Wow my dealer must be letting me down. I brought my Mini in for this sound 2 times. By the 2nd time he said its normal and I said will most Mini owners don't think so. He said take it to a different Dealer if I don't like what his techs say- princeton Mini/BMW

 

your map is missing Hawaii. I'm freezing my butt off this morning at 61 degrees. I don't miss really cold weather.

FWIW I've experienced my first soft clattering but it turns out mine is the clutch noise that goes away when you barely touch the clutch. I'm on a lease so I'm not going to worry about it unless it gets bad.

 

I just got off the phone with my dealer, they say my car is ready to be picked up. They're going to keep the car overnight to see how it starts tomorrow. They first did a solenoid replacement, then they bled the chain tensioner, and now replaced a valve (don't have details on this step yet). I am assuming a one way valve that prevents oil from draining that I read about on Mini2 forums...

My confidence level isn't high since others who have gone through these steps still report the problems.

 

Here is my MINI Cooper S starting up from cold. Hasn't been driven in about four days, though it does live in a nice garage...

 

Saw this posted elsewhere. Thought it might interest a few here. I can't speak to the validity or authenticity of the UK PUMA... but here it is none the less:

We'll see.

On the bright side, you can't say that there aren't dealers out there taking the issue seriously. (fingers crossed somthing changes sooner vs. later)

 

Well my car won't be ready today afterall. They called this morning and said when they started the car the sound returned. They are now replacing the Chain Tensioner belt. I should have the car back by mid next week.

I know my dealer is taking it serioulsy and they are methodically following what Mini has told them to do, but in reading this chain and the Mini2 posts replacing the chain tensioner doesn't help... very frustrating.

By the time I get my car back the dealer will have had it for well over 2 weeks total now for this issue.

 

Seems like the noise went away when you removed the leaves!! That's it, it's just leaves in the air duct vents near the windshield!!!

 

Guys want to say thanks for your insight on this matter. Hopefully Mini can come out with something ASAP so you guys can start using your leadfoots again.

 

I heard this noise for the first time this morning. It was about 34 degrees here in Atlanta this morning when I started up. When pulling away from my parking spot I could hear this growling sound with a slight rhythmic tapping. It seemed to happen between 1500-2000rpm while accelerating and shifting gears. I thought it may have been the throw-out bearing at first. After about a minute or so of driving it went away. I hope that this doesn’t become a regular occurrence.

Tomorrow it is going to be around 20 degrees and I plan on using my camera phone to record my start-up in case anything happens.

 

Ok, I got the "growling" again this morning with the temp of 18 degrees. It doesn't make this sound at the initial start-up. It only occurs when I am moving and I reach an rpm range of 1500-2000. After about a minute of drive time this noise subsides.

My last car was an Evo 8. The 4G63 engines were notorious for having noisy hydraulic lifters. On cold mornings like this you could hear an audible tapping from them until the engine had warmed up.

Could it be just noisy lifters that we are hearing and that there is nothing to really worry about? It seems to be the best explanation since replacing various parts like the VANOS solenoid doesn't correct the problem.

 

You might have something different , this sounds more like a buncha' bolts being shook in a tin can !

 

Everything that I have read here and listened too sounds like what I am experiencing.

 

Mine does the same thing, but not every cold morning.

 

I really think this is caused by the lifters. This seems to make the most sense.

The oil pump in the mini is mechanical driven by a chain. The amount of oil pumped being Dependent on the RPMs. With the oil drained out of the lifters, and the oil pressure low, it sets the stage for a noisy valve train. The best thing someone could do would be to take an oil pressure gauge and see what the initial start-up pressure is.

I also found this looking around the net:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_lifters

 

I have had the VANOS Solenoid replaced and the chain tensioner but neither resolved the issue. My dealer is waiting to hear back from Mini on next steps. Looking at the MINI2 forum, the next steps seems to be engine replacement?!?

According to the quote above, if it were lifters the sound would be normal because it does tend to go away after a few minutes. I would imagine if Mini felt like the lifters were the cause they would just come out and say that and say its normal. The fact that they are trying to resolve "a problem" leads me to believe its not the lifters.

