Can't seem to find any information on this and the dealer had no idea either. I've noticed my Mini making a humming sound when slipping the clutch to start from a stop. The pitch is a mid frequency and occurs in any gear forward or reverse. It gets a little louder on a hard take off but as soon as the clutch is fully engaged (or disengaged for that matter) it goes away and is no heard until it slips again. It also does it when the car is warm so I never hear it in the morning but after driving around for some time of if its hot out, I hear it. Gets kinda annoying in stop and go traffic. The car drives fine but I'm really curious what it is.

I have a 2011 MCS hard top in manual transmission with about 11k on it. Thought anyone?

 

Does anyone have any experience with the post below. I have a 2013 R56 with about 41k and seem to be having a similar issue. I hear a humming noise when the clutch is engaging (in other words when the pedal is being released). It’s usually when the car is under load or on an incline of some sort, doesn’t take much of an incline. I’ve noticed it’s after it’s warm as well. The humming doesn’t sound natural. Has anyone else experiences this with their mini clutch?

 

How many miles on the clutch? If it's worn down enough, it could be the rivets are making contact with the pressure plate (mine was way past that point when I bought it - I could shift through all the gears with the engine running and my foot off the clutch pedal). ;-)

 

clutch has 41,000. It doesn’t feel worn but I’ll keep an eye on it.

 

That miles not really bad.. just keep an eye on it