I have a 2006 MCS with 25k miles on it. Today it started making a whiring sound. It does it when it is ideling and also when driving though it is intermittant. The closest thing I can say it sounds like is a powering steering pump that is low on oil though it is not that loud. It seems to be coming from the rear part of the engine either in the center or closer to the drivers side.

any ideas?

 

i think it might be your power steering system doing its thing. The electric motor makes that kind of a sound when it runs. start the car and see if you can duplicate the sound by just barely turning your steering wheel...as soon as you turn the wheel, you should here the motor come on.

 

Hard to say by your description. Do you live too far from the dealer to take it in to get checked out? It would be covered under warranty.

The only noise I had that was troublesome turned out to be a busted motor mount. Doesn't really match the noise you are describing, but it is certainly an easy thing to check for. Just search the forums and you will find more info on that if interested...

 

I tried what you described and heard the powersteering pump motor. The sound is exactly like that though slightly louder. It is intermittant. I dont think there are many things under there that could make this noise other then the PS pump.

 

Have you checked the fluid level?

 

yes it looks good. I think it might be the power steering pump cooling fan making the noise. After some research on the site here it seems to be a common problem. I am going to get the guys at Brian Harris MINI in Baton Rouge to look at it when I take it in for service in a couple of weeks.

Thanks to all that responded. I will post the results of what I find.

 

Brian Harris MINI has a good service department. On my road trips, I have had servicing done there twice and was impressed with their attention to detail. Definitely let us know what it was.