Hey Mini Motorers w/ HK systems
I have heard from other forums that HK system has a notorious "door rattle" due to the bass. Is the true?

 

No idea, but I will let you know once my MCS w/HK & iPod adapter is delivered! :smile:

 

2500 miles of HK listening pleasure and no rattles. It is real bona fide issue though, just not universal.

I do have this annoying habit of putting a positive spin on things...
so IF I develop this rattle, it will be just the excuse I need to remove the door cards and stuff in some dynamat material, which I have been wanting to do ANYhow... :smile:.

A super easy How-To on MINI2 describes how to fix it, by taping/padding some of the panel's edges, and around the speaker grille...

Easy and cheap my kind of mod.

Tatt

 

The rattle comes from the cover and speaker vibrating together. I had it my car and it was annoying. It is easy to fix yourself though. There are a couple of threads about it too. The HK system is good in my opinion. I wouldn't let the rattle keep you from getting it.

 

I picked mine up yesterday and have been blasting it full volume all the way! No rattles for me

 

3600 miles on my 05 mcs and no rattles yet.

 

Tatt hit it right on the head, it's a common problem but by no means a Universal one... Take my 03 Cooper, 31k miles with HK, no rattle...

 

I drove my wife's Electric Blue 2004 "S" today and there was a horrible rattle sound in the door. Turns out the sound came from behind the handle.....hairbrush, lotion, two empty CD boxes, two dollars worth of change,:smile: .....sorry, just had to say that.

Actually, we've had no problems so far.

 

500 miles on my 05 MC, ratlles like theres no tomarrow. its just an excuse for mt to turn it up louder... . I'll fix it later, it doesnt bother me that bad

 

LOL Matt i so feel your pain! <hi-five smiley>! ooops wait, I got all that accumulated STUFF in my MCS, but strangely, I'm the only one who DRIVES it!

Glad Martha is out of jail, maybe now I'll neaten-up my life a bit,
Tatt

 

Dealer just added dyna-mat to both of my doors because of the rattling, and they even replaced a door panel at the same time because of fitment issues.

It is a problem in a lot of HK systems, but nothing to be worried about. Worse case, you just bring it in under warranty and they fix the problem for you.

 

Hey wait, I got no rattles! What am I SAYING (neaten up? whyyyy?)

Tatt

 

Maybe now is a good time to say this, the problem is maybe not with the HK system, it's with the less-than-ship-shape way the interior part of the door is put together. Once everything is buttoned down snugly (like maybe it should have been in the first place), the door of opportunity opens, and the amplifier can show its stuff w/o annoying buzz/rattle.

Cleanliness is next to Hi-Fidelity (Stan Freberg said that),
Tatt

 

It has been said better above. The HK rattle is an issue but not universal. I have about 4500 miles on my '05 MCS. I've driven it through CA, AZ, NM, TX, Mexico and the HK system plays on without rattles in Guatemala on roads that are "less than even."

It is a very nice stereo system though I usually just leave it hooked up to the iPod.

Saludos

 

Rattles here. The 05 fix is somewhat different to all these posts referring to MINI2, etc...I performed this on my 05, broke two clips off the tweeter cover, and had some issues locating how to remove the arm rest.

If ya do need help you can PM me.

 

I had a 2004 MCS with the H/K and never had a problem with the speaker rattle.

I hope that the H/K in my upcoming '05 MCS will not develop this problem.

 

My door speakers used to rattle with music that was heavily bass oriented. I turned the bass down and faded it a little and now only the extremely bass oriented music makes the speaker area rattle(The rap group NWA's music is one such group).

 

if you want to know if you have the door rattle or not here is the formula to test out your system - the best ive found:

Hotel California - The Eagles ( Hast to be ORIGINAL, not the live one)

set it to MINI h/k
bass up one click from middle
trebble up 3 clicks from middle
turn driver off

and set it to about 3/4 to full power. this will tell you if you have the rattle or not. it mostly comes from guitar bass and not drum bass, i think it has something to do with the frequency.

hope this helps -

rednwhite

 

I'm going to chime in, then hi-jack this thread.


Chime in - on certain songs (I haven't tried Hotel California yet) I'll get a rattle, but it is not over powering and easily ignored by reving to 6800 RPM!

Hi-jack - when playing a CD, is there a way to get the display to show something other than what track is playing - i.e., the elapsed time of the song or time remaining?

Thanks!

 

My '04 MCS had the H/K stereo and after 17K miles not a single speaker rattle.


My new '05 MCS also has the H/K and sounds even better and crispier than the H/K in the '04. No speaker rattles either.

 

My '05 started after 300 miles, the dealer tried to fix it once. The fix lasted 100 miles, I'll take it back again soon.

 

No, nor is there a way to display ID3 tag data with your MP3's on a CD-R

Update:
32,500 miles on Cooper when traded in with no HK rattle

756 miles now on the Cooper S, had a rattle once from the passenger side speaker. Definately from the speaker (went away when I turned the radio off) but only happened that one time, no rattle since...

 

5400 miles on my '05 with no rattles (knock on wood).

The only problem I have is deciding wether to listen to the HK or the engine... both sound sooooo sweet.

 

It's more of a vibration than a rattle, and the annoying thing is that is usually does it when the volume is lower, but their is heavy bass. For instance (warning, possibly obscure band name coming up) the first Clem Snide CD has no drums on it - they used a stand-up bass instead. The songs are really mellow, but the bass notes seem to vibrate every panel in the car. It's not a noticeable with loud music.

I haven't had the car back to the dealer (04 MCS), but hopefully they'll take care of it.

 

My dealer fixed my door rattle 4 times now. The 4th time they were like "well we've done everything in the book, is it ok to do what we think will work". They lined the whole inside of the doors with foam, then ran velvet tape all around the edge. Rattle is gone and the bass sounds incredible because of the foam.