Hi all,

just got my new 2011 Mini S convertible two days ago, and it's a blast! I had rented a 2010 model for a day about a month ago, which confirmed for me that it was the way to go.

That said, both the 2010 that I rented and the 2011 that I bought (both automatic) have one annoying issue: whenever I'm driving casually with the top down and the engine is at about 1500RPM with my foot off the gas entirely (cruising up to a red light, for instance), the whole car fills with this bassy rumble/moan from the engine that's pretty loud and annoying. If I apply some gas and get up to higher RPM it goes away, and once I slow down and drop below 1500RPM it goes away. But right in that sweet spot, the whole car resonates with this annoying bassy rumble.

I've looked under the hood and from what I can tell my car doesn't have the "noisemaker" that older models had (apparently some 2011's have it and some don't?).

Does anyone know what this might be caused by, and what I can do to resolve it? Is it the muffler? Is there some new noisemaker setup in the 2011's? Any thoughts/suggestions are appreciated!

 

Pretty sure this is exhaust 'drone'. I have noticed it also. I have had my car about two weeks, so let me preface all of my comments by saying I am guessing. I have a lot of car experience, but this is my first MINI. So - It seems inherent in the exhaust system, in the way it was designed. I have noticed it is less likely to happen in Sport mode - probably because the RPMs seem to stay higher. You might not get this with another exhaust system - is yours an 'S'? I assume it is, because mine is and the noise si similar. You could go to the dealership and test drive a few different cars to see, but I think you will find it happens with all of them that are the same model as yours.

 

Thanks a lot for your response! I was thinking the same thing, that it was probably related to the exhaust system.

That said, I wonder if there's a quieter muffler option that I could look at. I know that's totally opposite of why most people look to after-market exhausts!

Anyway, I'd love to know about any options along those lines if people have ideas!

 

Yes there is. He is an example post

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t-exhaust.html

 

I agree that the there is a drone about that 1500 rpm mark. I usually put it into sport to get the RPMs up. Generally, the car operating in slow traffic at 1500 and 6th gear is quite annoying and seems to be somewhat unsafe. At least the sport auto gives a option to get rid of it. I am not sure I am ready to spend 1200 bucks on a exhaust that may or may not make it more pleasant.

 

So I decided to do a little dB measuring today on this with my trusty decibel meter, and it is in fact pretty loud.

With the top down, the engine drone at 1500RPM is between 80dB and 82dB! That's kinda crazy for a car that's "cruising."

However, with the top up it's completely unnoticeable. Of course, the point of a convertible is to drive top-down! It's like the car becomes one big resonator with the top down.

Does anyone have any experience with using dynamat to help with such a thing? Would it make any difference at all?