I've just arrived in the US (originally from Ireland) and am on the look out for a nice second-hand Mini Cooper S.

I went to see a '07 recently with about 30k on the clock. The car seemed nice and neat, but what really surprised me was just how much the interior rattled, there were squeaks coming from the front, the rear, up high, down low when ever you hit any bump or imperfection on the road. It made me suspicious that the car may have had a knock or two during it's life.

Is it a common fault?

 

Short answer, yes...

 

My Cooper S rattles like crazy.

 

My Cooper only rattled at certain temperatures.

 

Oh no...
I may have to reconsider my choice of car, I hate rattles!

 

The question should have been... "who's Cooper S DOESN'T rattle"

...crickets....

 

Is the problem really that widespread?
The car is three years old, I didn't expect it to be rattle free, but this really seemed excessive. I expected better from BMW.

 

Only my dash rattles, and that rattle depends on speed and temperature. Not bad for an 02 MCS. You're going to have to spend an extra 20 grand if you want a rattle-free car mate. Either that, or turn up the radio.

 

Depends. Some people have the dealer fix them. Some just ignore it. Its a small car with a very rigid chassis. The runflats don't help and lots of people put on suspension mods that make the car more rigid. I have the JCW suspension on my car and my wife won't even get in it.

Lots of plastic on plastic makes for lots of rattles. It is unfortunate.

 

My '09 is pretty quiet as far as rattles go. But there is certainly a lot of road noise that makes it into the car. But, thankfully it still makes me smile when I drive it

 

My 2010 that I've had for 6 mos does not have a single rattle. It feels very tight.

 

Ok

I have been trying to eradicate some rattles which i can now testify have been greatly reduced

Apologies if these have already been posted but here are my solutions some may be well documented already

I wont post pics as they are really self explanatory

Front of car

1) Center grille by hazard flasher

Removed by brute force and sliding a plastic lever under it and prising it off working from the outsides inwards
This held on by approx 5 plastic clips i broke two in the process.
however i snipped them all off with cutters and removed the guiding lugs on the front of the grille so it would just slide straight back in
It is now held in place by strategically placed double sisded tape

No more rattles from this (I think the plastic clips held it on too tightly so that they creaked)

2) whilst the centre grille was off i removed the two screws holding the back of the speedo cowl and inserted two small rubber grommets an re tightened

3) Rev counter - removed the two screws and again inserted rubber grommets on them i also slippred a small 3mm rubber washer in between the underside of the rev counter and the top of the steering column and then re tightened the screws down

4)Secret compartment - affixed two small black rubber washers either side to stop any rubbing

5) Glove compartment - small amount of electrical tape around the catch of the glovebox so it holds more snugly


6) underside of seats are a couple of cables - make sure these are located inside the cable locks that are also under the seat

Rear of car

6) Back seat removed and gorilla taped boot release cable down

7 Aslo where the plastic panels join just below the arm rest and to one side of the rear speaker - they can be prised slifgthly apart aloowing a small rubber washer to be inserted

PS forgot to add whilst on the glovebox i crawled underneath and there are some loose cables behind it which i tie wrapped and wound with insulation tape to stop any rubbing


all for the price of some double sided tape and rubber washers

My car now has a lot less rattles just need the council to sort out the bloody pot holes

 

No rattles here!

Thf dash will get a little squeaky at times when it is colder, like in the 30s but that is it!

 

Mine has no rattles and I attribute that to getting rid of the runflats within weeks of purchasing the car.

 

You like rattles as much as I do! Seems you've done something about it though.

Think I'd like to find one with no/few rattles, as these things only get worse over time. Good to hear there are some people whose Minis don't suffer this afflication!

For those who are rattle free, what model year is your car and how many miles has it done?

 

Mine (2008 MINI S) has no rattles now (they replaced the compartment door a while ago) but wife's (2010 MINI S) has rattles (driver and passenger side and dash rattles)

 

They rattle a lot, but it's not like it's excessive to the point where you can't hear people talking next to you. They're subtle and I'm really **** about that sort of thing, but they really don't bother me that much.

 

I have a 2010 MCS with manual tranny. I've had it since December of 2009 and it now has a little over 16k mi on it. No rattles so far, except for the typical engine rattle when it first starts.

 

I almost feel guilty when I read threads like this, but my '09 JCW with the original runflats and 28K miles on the clock doesn't have a single rattle.

Maybe it was built in the middle of the week; I don't know.

 

Mine has something rattling in the passenger side mirror when I go over severe bumps. Otherwise, no problems.

 

I have an '09 with 10k miles and runflats. No rattles, but an occasional buzzing or resonance in the dash at about 2500 rmp.

 

Nope, no rattles. It's tight as a tick!

Dave

 

Currently the only thing that rattles in mine is my phone charger. I hate rattles. I have about 24k miles on it.


My 07 that I had a aftermarket stereo installed in and also had coilovers on it had quite a few rattles. I think the stereo install had something to do with it.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I'll probably be hyper sensitive for the next cars I go to see!
btw, if anyone knows of a rattle free Cooper S for sale in the NYC or surrounding areas let me know

 

They only rattle when you drive them. Our '05 and '07 both do it, although the '07 is worse.