I hear what seems to be knocks or rattles from driver side rear suspension. Dealer can't find anything wrong. No it's not the rear latch. Are these noises inevitable because the rear assembly is so close to the driver? These are not very loud noises but annoying especially not knowing what is the cause. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Mario

 

Welcome to MCO Mario! I'm not mechanical at all so I don't know the answer to your question! but I see you are new so I just had to say HELLO and you will like it here!! It's a great group of people!

 

Thanks, I appreciate the welcome!

 

Mario:

One possible source of a rear suspension "clunk" is that the bolts which hold the rear sway bar may be loose. This includes four bolts (two on either side) that hold the swaybar mount to the subframe. Also, if the rear drop link bolts are loose that can cause a similar clunk.

Welcome to MCO. Sorry you had to seek us out because of this problem, but hopefully this gets resolved soon and you can post about other more fun things related to your MINI. :smile:

Dave

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I will have this looked into.

Mario

 

Dave,

I'm not sure I know what the rear drop link is. Please provide some clues.

Thanks,

Mario

 

I have a high mileage R53 and had a rattle in the rear suspension especially in slow speed areas on bumpy surfaces. I read online that the rear sway bar bushings can cause this to happen. I picked up two for $12.97 and replaced them both in about 40 minutes. It took long because one bolt was frozen pretty good and I didn't want to break it. The ones that came out were very dry and brittle. They had also ovalized and the sway bar could hop up and down a fair amount.

Now they are replaced and the car is quiet and feels much more solid in the rear.

I'm going to check the front bushings too.