Hey guys, if anyone can point me to an old thread, that would be great. I'm starting to grow weary of all the creaks, rattles, and road noise in the Cooper. I don't mind when I'm driving hard on back roads, but just commuting it can get on my nerves a bit. I know the rattle solution is to pull apart the dash and cover problem areas with felt or what have you. I'll get to that part one day.

My tires are pretty noisy, Yokohama S.Drives. They're almost worn out, so I'll be replacing them with something a bit quieter and maybe a higher profile.

Is there anything else, small stuff I can do? Would carpeted floor mats help at all? I have the rubber all-weather ones now. Is dynamat worth doing?

Thanks!

 

Try tossing a spare rubber door matt UNDER the rear seat...sounds crazy, but for a bit folk did this cheap fix...kinda shows how sound deadening in some spots help.
Imo, do a bit of research...dynamatt is more about mass loading items to prevent resonance ...vibration...and pretty $$. Other syuff is about 60% the price....
Have seen brush on sound deadeners (spray on too) like lizard skin, but most of the rubber/glue flat parts seem to be ok...just they are all a bit heavy.

 

PS
You might try a exaust swap....the borurla is known for a...er...very loud tone...maybe an extra resonator from a custon exaust shop could help.

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into the brush/spray on stuff! I'll put the rear seat floor mats under the rear seat too, or some towels or something, see how that works!

The Borla is actually pretty quiet at city cruising RPM's, but yeah, it isn't quiet when revving high, that's for sure!

 

Zippy, is correct. That insulation under the seats works wonders. The better the insulation, the more quiet it is. I used about two layers. Also, some extra insulation in the trunk and truck lid also is good.

I sprayed some rubberized sound deadener under the car as well. I caught hell from some NAMster because he said he should not be done for rust reasons. You be the judge it you want to do it. About two cans is what I used.

 

Excellent, thank you... I'm going to tackle this project tomorrow. I'm not sure I understand how anything rubberized could contribute to rust...

 

The more road and tire noise you eliminate, the more pronounced the rattles and creaks will be. I'm down to two now. A dash creak when it's cold, and something in the drivers door.

 

I've got something going on with either the cup holder rings, or the toggle bank. I'm tempted to just glue the living **** out of everything that might be creaking.

There are also a few creaks around the dash trim pieces, I believe.

 

That person claims there a lot of drainage holes back there and the rubberized compound will cover them leaving standing water inside the body. I looked closely but could not find anything in the back there.

 

Anyone have any experience with Lizard Skin? Supposed to insulate and have sound deadening properties. Looking as well for my 2013 MCS.

 

Danny
I have found that a lot of the road noise is coming from the rear wheel wells. What I did with mine is to remove the wheel well liners and put Dynamat on the inside face and then reinstall. I did this in this manner so if I ever wanted to remove the additional weight I could purchase new liners for a small price. Quite tires are definately a plus. I tried Dunlop Direzza Star Specs but the roar from that tire for a street ride was unberable for me. I ended up with Conti DW'S and they are the right choice for me. It is a great quiet tire and lighter to boot.
I also had a rattle like you explained and mine was coming from the lower end of the down tubes. That is an easy fix.
Steve

 

Sometimes stuff creaks cuse it cannot move....too tight with plastic parts when bolted back in can be an issue....if you find the rub spots that creak, try a bit of 3m athlethic tape..it lets the tight spots slip, and does not make noise....some dealers sometimes used a tiny bit of a powder stuff...might be talc...squited in spots as a tempory fix.
Really like the wheel eell liner idea...wonder if a spray could be used on them..on the inner parts...the bolted back in...same idea..reversable, and good for loud tires.

 

Great tips, thanks guys!

I think you're right about the noise coming from the downtubes, because if I push my knee against the downtube while it's rattling, it stops. I jammed some foam in between the toggle bank/head unit and the downtube, it seems firmly in place now.

I also cut a layer of 2" foam rubber and installed it underneath the rear seat, and underneath the boot carpet. I haven't driven it yet, so we'll see... hopefully it's a start.

 

Careful Danny, it might be so quiet you may actually get to hear your wife in the car.

 

Haha.. don't worry, I've still got the loud stereo if I need to drown her out

 

Well, just a brief follow up. The foam in the boot and under the passenger seat has quieted it down a bit. The tires are still pretty loud, but I'll address that next spring.

 

Isn't it never ending, this search for a quieter Mini.

For tire noise, I took off the wheel liners and sprayed sound deadener into the inside well. Also quieter tires really help. Took off the Dunlop z1 star specs for conti extremecontact DWS. Big difference.

 

Foam is good at limiting reflexed sounds, but lacks the weight to really soak up much sound...a heavy rubber mat(like a door matt) is of similar consistanty to most sound absorbers....many places sell dynamatt look a like stuff in sheets....almost a tar or heavy, dense, rubber stuff.
i think folks that add ANY sound deadner to a MINI quickly realizes that real compermises were made in production to save weight and cost....but a pretty small amount CAN go a long way in the right spots!!

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll talk to my buddy at the car stereo place, maybe he has some dynamat he will sell cheaply

 

dynamat and cheap do not often appear in the same line

good luck!

 

Geez, you weren't kidding! I did a little quick searching, looks like $4-5/sq.ft.

Some quick perusing through other car forums shows some imitators that may work nearly as well for much less. Maybe I'll try "FatMat" as a project next spring.

 

We have FatMat in my sons R53 that stuff REALLY helps. His cabin is much quieter than mine is.

 

That's great, thanks!

Where is it applied?