Hey All,

There seem to be a number of you with the same gripe that I have about rattles in a brand new vehicle! I picked up my R56 a couple months ago and noticed some rattling in the doors right away, which, of course, the dealer could not duplicate on my one and only attempt to have it repaired under warranty. Because my dealer is about 60 miles away in perpetual bumper-to-bumper Atlanta, I decided to use some of my own ingenuity to repair my issue.

There was another thread on here that tells you specifically how to remove the outer door panels. It is really easy so here is a couple pointers: First pull down the set pin which you will find on the underside of the plastic door handle ring. This is the same round piece that supports the chrome or silver lining that goes around the door handle. Be careful not to leave tool marks! Second, you need to use a bit of brute force but pull the outer C shaped panel from the door. It is held in by almost thirty panel lock pins which can be re-used so long as you don't break any by pulling too hard.

To better insulate the door panel, here is what I found: The panel sits very close but not directly against the metal door panel. What this means, and predominantly on downshift when tach between 3000-2000 rpms, you will hear some different rattles or vibrations as the panels vibrates against the metal. I found some 12"x18" by about 1/8" foam sheets at a hobby store which will fill this gap. I secured stripes of it in an outline pattern around the door and voil-la! Problem solved. After carefully pressing the panel back in place, I used a razor blade and simple sliced off the excess material to leave a clean finish. Be careful not to press so hard with the blade that you cut the underlying paint or you will be cursing yourself in a few years time!!

Of course, if you use dynamat that will certainly give you the added benefit of damping road noise, too. However, this option costs about $10 in material for both doors and probably 25% the effort.

I attached some photos that show the before and after gaps as well plastic handle pin and what happens when you press too hard working the panel back in place...

 

After 1.5yrs. we are 98% (I'd like to say 99.9%) done fixing ALL of the Rattles, we even noticed that we could enjoy the Hi-Fi Stereo turned up a bit and just enjoy listening to an Oldies Station!!

 

Are you going into business? You could make a fortune on the weekends.

 

Seriously, I'd pay to get my headliner rattle fixed (and my sunroof properly adjusted for that matter).

 

my passenger seat rattle comes from the headrest not securing itself into the seat -

take a look and make sure yours in in tight?

 

I have several rattles in my MCS. It sucks but I just don't have the time to take car of them.

That and I usually just crank the stereo to drown em out! :D

 

So, it's done! A new career.

 

That's a smart move. My dealer has tried some felt lining but that doesn't insulate it enough - still have rattles.

 

I have a rattle that definitely comes from the driver's side air vent. The rattle stops if I simply hold the **** in the center that opens and closes the vent. I've tried adjusting the **** so that it "stuck" on the detente you feel just before the vent is wide open, but that doesn't seem to help. I've tried leaving the vent adjusted in various positions and the rattle comes back. I've thought about pulling a thin rubber band into the gap between the **** and the vent and cutting the ends off, but that doesn't seem like a permanent solution. Does anybody have suggestions for eliminating this annoying rattle?

 

Justa thought about noises that are only evident when passengers are in the car...

My 3-year-old MINI is tight as a...well, let's just say it's quiet when I drive alone. I noticed that if I have a passenger, I hear more strange rattles and inexplicable knocks. I'm like, yo, WTF?

My theory:

1) If you're driving alone, you're more likely to have the radio cranked up (masking noises). When you've got a load (i.e., passenger), you probably ratchet back on the volume to make "conversation".

2) When carrying a load (i.e., same passenger), you're more sensitive to noises because you want your passeng to dig your ride.

Just a theory...

 

My whole dash rattles at 2700 rpm. I need to start ripping the dash apart piece by piece and put dynamat on everything I can to try and get rid of the noise. It's enough to drive one insane and of course the dealer can't reproduce the issue.