I thought had a bad wheel bearing (front passenger side). Roaring sound started at around 50mph. It started on my shakedown run after switching back to summer tires. Its only their second season and they were covered and stored in the loft of the garage over winter. I Had it at dealer and had them check it. They replaced the wheel bearing. Sound is still there and getting worse. Also sounding just a little gritty or grindy. Almost seems like I can feel it through the steering and brakes but could be my imagination. I did have to pound a bit on the tire to get the winter wheel off. Not unusual when rotating either set of wheels on this car. Can you do damage this way?


The sound started when I put my summer tires back on. I swapped back to winters in the front and it is diminished but still there. I figure the winters are softer tread and sidewall and don't transmit the noise as much as the summers. Rotated front pass to rear no change.


I realize that noises can seem like from one corner of the car but are really another. I feel like the dealer didn't investigate they just swapped a part. So I will try to narrow it down my self.


Winters are Primacy Alpin
Summers are Continental Extreme contact DW.


I will rotate some more maybe crossing to other side of car. Is there anything else I should be looking for?
Thanks in advance.

 

The dead giveaway for a front wheel bearing is that the noise varies with steering angle (left hand bends, the right one make noise and vice versa). Don't have much experience with rears (never had one go bad), but I would expect them to act the same but less so.

 

Could it be an axle bearing? I had one of those go bad on my 03 R53 and it was pretty noisy like a wheel bearing. It does suck because you can't buy just the bearing and have to replace the whole axle.

 

It goes silent if I steer hard to the right unloading the right side of the car. but I have to steer hard. Gentle rocking the steering back and forth yields no change. More reliably and easier is rising over or cresting a hill and the car gets light the sound disappears. It doesn't have to be a violent rise and fall. Just a gentle cresting of a hill and the car lightens.


It wont matter the cause. Its all under warranty. I basically have little faith in dealerships spending the time to figure it out. So I am trying to do what I can to diagnose before another hour drive and half day wait. Obviously I am not a tech and am limited but I will do what I can before turning it over again. The downside of buying an odd brand not sold in every town.


Seems they just heard me suggest wheel bearing and went for it. Obviously didn't test drive it either cause it was still there when I got back on the highway. I didn't turn around due to already spending half the day there.

 

jack the car up and free spin the wheels by hand,, you will hear the roughness of a bad wheel bearing,, noise travels thru the car ,some times pinpointing which wheel it can be is difficult ,, had to just change one on the right front ,thought it was the left ,,gmonde

 

I agree. A bad wheel bearing, front or rear, will be instantly identifiable if you jack up the car and spin the tire. Artoo at different times had a front and rear hub go bad. Same thing, spin the wheel and you'll know.

///Rich

 

Or hear the grumble noise when you turn one way and then not the other. Spinning on a lift is the best way to determine which wheel bearing.

 

If you put the car up and wobble the wheel back and forth with your hands, by pushing on the left and right side of the tire, you usually can tell if the bearing is bad if the wheel moves. Bearings will make some weird noises if they're bad. I've experienced some very strange noises/symptoms from a bad bearing. I've also had one act differently when having my normal street wheel/tire set up on verses my track tire/wheel set up.

-Luccia

 

I had/have similar noise that I know is bearings grinding, I have raised my Mini several times and everything looks just right. I could be one of your axles, but this would cause vibration which was my problem and heard the sounds of bad bearings somewhere. It's been awhile since it has occurred which is strange to me.

 

Reviving thread and somewhat of an update.

Spinning wheels and trying to force a wobble while in the air has not produced any issues.

Dealer found nothing in May. They did say they swapped another set of wheels and tires and that the noise went away. I wasn't there to verify. So chalking it up to tire noise for the time being I tried to put my worries on the back burner. There is a noise. It may be tires. So I moved on and took a wait and see attitude..

I did swap fronts right to left and I feel it made a subtle difference in sound but it is still there. Seems to back up the tire theory.

Here's a new piece of info. It has now been about 3 months and maybe 4500 miles. Three tires measure exactly the same tread depth. But my right rear measures 1.5 mm less! All tires bought same time and rotated according to spec.

The offending tire is on the right side of the car which would make sense based on my earlier observations (swerving hard to the right to unweight the right side of the car makes noise go away).

So what makes one tire wear more than others? alignment? I had it aligned when the tires were put on and had the alignment checked at the beginning of this phenomenon.

The million dollar question- Could supporting the rear on a jack stand supporting the trailing arm cause a shift in something that would affect this?

I jacked it at the jack point and needed a place to put the jack stand. I used the trailing arm.

Visiting the dealer again in a couple weeks and can have them address anything I can come up with.

 

Can I venture a guess? When rotating did this tire come from the right front? It's typical that the right front tire takes more abuse on most vehicles. This has been my experience with fwd.

 

Hi Alex,
It did come from the right front. It has been on the rear for about 6000 miles. I cant say for sure that it wasn't like that on the front but I stored them for winter. Mounted them rotating their positions frt to back and the noise was there with this tire on the rear. That was 600 miles ago. I started chasing the noise. rotating etc nothing helped. Dealer swapped 4 wheels said noise went away. I dunno. I have no way of knowing till I get a new set of tires. I let it go a while to see what if anything would change and when I looked at again recently noticed that the one tire was measurably different in tread depth.


Can anyone rule this pout?- Could supporting the rear on a jack stand supporting the trailing arm cause a shift in something that would affect this?

I jacked it at the jack point and needed a place to put the jack stand. I used the trailing arm.

 

[Hi there, im new to my mini cooper SD R57 2012 but was looking at your thread as i have a similar / same noise from where seems to be the front right side wheel ?? i think, and wondered how you got on with fixing it.
Mine is like an on off noise, heard from around 40+ mph and gets louder with speed, goes off a little when cornering to the right but when steering to the left slightly it gets worse and faster.
Ive just had a service and checkover at BMW and they said bearings are fine but my rear NS tyre is the original one from October 2012 and the oposite rear is a cheap budget one, and advise replacement before moving forward for a diagnostic visit which im trying to avoid at £144 an hour.. Would like any help possible please.

QUOTE=JDPaddle;4119645]Hi Alex,
It did come from the right front. It has been on the rear for about 6000 miles. I cant say for sure that it wasn't like that on the front but I stored them for winter. Mounted them rotating their positions frt to back and the noise was there with this tire on the rear. That was 600 miles ago. I started chasing the noise. rotating etc nothing helped. Dealer swapped 4 wheels said noise went away. I dunno. I have no way of knowing till I get a new set of tires. I let it go a while to see what if anything would change and when I looked at again recently noticed that the one tire was measurably different in tread depth.


Can anyone rule this pout?- Could supporting the rear on a jack stand supporting the trailing arm cause a shift in something that would affect this?

I jacked it at the jack point and needed a place to put the jack stand. I used the trailing arm.[/QUOTE]

 

Hi there, and hello to everyone, i,m the new boy in town with a just purchased R57 Cooper SD Cabriolet needing your expert advice.
I have a similar type of noise coming from the front O/S i think, louder when i turn gradual left but goes off when i turn a gradual right and at speeds around 45 and upwards.
my one rear tyre is the original from 2012 and the other rear tyre is a cheap nasty budget one already on the car so may need to change both rears before ruling out the tyres.?
BMW have just serviced it and advised of the tyres before ruling out.
I would appreciate any info on if you resolved your issue please.
Thanks all.