Hi I own a 2005 Hyper Blue Mini Justa, and i have a strange grinding sound, its not constant but starts at about 30 MPH. Its very irritating any information would help! Also, while I idle i hear very faint grinding noise but if i push in my clutch it goes away. Then It grinds going into third! I'm worried about it! Then the next day i wasnt able to put it into 1st and 2nd gear!

 

How many miles are on the car?

Is the grinding speed dependent or RPM dependent? When you are up to speed and put the car in neutral, does the sound go away or does it still occur when cruising in neutral.

If it is speed dependent (i.e. still makes noise while cruising in neutral) it may be an axle or a wheel bearing.

If not, it is probably the transmission. Has the transmission ever been serviced? You may want to try changing the transmission fluid for some Redline MTL. When you change it, pay attention to see if there are any metallic particles in the old fluid.

 

The car has 70,700 miles on it and I did change the tranny fluid but it didn't go away. It's speed related it's sounds like a click/grind sound every time the wheel goes around.

 

Turns out my transmission seal cracked, I took it to the dealer and they had me replace the full transmission, including clutch. They told me that it was probably due to pressure, but they didnt know why it happened. Total cost was about $5,000.

 

Sorry, that's a very large repair bill. Paying dealer rates once out of warranty is bad for your net worth. I highly suggest you find an independent repairer who either specializes or has good knowledge of these cars. If you don't find anything MINI, look for BMW specialists as a lot of BMW shops now service MINI's and have a tech who has specific training for them.

 

I was looking around but there isn't much here in Utah.

 

Ouch .... that's gotta hurt .... hope the new one lasts a LONG time.

 

Try Alex's Autohaus, they have fair pricing and they are a good shop. They're on State street in Midvale. They're smart too, every time I brought a car in there the over-quoted me, which seems like something they do to make you feel better about them afterwards lol

 

Thanks for the tip, I'll try them out next time I need anything done.

 

You bet!