JUST TO LET ALL KNOW:
I BROUGHT MY '03 S IN FOR SERVICE @MINI OF NYC.
LIKE EVERONE I HAD THE COOLANT LEAK AND WINDOW SQUEAK.
I ALSO HAD A BANGING SOUND WHEN I RELEASED THE PARKING BRAKE, AS WELL AS A VERY WEIRD BRAKE FEEL WHEN I FIRST STARTED DRIVING WHEN THE CAR WAS COLD AND PARKED OUTSIDE OVERNIGHT.
THEY JUST CALLED ME TO LET ME KNOW THAT DIRT AND RUST HAD GOTTEN ON MY PADS AND WERE MAKING THEM STICK & IT WILL COST ME 2.5 HOURS LABOR @$100 AN HOUR.
LIKE ALL OF YOU ARE THINKING RIGHT NOW I SAID OK WARRANTY, THEY SAID NO IT'S YOUR PROBLEM, I CALLED MINI OF AMERICA AND SPOKE WITH A REP., HE SAID BECAUSE IT'S NOT CAUSING A PROBLEM WITH THE CAR IT'S NOT COVERED.
I SAID THE BANGING SOUND IS NOT A PROBLEM, MAYBE IN YOUR WORLD, BUT IN MY WORLD A BANGING SOUND COMING FROM MY PARKING BRAKE IS A PROBLEM & SINCE IT' NOT MY FOULT IT SHOULD BE COVERED.
HE SAID HE WOULD CALL THE DEALERSHIP & LET ME KNOW .
ANY HELP FROM ANYONE WITH THIS PROBLEM PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

 

Buddy - low probability of occurance in the NE alone. Post Continental. Post in the appropo forum -fixes- wahtever. Go global - post on MINI2.com.

As for events as you've described there are tales aplenty. You're on the right track. Best wishes.

g
'

 

Rust on an 03 dosnt sound right at all. Deffinetly should be warenty covered.

 

Hard to understand exactly what is being said BECAUSE OF ALL THE SHOUTING!

But I think the complaint is that the brake pads bind when the parking brake is applied overnight (or longer?)
This is a common issue for many cars I have driven, in wet weather ... for the MINI the discs get wet during the drive; on arrival home you apply the parking brake and lock the pads to the wet discs. Overnight slight rust on the pad binds the two.

In the morning, release brake and as you pull away a slight knock indicates the brakes releasing. My MINI does this regularly in the recent poor NE weather.

Unless you blow dry your pads when they are wet, or avoid parking brake (so many US cars have "P" in the auto transmission) this will happen.
Less well endowed cars with drums at the rear will not show this problem so much (the drums don't get wet inside) - but they don't stop so well either.

IMHO, not a cause for concern, or even an issue. I was away for 10 days; on return released the parking brake and drove away. No problem.

 

Wow I feel dumb. So thats what that sort of Popping sound is after moving say 5 ft? My S started doing that about a month after deliveiry and I didnt really think anything of it. Makes sense though from what you explained

 

There is one other interesting noise my MINI makes (also not concerning); apparently all MINIs do the same, but perhaps not all do it audibly:

At first start, the ABS system does a wheel test when you reach a few miles an hour. From the sound my car makes, it does one wheel each start, and cycles from one wheel to another as you use the car.
When it is doing either back wheel, I hear a slight "clunk" from that rear corner of the car when it does its test ... one time I will hear the left rear, another time the right rear; curiously I have not heard any noise from the front wheels (maybe the sound insulation to the front/engine area is better).

Personally, I much prefer a quirky "clunk" to a broken ABS system :smile: