I have a 2004 Mini Cooper S.

Yesterday, after work, I started to leave the parking lot and suddenly, the car started groaning loudly from an area that seemed to be directly in front of and below the glove box. It was so loud I thought my engine was going to blow up. But I turned off the AC just to see if that would help, and all noise ceased. This morning, I checked again. The AC blows cold. The fan seems to work. But the noise gets progressively louder as the fan is turned up. And I mean really loud.

Any thoughts on the cause?

Patty

 

I happen to have some kind of noise that developed this spring as well, which also seems connected to the AC. It also appears to come from under the glovebox in the footwell. However, mine isn't "exploding engine" loud, but it's irritating.

Another interesting note is I have an second gen R56, not first gen.

Unfortunately for the both of us, I have no idea what it is. I have a service appointment on the 26th... if no one has any suggestions for you by then, I'll post what I get out of the service appointment.

 

Thanks, I'd appreciate that.

 

I was all set to have to pay for a new air conditioner fan blower. But mine was fine, as it turned out.

Here's what happened. Somehow, a plastic grocery bag in the passenger side foot area got sucked up into the AC system. I'm not sure whether I may have contributed, because I had the cabin air filter and holder out for several weeks. A neighborhood AC repair shop fixed this for free for me. So ... fellow Mini drivers ... I hope that if you're AC is suddenly noisy, you are as fortunate as I was.