I have managed to fix several rattles in my car, but there is still one that I cannot figure out that sounds like it is coming from the boot area. It is strange though because it seems to be there when I first start the car and go over some bumps, but lessens and often disappears as the car warms up.

Any thoughts?

 

Check the rear sunroof frame. Tap on it at the left and right rear corners. Mine made a nasty plastic against metal sound that only was evident when going over bumps. I put some felt tape on the underside of the frame, and the rattle went away. It is really a shame that MINI has so many hard plastic parts that are not properly insulated from either each other, or from mating metal surfaces.

 

I have the same rattle. The disappearing actually makes sense as plastic parts are harder and tighter when the car is cold. I will have to check out your suggestion, coffeeman. I HATE rattles!!!

 

It might be the flow through ventalation flap in the rear. At certain times mine sounds like someone is tapping on a empty plastic milk jug.

 

I've been noticing something similar from the back left corner of the car...

 

Mine is from the back left as well, or seems to be. I made some attempts at fixing the problem over the weekend and was unsuccessful so far, but may have located the problem. I did work on the sunroof trim ring so it no longer makes a horrible sound if you hit it. I alsos checked the bumper and put in some dynamat there temporarily to see if the problem was there. I also padded the inside of the headliner a bit since there is a ton of plastic pieces in there that could make noise.

All of these things did nothing to fix the problem.

The next think I noticed was on the boot hatch where the third brake light is made some noise when tapping on it. I pulled the panel only to find that the left side of it was not clipped in. Also, there is padding on the part that touches glass, but not on the edge against the metal of the hatch. I am going to take this apart again later today to see if the problem is in there. I did notice that after pulling the piece out, the rattle seemed to get worse, so maybe I am on the right track.

 

Does anyone know how to remove the plastic trim around the rear sun roof? It is definitely rattling on mine, but selective placement of the fuzzy part of Velcro did not help in driving, but did when test-tapping it. Also, what kind of stuff would you use to dampen/eliminate rattles in plastic to metal contact?

 

Lynne, It just snaps off. I use self adhesive felt that is available at Home Deopt in the hardware aisle.

 

I actually used very thin weatherstripping also from Home Depot. For some of the other areas where weatherstripping was not usable, I used Dynamat.

 

Thanks!

 

Did some more work last night and I am pretty sure the problem is with the trim piece that holds the third brake light. I put some more dynamat in there but some of it lost its adhesive and fell out. This morning the rattle was almost gone. I will be trying tonight to make a more permanent fix.