Even though my Mini is an '03, what are the chances of an axle going bad after less than 31K miles? Last week I had the oil changed and the tires rotated at a garage I've been using since my warranty ran out. They're pricey but they specialize in BMW, MINI, and Jaguars. They've always done good work and they're close to my home and office.

Yesterday I had to go back to have a battery cable replaced that had been damaged by corrosion. (I was a little surprised that the mechanics hadn't noticed this when they replaced my battery last year. They said that the cable was hidden under a cover and they didn't notice or didn't see anything at the time.) Anyway, I also had my power steering fluid replaced since that's recommended at 30K. When I started to leave the garage, I accelerated and their was a weird rattling noise from the front driver's side. As I drove down the road, it was really loud. I immediately turned around and took the car back in.

The mechanics put it back in the air and started looking for the problem. I went home and they called when they were finished. Said it looked like the axle was going bad and that I would need a new one fairly soon. They got rid of the noise and fixed me up to go and said they'd keep an eye on it when I bring my car in for servicing.

I don't drive over really rough roads, have very low mileage, etc. I'm wondering if they accidentally messed something up when they were working on the car, either yesterday or last week. There was no charge for 'fixing' the noise, etc.

Sorry for the long post but this just seems so weird. I wondered if axles were a problem in early Minis.

Any ideas?

 

Have you ever needed a torn CV boot replaced? If so, dirt could have gotten
in before the repair, and that could shorten the life of the CV joint. They
usually replace the whole axle instead of the individual CV joint. Just a thought.
Otherwise, I don't think axle failures at 31K are common on early MINIs.

 

Thanks for the response, Cristo. No, I've never had the
CVS boots replaced.

 

One of my drive shafts went bad at about 30k miles or so on my '06 MC. I was hearing a "clicking" sound when stopping and starting and that is what it was. I've read other reports on here of the same symptom. I doubt it is any fault of yours....you just got one from the bad batch I guess.

 

Had the same problem on my MCS. Turned out to be a loose axle nut. The dealer tightened that up and the problem disappeared.