Hello all,

So I used to think the sound was normal, I know some turbo's can be very loud when spooling up, so I just assumed this was a normal turbo noise, but when I recently made a visit to the dealership - One of the SA's drove my car and said "That's not normal" - I asked "What's not normal" - He replied "You hear that loud whistle? That's not a normal sound our other stock N18's make."

He thought it was being caused by an aftermarket bov or recirculation valve - But when the Tech checked out my car he said everything under the bonnet was stock - - - SO WHAT IS IT?

My SA's kinda through his hands in the air and said "Maybe your car is chipped?" which I'm sure the car is tuned as the feeling I get in the seat of my pants when giving it "the beans" is much greater than stock Hp/Tq...

So my question to you all is, what is this extremely loud whistle? It's not liker somone is whistling kind of whistle, it's so loud you can hear it more than my 3" exhaust - It starts around 4,000 RPM and doesn't change tone, but gets louder as the RPM's go up! I'm not complaining because it sounds really really nice! But is it bad? If it's not "normal" then what is it?

Please let me know because I fear that may be something wrong with the turbo spool, like it's grinding against the inside of the housing or something... in which case I AM complaining... and my car having exactly 1 month left of warranty, I need to figure this out NOW.

Thank you all in advance!

 

any sound clips?

 

I'm at work right now, when I get out I'm going to try and get a good sound clip of it and put it up on youtube, I'll post the link in here when that happens... hopefully my phone will let me upload the clip!

 

I hate it when dealers make assumptions like that, it must be chipped! If he threw his hands in the air he doesn't know and shouldn't shoot his mouth off like that!

Ignorance...

If there is a chip or tune you can kiss your warranty goodby!

 

I've had it there multiple times recently, and a lot has been done, and it was all covered under warranty - HPFP, replaced under warranty... Thermostat, replaced under warranty... Both vanity sun visor mirrors, replaced under warranty... Loose shift ****, replaced under warranty... Even some vibrating plastic bits inside the car (mostly in the door panels) have been fixed under warranty...

The warranty is good until October, but I cannot be certain if it's tuned or "chipped" - The car feels fast, much faster than my friends stock '08 R56 - Mine also has an Invidia Q300 Catback system though... I'm not sure if an exhaust alone could make this car feel this much faster than stock, so i'm just assuming the previous owner spent some money on a tune...

Either way, I don't think a tune alone could make the turbo (or any other part of the car) start whistling under pressure, no hardware has been replaced...

I'm going to post the video I recorded this morning as soon as I can(btw I was pulled over 30 seconds after taking the video lol)

 

The N18 is a stronger engine than the N14. Stock the N18 has 10hp on the N14. Thats on paper. But I think the N18 is underated. They have always felt stronger to me. Not to say yours isn't chippped, but just ading some perspective.

 

Cool, I did not know that!

Here is the video clip/sound bit I was able to take this morning - I hope you can hear it as I had to take it inside the car with the windows down - Only about 10 seconds or less of footage.

 

Sorry guys that slides terrible I'm not sure what my desktop did to it, here the better one from my phone...

 

Well I would agree it doesn't sound normal. It almost sounds like my DoS intake. I get a whistle too, but thats because with the DoS intake all the turbo noises are connected to the bulkhead. Is there any extra tubing from your intake at all? Just weird...

 

No that's the thing... everything under the bonnet is bone stock - As stated above I had the HPFP replaced + Thermostat replaced as well... but this noise has been happening prior to those being replaced, since the day I bought it... I always thought it was the turbo spooling & that it was normal...

 

I get a similar noise as well with my K&N when I really get on it...I always assumed it was normal but it seems now it may not. I'll try and post a sound clip as well for comparison.

Could this be turbo "whine" associated with failing turbos? or would one be getting a CEL by now if that was the case?

 

That sound sounds like air being sucked into an open type air intake rather than the stock intake, do you still have the stock intake? If so I recommend re-installing it and see if the noise is gone, if it is then it's not your turbo.

Vibrating plastic bits, a loose shift ****, thermostat and all that other stuff wouldn't fail because of a tune or being chipped. However lets say you either have a tune or a chip therefore running higher than stock boost pressures and your turbo fails, I guaranty you the dealer will void your turbo warranty do to the tune since it's considered a modded ECU. They won't even cover the engine period, Mini/BMW would never cover a warranty claim on a modded ECU and anything related to the engine. That's just common sense for any insurance company including dealers.

 

They replaced my Thermostat & HPFP under warranty, an ECU tune or "chip" would have a decent effect on fuel ratio's, which would definitely have an effect on both of these... I couldn't see how replacing a turbo would be any different, again... we don't even know if it is tuned, I'm just assuming.

As for the intake questions, I've already stated everything under the bonnet is 100% *BONE STOCK*

 

So I have an appointment on Firday morning to bring in the ole boy and have him looked at - Burning Smell under hard acceleration, Loud whistle under hard acceleration, Whining which is now happening during first 30 seconds of cold start early in the morning, Passenger airbag light OFF light is on with passenger in seat, and sunroof has very loud wind noise which is making it hard to even speak to a passenger...

So these are my current problems... if anyone could still shed any light on the whistling I would appreciate that, also if anyone has any other information concerning these other issues (especially the burning smell & cold start whine) it would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

Not sure if this helps any, but my SA said that my MINI was the quickest he has ever felt, driven, whatever, and he thought I had a tune. I assured him it was stock, as it was at the time. We both assumed it was a Wednesday car, built in the middle of the week, versus a Monday or Friday car. Not sure if the noise you hear is a detriment, maybe just a car built on a "good" day. I hear plenty of turbo noise, and a good deal of recirc noise. Even had it when stock, before the exhaust and intake resonator deletes. Sounds even more awesome after.

 

This does inspire confidence that nothing may be wrong at all! As far as the loud whistling goes, I'm not noticing anything other than that, a noise. No drop in boost, no funky feelings in acceleration, so I've rules out any possible leaks(as these are usually picked up by a code anyway) but I'll still have them look a little deeper just in case. I do not, however, get any dv noise.. no woosh, just whistle lol