I got this car at an auction and it has what sounds like on other cars, lifter noise. A clacking sound you hear most at idle, not so much at higher speeds. It runs fine otherwise. I drove it by a BMW tech I know to have a listen to it and he said it might be the supercharger and not an internal engine issue. I could fix it myself and even buy a wrecked car for parts but if I can sell it the way it is, to someone looking for a project, that would be good too. Any ideas what the noise could be? If I want to sell it the way it is, what is a reasonable asking price? I see that full retail Kelly Blue Book would be over $16K on a well car, and yes I do know that means nothing.

 

First, what are the options on the car, colors, body condition, chassis mileage?....

 

Pano roof, navi, Harmon Kardon, DSC, front and rear fogs, xenons, 17" wheels, leather, heated seats, and probably some others I'll discover. It's silver with hood stripes and 77,000 miles. The body looks great with no dents or dings.

 

Where are you?

 

I'm in Potomac Maryland.

 

It has Pano roof, navi, HK sound, leather, DSC, front and rear fogs, xenons, multi function steering wheel, 17" wheels, and probably some more I'll find later. It's Pure Silver with black hood stripes. The body is in great shape with no dents or scratches and it has 77,000 miles.

 

Auction buyers take their lumps. Win some lose some kind of thing. No matter what, you fix the car to sell it, this should minimize any loss, or maximize profit. Making money or not only time will tell. Some times you have to eat it and move on.

 

Sprintex......

 

That's neither a cheap nor easy fix...

 

You can get a cheapy rebulit sc for $500...
about a days labour, and maybe $100 in materals, a few gaskets...
But i'd kinda wonder about "lifter noise" and it sounding like a sc...
Find a person who knows mini's...

Mini's are not bmw's....especially gen1 cars...

 

Does the noise go away when its warmed up? Does it get louder under load?

 

No, same when warm. Don't hear it as much under load but then the sound of the exhaust takes over.

 

This is hard to diagnos when standing in front of the car while its running. Its could be alot if different things, if it fades out under load it could be the sc, belt tensioner getting weak, idler pulley, waterpump, flywheel clatter, ect. My suggestion is take it to a good mini tech and see what they think, it could be something small thats making all that noise. Wish you were closer to colorado, I'd take a look at it for free, we could compare it to my 04 JCW, haha. Goodluck man.