rubber boots and no rips or tears.


I would raise the front end one side at a time and rotate the tire back and forth with the transmission in gear and see if you have any knuckle lash.


Yea, it sounds dumb but it reads as if everything else is checking out OK.


Best of luck.


Motor on!

 

It's hard to tell if the sway bar endlinks are bad. Sometimes you just have to change them. Luckily they are not that expensive so if it doesn't solve the problem you're not out a large amount of money.

 

Am with JABowders, possible CV joint. You have the right amount of miles. Check the boots carefully for a split..

 

I just changed my axles on both sides. One side had a badly torn boot and once removed looked amazingly good. The right side had absolutely no signs of having an issue and once it was removed we examined it and it was in bad shape.

I hadn't noticed a thumping noise before, but after the change I realized how quiet the car is now.

My Mini has about 126,000 miles on it.

 

If you're lucky, it could be as simple as a loose axle nut as discussed in this thread.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...e-or-slow.html

My '05 R53 had a similar noise that went away after tightening the right front axle nut.

 

Well, she got a new set of Moog front sway bar end links, no change. I re-torqued the axle nuts, zip! I did, however, find this little snippit that I have never seen before. Can anyone verify this:


http://www.minicarparts.net/TechTips...nkingSound.cfm

 

Central locking, yes. Didn't know about selt testing ABS at about 12MPH and don't recall noticing it in any of my MINIs. Both seem to be different than your issue though.

 

For anyone who is interested in what happened to this issue, I finally found the source of this mysterious clunking sound in my front end.


I checked everything top to bottom, front to back, couldn't find one stinking thing loose or wrong. On a whim, I dropped the right front strut and replaced the upper strut mount. Noise gone! The mount couldn't have had more than .010 of play in the bearing, but that was enough!


Now getting the bolt out of the mount for the bottom of the strut, THAT was another story! OMG! What a nightmare! Head broke off, had to drill that sucker out, made what should have been a 20 minute job a 2 hour job! Looks like the other side is going to be just as bad! Sigh!

 

Use a lot of PB blaster, let it soak over night, maybe that will help.

 

No amount of PB blaster was getting that bolt out. I ended up drilling a 3/8 hole through the threaded end of the bolt up to the point where the strut tab went through, putting a socket with a long ratchet on it, did a controlled break-off. Knocked out the shank and end and than used an EZ out on the threaded part. Wasn't bad the 2nd time, although next time, I would just take a 1/2 drill and drill it all out of there and nut and bolt it. Anyway, both replaced and this front end is quiet as a church mouse!