I have noticed a rattle when the roof is down. The rattle is coming from the passenger side. When I have the roof up, I do not hear it, so there is something going on... The rattle sounds as if there were something in the trunk that is not secured.

Any other owners come across this?

 

Check previous thread. A few people found the passenger side seat belt to be the culprit. It was for us.

 

I've seen that thread, but what I am speaking of is when the top is down. Passenger side seatbelt doesn't move positions when top is up or down. But thanks anyway...

 

Sometimes the wind from the top down can rattle the seatbelt ,if you haven't already, try fastening the belt and see if that does anything.
Just an easy thing to try

Steve

 

I have a rattle when I hit some bumps when the top is down. It sounds like the roof moves/bounces. The dealer has reduced the noise but it is still there. I plan on taking it back to the dealer soon.

 

This sounds more like what I am experiencing. I have fastened the passenger side seat belt, removed everything from the trunk and still experience a knocking from what sounds to be in the trunk. I haven't been back to the dealer, but it looks like a trip in the near future.

Kings, do you know what the dealer did to subdue the knocking?


Thanks in advance.

 

They did two things:
1. Added foam in the well where the roof folds into to act as a cushion between the roof and the frame.
2. Adjusted the drivers side door which was causing a vibration noise that seemed to be coming from behind the drivers seat.

Good luck.

 

I'll have to bring these concerns up to them on my visit. Thanks again!

 

I just developed this noise for the very first time. Started hearing it on the way back from MOTM, with ~7200 miles on the clock. Sounds like a rock bouncing in an empty #10 can when going over a sharp bump. Something that was snug before has evidently loosened up.

Guess I'll be going in for the foam treatment.

 

I have found where the trunk lid grounding wire has worn away the paint. I am pint to have that fixed, then I am going to put a piece of wrap film down to prevent future rubs, along with relocation of the grounding strap.

Also, the little trunk lid adjustment bolts have caused those little rubber grommets to slide aside and allow metal to metal contact. I am going to get some rubber caps for the contact points and glue plastic caps to the bolts to prevent future rusting.

Compared to me '82 MINI, this one is a better car, but they still have a lot of archaic ways to deal with adjustments.

 

[QUOTE=II Kings 9:20;3785447]They did two things:
1. Added foam in the well where the roof folds into to act as a cushion between the roof and the frame.

I have the same problem. Can you give us some idea of how much foam and exactly where they placed it? Was it across the entire well, or only around the edges where the frame touches? I'm guess the latter?

Many thanks in advance,

...M

 

[QUOTE=VaMike;3815178]For the latest fix, I think the went across the entire well but I don't know what thickness of foam they used. This time the problem seems to be completely fixed, at least until the foam wears out.

 

I did a thourough detailing after a road trip, and cleaned off the grease that is on the door latches without really thinking about it. I get a bit of a scrapey/creak sound from it. I put a bit of WD-40 to confirm and it worked for a couple days. I just need to get something a bit thicker on there for a long term fix. I have a service appointment in a couple weeks where I will have them take a look at that and some other noises.

 

I'll be looking for solution updates here. My '14 Roadster is due in the first week of October, so I'm definitely on the lookout for similar issues. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

 

Same here. It sounds like the top itself rattles when down.

Does anyone else have some rattling near the roll bars?

Stiff suspension + rigid body + run-flats = PITA rattles. (Not enough to distract from the joy of driving this little beast, but just enough to be a tad annoying.)

 

I get the rattles too.

I also get the thunk when the top goes down.

Andy

 

Mine has done this since it came off the lot... Also the driver door rattles at the latch area on bumps. I figured this was probably normal for a convertible so I did not even think to mention it at it's first service.

 

I'm pretty sure it can be tightened a bit. I'm going to have them look at my doors as they both rattle on the latches a bit, but it didn't start until after i cleaned and detailed everything. It might just need to be gooped with some grease

 

Update:

During a recent DC Metro MINI get together I compared my 2013 semi-auto top to a 2012 manual top.

Where the 2012's latching mechanism would be on my 2013, I find only a metal post of sorts. This is just behind the circular panel used for latching on the 2012. This panel is non-functional on the semi-automatic mechanism in my 2013.

On my 2013 it looks like something should be mounted on this metal post (the manual latching mechanism I'm sure) leaving an unfinished area.

After finding this unprotected metal post it became obvious this was the cause of both the loud thunking sound when the roof was lowered and the rattling sound as I went over bumps, rough roads, and even bridge seams. The roof was simply bouncing up and down on the unprotected metal post.

The solution was the application of two felt pads stacked on top of the metal post.

(Home Depot: Shepherd 1-1/2 in. Feltgard Heavy Duty Self-Adhesive Felt Pads 24 $6.48)

After applying the pads, which are easily removed, there is no more rattling or thunking!

Prior to this discovery I tried foam pads in a dozen different configurations behind and under the roof and nothing worked. The dealer even tried "tightening" something to no effect.

These little felt pads seem to do the trick - at least for me. It looks like they fill a gap which would otherwise be occupied by the manual latch. I will check with the dealer again to see if somehow a part was left off, but comparing mine to another 2013 I didn't see a difference.

I'd be interested to hear if this works for anyone else.

Best,

...Mike

 

Good find, VaMike. I'll give that a try.

 

I have a 2013 Roadster S. I investigated the latch area you pointed out and found the remains of small adhesive felt strips on the metal plate that had been worn through. Apparently this is the factory fix. I only have 2500 miles so they wore pretty quickly. My top has been down about 70 hours. I found a dark colored 1 /2 inch felt pad set at Lowes and for me it only took one. This seems to have fixed my rattle. Thanks for the tip!

 

Call me stupid, but could you be more specific in identifying the "latch area" on the 2013 Roadster semi-auto top? Picture? My '14 Roadster S has 200 miles on it, so I've encountered no problems thus far. Thanks.

Dave

 

tampadave:

1. Start with the top down.

2. With the top switch start putting it up but as soon as it comes up about 6 inches RELEASE THE SWITCH AND STOP PUTTING IT UP. The top is now partially up.

3. Look exactly in the front middle of where the top was stored and you see a metal plate which the top was resting on.

4. As VaMike suggested I put one 1 1/2 inch circular adhesive felt pad on this metal plate.

5. This now gives a soft landing spot for the top to ride on.

This eliminated my clunk and rattle. Thanks to VaMike.

 

Thanks, dfjohnston and VAMike,

I'm not with my Roadster at the moment, but I will check it out.

Absent the felt pad, are you aware of any friction between the metal and ragtop that may result in unnecessary wear to the top, or does the felt simply stop the rattling noise.

 

It looked like to me there is a plate on the car, and a plate on the top and the felt just sits between them. Again, on mine there were the remains of some really thin felt that was on the car side that had worn through which explains why the noise got worse. So, I don't think this fix is hurting anything.