 

What was their rational behind replacing the VANOS solenoid?

 

It was a while back that they replaced it. My recollection is something to the effect that the Solenoid was the last place to get oil pumped into it on the engine, and there is a one way valve there to prevent oil from draining. If there is a defect in that valve oil would drain and one would hear the noise....

not sure if that makes sense or not, but that's how I remember it.

 

Well there you go! Problem solved. Too bad you don't work for MINI, or I'd be a much happier owner right now.

Over the last month spent at the dealership, my car has recieved:

- Two (2) Cam chain tensioners and pistons.
- One cam chain.
- One Vanos solonoid.
- New valve guides and hydralic lifters.
- A COMPLETE head rebuild.

Each piston has been individually inpected for play, eliminating the possibility of piston slap. A one-way valve has been fitted in an attempt to keep oil in the head after shut-down. Every piece of shielding had been adjusted to ensure it was not making contact with the turbo, exhaust or engine, creating any spurrious noises. All turbo and exhaust connections have been checked for exhaust leaks. And yes, they checked the oil pump and oil pressure... and it was working within spec, just as the ECU intended.

NOTHING has changed or solved the problem. A brand new engine (and all attached accessories) is now on order and should arrive Monday. Estimates suggest it will be at least another week, maybe two.

I'm not holding my breath.

 

Mine did the rattle thing on start up today for the first time. It sounded like the motor was coming apart for about 30 seconds then smoothed out. As somebody else mentioned I was parked on a hill with the nose down hill. I wouldn't would call it a cold start though. I had driven it to work, it sat for about six hours and it was about 60 degrees out. The car has 1200 miles and is a November 07 build. If it does it again I guess it will be off to the dealer.

 

Well we can all rest easy now... my dealer called me today and told me that MINI USA has told them "The sound is normal. No other repairs are required". So after 22 days at service they told me to pick my car up. WTF.

They replaced the solenoid and the chain tensioner and now they are saying its normal. I asked them what is making the sound, since they can now say its normal they should be able to tell us what causes it. They are going to get back to me with answer for that.

They said that many of the cars at the dealer (new ones) make the same sound, so its normal. I said that just means there is a high incidence, that doesn't mean its normal. They just kept quoting me the factory line...

Why would they tell me to pick my car up, and for some they are doing an engine replacement?

The sound isn't normal. I don't want to live with the car and that sound. What should I do if they say its normal and won't do anything further??

Ideas?

 

tell them you want a decked out MC (non S)...i know you may loose the power you want, but you'll get rid of that scary noise...i wonder if it would do any good asking them why the MCS does it, but not the MC?

 

Well think about it. Unless BMW completely redesigns the valve train or the lifters, it's not going to fix the problem. Replacing "faulty" parts with "faulty" parts is never going to fix the problem. Until then, the "problem" will still be there.

Reminds me of the quote: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."


There has been a lot of talk about oil in this post and how it relates to this problem. For those of you that experiance this problem, how many miles were on the current change when you first experianced this sound? Was the oil level low? What was the temperature when the engine was started. Maybe the oil is falling out of grade too soon, or it is too "thick" on a cold morning.

 

The second round of issues for me occurred a few days after they performed an oil change. So I heard the issue just prior and just after an oil change. And its been occuring since.

 

I have never seen a car manufacturer so against admitting they have a problem with something. They have done this with the broken Navigation system POI Search feature, and now the cold start noise.

They are scaring me.

 

I first heard the noise on mine shortly after it was purchased...that was April 2007. We had a cold morning, and it was noticeably noisier than normal. After that I didn't hear it again until fall of 2007, when it got cold again. After hearing it a few more times (and after the dealer assured me over the phone that it was probably normal), I took it in to have it checked. Shame on me for waiting so long. The dealer replaced the timing chain tensioner, the VANOS assembly, and checked/adjusted several parts, then gave it back to me (over 2 weeks later) telling me it was fixed. The next day the noise was back. Another week in the shop, and they told me that they can't find the noise, but that MINI was researching it, and they would let me know if they run into any other cases. To date I have not heard any updates from them.

Considering the number of people on here who have had their car back at the dealer for the same noise, that sounds like a run-around to me.