I discovered this noise recently; I am 100% positive it's coming from the enginve compartment. I opened the bonned and the noise was even louder. If I leave the car in neutral, I hear a constant knock, but as soon as I press the clutch pedal in, it goes away. As soon as I let my foot off, it starts right back. This is only noticeable while stopped, there is too much road noise to determine if the noise happens while driving.

Has anyone experienced? My dealer told me just to wait until I bring it in for service, so it must not be that big of a deal? :impatient

 

I had a similar issue with my '04 MCS. It had to do with the dual mass flywheel. From what I understand, there's nothing mechanically wrong, but if you complain, they might replace it for you under warranty. The dealership changed out mine at about 33k.

Now with my brand new week 43 build R56, I heard the same noise this morning. I'm not too worried about it. If it gets any worse, I might complain, but it's more of an annoyance than anything since it's really only pronounced on cold starts.

 

Hmm... but the problem is that it not only occurs during cold starts. But essentially, you are telling me the car will not break down as a result of whatever is causing the noise? If so great, but I think I will still ask for it to be fixed.. it sounds really horrid.

 

I'm not telling you one way or another. I guess what I am saying is that if your problem is the same problem I had with my R53 (and maybe my R56), then there is nothing mechanically wrong (other than the noise). From my experience, the noise wasn't too loud, and it was only noticeable to someone paying close attention. But, to be on the safe side, I would definitely have the dealer check it out. The bad news is that they will almost certainly need to keep it overnight.

Keep us updated, I'm curious to know what the dealers finds.

 

Press in your clutch pedal ,if the noise goes away then its your flywheel

 

Mine has had the same noise since new, and many others have reported the same thing. Consensus seemed to be that it was likely the dual-mass flywheel (or possibly the clutch thrust plate bearing?), as the R53 was prone to the same issue. Since the noise came back on some R53s that had the problematic parts replaced, and since nobody seemed to think the issue is/was serious, I haven't even bothered to mention it to the dealer at this point.

 

So, what is causing this? Is it shipped with a deffect, or did I cause this somehow?

 

there are a few other threads on this same issue.
I had a leaky rear main seal on my 07 MCS which required them to remove the tranny. when they put it back together, I had the knock. the sound is exactly what you describe. they then replaced the flywheel...noise still there. then they replaced the clutch and throw-out bearing.....noise still there. they then replaced the whole tranny.....noise finally gone.

new tranny at only 900 miles =

 

Oh boy... I really don't have time for all this replacement. I work 90 miles away from home, and am gone 5 days a week. I somehow doubt they will let me keep a loaner for that long. Has anyone had experience with Niello MINI in Sacramento?

 

I have the same knock sounding problem. After my drive home from work every night i put her to bed and its there before i shut her off. My brother was telling me it might have something to do with the engine. He had a vw corado v6 and he would have the same issue. He check and re-checked the oil and nothing up that tree. I would like to know more about this as a long term problem or not.

 

is it more like a ticking if so it is normal. it is because it is a direct injection motor. if is an actual knock get it checked out.

 

I had the same problem and had it checked out, my dealer said that it was normal and due to the dual-mass flywheel. They claimed that it is the two parts of the flywheel (which are held together with a spring) knocking together, which is apparently normal. I sure hope it is, but they seemed pretty adamant that it was.

 

Sorry guys, it's NOT due to the dual-mass flywheel. Go hang out with some modded cars with light flywheels and your cars will be silent in comparison. However, it's not strictly the flywheel, but a reaction with the clutch plate when the clutch is closed when the transmission is in neutral. This is not new, or a defect. All manual transmission cars do this, some are just louder than others, and it's not detrimental to long term life. The R56 does have a noisier clutch than the R53, however when I installed an aftermarket clutch/flywheel in my modded R53 it practically sounded like a diesel! It's just the way it is with a particular clutch/flywheel combo.

 

Then why does this sound just develop out of nowhere? Mine just started doing it this morning. It's an '04 MCS, 39k miles.

 

In neutral, try letting the clutch pedal out SLOWLY. That essentially eliminates the tapping noise in my '05 MCS.

There are many, many, many posts on this topic (here and on Mini2). Replacing clutch/flywheel, etc. does not typically solve the "problem".

 

No offense, but it probably didn't "just start" this morning. You probably just now noticed it that you read this thread and are actually listening for something now. That said, varying temperatures and clutch wear may have an impact as to how loud the chattering can be.

 

None taken. But no, I got onto the boards tonight specifically in search of more info on this issue. I have been on this site only twice prior.

I am pretty **** retentive about my car, and any noises that it makes. The same can be said for anything else expensive I own. I am currently having an AC belt issue (2 months really, but I live a few hours from the nearest dealer and can almost always get by without AC), so my ears are pretty sensitive at this point to the usual sounds. It just started this morning, bottom line. It was never audible before. Perhaps it was happening before at an inaudible level (that of course brings up the whole 'if a tree falls in the forest' sort of scenario). Not to get self-righteously indignant, but I am quite certain. I have always heard it on my buddy's '02 Cooper S, but never on mine until today.

 

Fair enough. If I had to guess I'd say it's the cold weather and/or the clutch wear as it goes through it's normal life. In either case it's nothing to be concerned about, though I do agree the sound is a bit annoying as it sounds like there might be something wrong.

 

Thanks for the calrification guys; I'm glad it's nothing to worry about. If a clutch/flyweel replacement won't do squat, then I won't even waste the dealer's time with this. Thanks!

 

I tend to agree with Ryephile. We noticed the noise back when we first got our R53 - sounded like a bad throwout bearing which goes away when you depress the clutch. Turns out, its simply the gearbox noise which the dual-mass flywheel dampens a great deal, but not completely. When we went to the lightweight single mass flywheel, the noise was amplified greatly. Keep in mind that the secondary plate in the dual mass flywheel (R53) had 70 degree of dampening rotation in both directions - that's a lot of dampening... When the stock flywheel goes bad, the dampening goes away and the noise gets louder..

The R56 (manual) is a very similar transmission to the R53 except they went from a 3 shaft design to a 2.5 shaft design. Noise characteristics are similar although slightly improved.

Ken