1st time poster here. We just bought our brand new 2011 Mini Cooper and with less than 500 miles already towed it to the shop for extremely loud noises coming from inside the car. They were loud poping, crackling and very loud hissing noises coming through the speakers of the car. This was so loud that the car actually shook and vibrated. It really scared my wife to the point she pulled over and called me. I also heard these noises and my first gut feeling was electrical/stereo. Towed it to the shop and they said mechanically it is fine. Their computer checked all electronic systems and everything checked out normal, no flags. My wife has an Iphone 3g that she has connected to the bluetooth function in the car and was working fine. I have read on other posts about BT problems but have not come across a hissing & popping noise mentioned above. I truthfully thought the car was possessed. Scared the sh*t out of both of us. Has anyone had any similar encounteres with this ? We turned the car off, took the key out of the ignition and the noise continued. HELP !!!!!

 

Our 2011 Clubman S is sitting at the shop with the same issue.

First issue: radio would turn on, but no sound would come out
Second issue: radio would come on, but very, very loud pop would happen suddenly and without warning in all speakers, seemingly randomly, even at low volumes

Car in shop. Radio replaced.

Third issue: very, very loud static-y feedback sound from driver's rear speaker...with car on OR OFF. happened more when car was disturbed from opening/closing door, as I noticed.

Car in shop. Amplifier replaced. They test drove, was quiet and then came back again. Its been escalated to Mini in NJ for additional tech support.

 

This is really random. I have never heard of people having this problem. Hope you get it fixed and don't let it discourage you.