Hello,
I'm having an issue with my '04 MINI Cooper where the vehicle will vibrate/shake (not violently). I am noticing it happen at higher speeds on the freeway and only when I hit the accelerator yet it goes away when I'm not accelerating. The RPM is between 3-4k. I can't tell if its coming from any specific side or area, the shifter and steering wheel shakes but my passegers feel it too.
I just bought new tires and it did not have any effect.
I was told it might be an issue with the alignment or possibly the cv joint.

This started to happen seemingly at random, I will be taking it in to the shop soon but would like to get an idea of what I might be dealing with.

 

I had a bad CV joint, and it started with what I would call a minor vibration, but ended up turning into a major one! Happend under power, and went away when i let off the gas. It felt like my front passenger side rim was horribly bent.
It could also be your engine mounts from what I've seen on NAM. The engine mounts need replaced every so often. If it's your CV joint, it should be less than $500 to fix. I think I paid around $300 at an independent shop. If it's your mounts, I don't think it'll be to bad price wise.
Good luck, and keep us posted!

 

I had the same issue... just a slight vibration at high speeds. Turned out it was a broken strut tower mount. I got a new one from rockauto.com for 45 bucks. Car drives great now. Take a look at what my broken mount looked like:


This is a common issue on these cars. Not to mention my strut towers were badly mushroomed.

 

Check your engine mounts / bushings.

 

The issue ended up being being both the cv joints as well as the engine mounts. it ended up costing around $700. Thanks for the input, my MINI is driving great now.

 

Did you change your lower control arm )A-arm) bushings while you were in there? A known weak point. To check, put car in park or first gear, set e-brake, and push back HARD on the top of the front tire. If it rotates back more than maybe 1/2", your lower A-arm bushings are shot. Get Powerflex, they work great, no downside, and better steering response.

 

I had similar symptoms, but at most speeds and RPMs. Replacing the lower control arm bushings and 1 axle fixed it completely.