Hi,
I just got new 17" R90 Wheels and Tires (Continental DWS) installed on my 2007 Mini Cooper S (AUTO Tranny). The front brakes and rotors were also just replaced.

Issue#1 - When my car is at low speed and gear during acceleration and braking, I hear almost like a clunk noise made when twisting plastic.

Issue #2 - At approx 55mph I hear this low humming noise that comes and goes at about 2 second intervals.

Can anyone please advise what could be wrong with the car? I have 2 months left on the factory warranty and have set up an appointment with Mini later this week. Car has 40k miles. The stock wheels were cracked and bend so the new set came out of my pocket. I hope this "still to be determined" repair is covered under warranty. Appreciate the help!

 

I've heard of this happening with the two piece rims before. Did you get them from the dealership?

I could be wrong, but the low humming noise seems like it could be your new tires/rims.

So I guess the big question is... Is everything new, balanced and aligned properly?

 

Thanks for the quick reply. The rims are 1 piece R90 REPLICAS that I bought off a dealer named wheelplus on ebay.
Installation was done at Tirediscounters (mounting, balance and alignment included). From what I've read around, it could be the 'flywheel' making the clunking sounds but I will not know for sure till the dealer looks at it... is the flywheel replacement covered under factory warranty?

 

The clutch is a catch 22 at the dealer. They'll open it up for you and look at it, but if they find it's your fault, you'll pay for the labor and repairs, or just the labor if you're going to fix it yourself; but, if they find it's normal wear, they'll cover it. So it will either be free or about $2000.

 

Ouch! Well I just bought the car not too long ago and found out about all these issues... I uploaded couple pics of the car on this thread here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3308244

 

Doesn't sound like a clutch to me. A lot of aftermarket wheels have these problems. Do they have hub centric rings? If not you should invest ASAP

 

Not sure about the hub centric rings but these wheels were designed for the mini. The noise was coming before the new wheels so I know that's not it. I changed the wheels because of the shaking that the car was making on the highway... That is mo longer there.

 

Oh maybe I didn't read something right. And if it's made for the mini then you won't need hub centric rings. And if it's before the new wheels maybe it's Not that. Or maybe it's a wheel bearing. I guess just inspect. But a clutch or fly wheel shouldnt just be at one specific time I wouldn't think. Probably on acceleration more than anything. Clunking could be something with the brakes possibly, I have seen that clunk problem before and I think it ended up being the brakes

 

Well thanks for the help in investigating the problem but I don't think it's the brakes either. I just had new pads and rotors installed from mini (car still under factory warranty) when I had the oil change done. The issue was happening before that.

 

That clunk was before the new brakes? Just curious if they put the set screw in the rotors? That could most likely be the clunk

 

Seriously should take your wheels off and see if that Set screw/bolt is in. I would almost beT it's that making the clunk

 

thanks, i'll be sure to mention that to the dealer when i drop off the car today

 

The dealer told me that the front strut mount is bad and the other noise could be a bad bearing in the left axle... Quoted me $1200 and is not covering it under warranty!!!! The technician is saying because you brought the car in here earlier with a damaged wheel so that's what caused it.... I'm screwed!! Please advise what my options are?

 

Wwweellllll.... if the damaged wheel was covered under warranty, the aftermath of damaging a wheel should have been inspected by the dealership, and should be repaired. If they didn't fully inspect the extent of previous damage, that's their fault. Otherwise, make friends with someone who can do it for you???

 

Unfortunately the previous damaged wheel and tires were not covered under warranty and I had to get it fixed of my own expense from a local shop.
It does bring up a good point that the strut damage was not previously found in the inspection....

 

Insist on replacement of the front strut mount - I broke one on my mini r56 and they replaced it no questions - even though it was obviously done by road/pothole damge - known issue and weakness. Very little cushion with the 17" 20-45 tires. The other thing they are notorious for is mushrooming the metal where the strut attaches to the frame at top of strut (aftermarket plates are available to solve this weakness).

Dan

 

i did insist on the replacement since i personally did not do any damage... left the car overnight at the dealer waiting to hear back from the service manager today (fingers crossed)

 

My right strut mount broke broke without damaging the wheel... been known to happen and is a known problem. Flip side... I ran over a 6" water cut off stand pipe from a winter water break repair that raised up 4" out of road... crested hill in dark and never saw it... broke left two rims and flattened tires. Had Mini fully inspect for damage and perform an alignment - other than the tires/wheels and an alignment - nothing else was damaged - and they knew WSSC was paying the bill! Our local water authority WSSC paid for all the damages 100% no questions asked other than documentation.... I was on the side of the road and watched car after car hit that pipe and blow their tires! So from a blow like that - the strut mount did not break... so... maybe yours did or didn't... there is no way to say 100%. I would insist and if they will not cover it -escalate or take it to another dealer. Good luck!

 

thx for the promising words... i'll let you know what this dealer says. when they briefly looked at it yesterday, they said there was slight mushrooming on the right side, while on the left side there were two crack on the top rubber. the cracking sound on low acceleration comes only from the left side so they didn't investigate further to see if the shocks were bent or not.

 

hmm. yeah i would take it too a local shop to have these things repaired. they arent very difficult, so anyone could do them with ease, and would probably much cheaper if they arent going to cover it.