So I bought a 2012 Countryman S All 4 in august. I knew of most of the gotcha's around this generation, and I knew what I was going to have to do on the car for maintenance (basically.. do all fluids. )
The price was right and it had the single option I wanted.. the cold weather package.

What I didn't do.. (and I have been kicking myself in the *** on this one) is take it down a bumpy road.. Everything around me was smooth roads.
Purchased the car after a week checking out other R60's as this one seemed to be in the best condition.

Sigh..
-----------------------------
So I have this knock.. coming from the front left wheel when I hit a bump and only when I hit a bump. (not when turning) its a nice bone chattering "oh my.. what did I just break!" knocking.. like suspension hitting the frame.
The dealer (used bmw specialist) has been absolutely amazing. I brought the car back the next day and told him about the knock. He immediately thought Sway bar bushings, and replaced them at no cost to me. Inspected the links and said they were good. NO change.
He then replaced the entire strut assembly and top housing. No change.
I've been there when he has checked the links and there is no play in them.. But to my untrained senses.. I'm second guessing it.

He's had the car about a week now off and on trying to fix this and has thrown a lot of new parts at it. (Again, no cost to me.)

He had me bring it to another bmw/mini shop who immediately said that if it wasn't the swaybar bushings, its the bottom motor mount.. and that there were marks on it from hitting the frame. (which i think was from us using a pry bar on it to test the mount.. which felt fine at the time) New mechanic also said all suspension was tight. So motor mount (and one time use bolt) ordered from local mini dealer...

OK. So at this point I got the motor mount and put it in myself last night. NO friggin change. The old mount was warn, but not shot..

So now we are at a loss. I've got the car going back to the 2nd shop next wednesday, and the dealer I bought it from is willing to fix whatever is wrong with it, he's just at a loss as to what it could be.

I've got 2 new moog end links coming friday *just* for good measure that I will put in myself over the weekend.
I know I could have the dealer do it, but I just want this fixed and I'm sick of waiting/being scared of hitting a pothole.
I grew up in a shop, so I am pretty mechanically inclined but I have NEVER heard a noise like this before lol.


My local Mini dealer is booking right now in the middle of October.. I don't want to wait that long.


Any suggestions?

TLDR:
If I hit a bump with my right (passenger) tire, NO noise... Left: Sounds like the suspension is falling apart. When at highway speeds this can be a little scary, and normal city driving makes me nervous as the roads around my work are absolute garbage. Swaybar bushing and bottom motor mount replaced. links are supposedly fine by 2 mechanics but I am thinking about replacing them just for good measure. ($50 shipped 2 day for moogs which I have had good luck with in the past)


(I can try to take a video while driving later on late this afternoon. not sure of the noise would be heard though)


Mods: my apologies.. I mistakenly posted this also in r60 talk.. not the right place for it.

 

Hi Guys,

I am also chasing a knocking noise. Front left (driver’s side) metallic knocking. It’s not a deep knocking sound but almost like a bad CV joint chattering knock. It’s definitely not the CV joint, as I’ve had that replaced, but I’m rather trying to describe the sound.
So far I’ve put in new top shock mounts both sides, cv joints and new anti roll bar links, both sides.
It is most notable driving over cobble stone roads at low speeds, when it gives a continuous cluck-cluck-cluck. (sorry for the description). Otherwise it does it on small bumps or uneven roads. It definitely sounds top left just in front of me in the engine bay (as the driver)

I’ve now ordered the transmission mount.
any suggestions would be much appreciated. It is driving me nuts!

 

Any follow up on these posts?

Wife's 2013 R60 JCW began knocking last week, similar to what is described above. The knock seems to be vibration related. Checking here before I try to hunt it down.

 

I found the front knocking noise after I changed top gearbox mount, front top shock mounts, drop links, and cv joints. It was eventually the hood lid spacers. It’s two pins either side of the car which help keep the hood correctly positioned and I’ve placed a rubber stopper on it. No more noise but what a ridiculous search.

 

Happy to hear you found the issue. I'm going to start poking at the R60 on the weekend to see if I can track my rattle down.

 

Any additional updates here? Ive been chasing a "clunk/creek" and an occasional "pop" from what sounds to be the front drivers side. Had the shocks, struts, cv joints, tie rod ends checked. Replaced the bottom motor mount. I don't think it is suspension related. I've taken it on a lot of gravel bumpy back roads and it doesn't seem to be related.

I tried to record the engine while driving it back and forth I'm my driveway but my phone either picks up too much of the engine noise or the noise is louder on the inside of the car than the outside.

Side note: Replacing the motor mount did help some, as the shifter counter balance bar (I'm fairly certain that's probably not what that's actually called) is now staying in place and not freely moving...

In the past year I've replaced the battery, coil packs, spark plugs, head gasket seal (twice) head gasket cover, serpentine belt, tensioner pulley, reverse lamp switch, intake hose, all four hub assemblies, tires, rims, rotors, front brakes and the transmission and clutch were replaced at 100k miles. So they now have roughly 30,000 miles on them.

It's literally making me crazy 🤪. I feel like Im missing something obvious....and in the meantime becoming the butt of my husband and father's jokes.

I also checked to make sure the hood stops (discussed above) were in place and they appear to be. Do they become worn and need to be replaced or are they pretty much good as long as they're present?

Thanks in advance!