I have not had to fight any of these issues personally...ALL of the turbo engines sound noisy to me and I have always chalked up to design characteristics. I have yet to see one of them come apart from any damage either and have been working on these cars as well as the previous generation since their release. When I saw this thread title, I simply checked the bulletins and thought that It might help some of you. I did not go through the entire thread.... Are there any significantly noisey cars in the South, that would care to bring their car to my dealer(MINI of Charleston).


Chad

 

I have also been experiencing this problem.
I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow am.

Unfortunately, I worry that they will not be able to recreate this noise and i'll get the brush off.

 

Is there any correlation between oil consumption and the noise? I don't have either (yet) but am curious).

 

Love to help, but I' about as far away from Charleston as you can get. I'm sure someone will eventually show up, though.

Have you had a chance to look at the videos in this thread? Links on pages 3 and 5 for quick reference.

Go back a few pages and get the youtube videos (again pgs 3 & 5)... or just give the dealership the address for this thread and let them look at them online. Better yet, bring your laptop and pull it up yourself. Any MINI dealership worth their salt should have wi-fi on site.

No. Oil consumption was not an issue for me, at least. I check my oil at every fill up, too. Oil level remained consistant and I never even had to top off between oil changes (one at 2K, another at 8K).

 

I just had my first service at 20K based on the obc. Now only after a couple hundred miles I am starting to experience the cold start issue. It happened once, then finally warmed and no problems, then again. Now this morning, it actually shut down....twice before it finally got up and ready to go.

I have scheduled to take it in to also replace the dash mat...so hopefully I can kill the infamous dash rattle and now the infamous engine stuttering.

Any recommendations on what I should look for?

Thanks.

 

video tape it !

 

I suspect it might be the throttle valve sticking in this case. I (and many others) have had this (or a very similar) issue. In some cases owners were told it was ice in the throttle body and that they needed to warm up the car and/or drive it for longer periods. In my case the dealer replaced the throttle valve. I do not believe this is related to the rattle on cold starts issue, though I have not had the cold start noise since (probably just a coincidence).

 

I wish there was such a Mini dealer in my area.

 

Just curious. Anyone with a Automatic that is experiencing the issue, or are well all 6spds? From the signatures on a lot of the posters I don't think I saw any Autos...

 

Thanks for the info on the video clips...Kind of hard to diagnose from a video clip, but can definitely hear some noise. I'd like to see one of the really noisey cars up close and personal and put some time into diagnosing it properly. BTW, I pulled the videos up with the WIFI at work and showed the marketing rep from MINI that was at our dealer today this thread. I think he will have someone look into this.... I know that it will get back to the tensioner bulletin, which either has to proven to work or not. Then, we could proceed with other courses of action to find the root cause of the noise if it wasn't the tensioner.

Chad

 

My MCS is an automatic.
================================================== ======
Just curious. Anyone with a Automatic that is experiencing the issue, or are well all 6spds? From the signatures on a lot of the posters I don't think I saw any Autos...
__________________
2007 MCS, Laser Blue Metallic with COLD START NOISE

 

2007 MCS, auto...cold start problem here as well. I guess there isn't any cold weather in Germany.

 

Coop made that rattling noise today, it kinda freaked me out but i didn't think much about it after it stopped...

 

Is this problem affecting non-turbo models as well?

 

It does not appear to be an issue with the non-turbo MINIs. In fact, I would have purchased a non-turbo MINI instead had I known about this issue.

 

Did anything change between 07 and 08 models that may help this?

Thanks... My 08 MCSa is about to get here and already starting to worry about this...

 

Considering that recent engine replacements failed to resolve the issue, I think the '08s will likely have the same problem. On the other hand, if temperatures rarely or never get close to freezing where you live, I wouldn't worry too much.

 

After having an auto Cooper as a service loaner for the last *ahem* SIX WEEKS... I would have to say the difference between the Cooper and the S is more drastic than many would have you believe. I miss my S in the worst way.

Nope. No changes to the powerplant between '07 and '08.

So bottom line: All upcoming S, Clubman S and Convertible S cars could be effected and potentially develope this issue. Another reason I would think MINI would be very hot to identify and fix this ASAP.

 

Wow, what hath I wrought...

Gang, I have nothing new to report, mostly because I'm only driving the car on the one nice day a week we might have, and even then its only about 10-15 miles. I drive to a local bus stop and go into the city from there. The weekends have been too sucky to take it out.

Relative to other modern age, post 1990 cars, it is by far the noisiest little bugger at cold start I've ever encountered, and that's fine I guess, but THE noise has not repeated itself yet. My repair was the tensioner swap, so I anticipate it will return in due course...

 

Same here, my issue didn't start until I got my oil change at 20K (following the OBC). Not that I think they are related, but they just happened to coincide with each other.

Maybe I should clarify....it sounds as if the car is misfiring, coughing, choking etc.,. then the tac shoots up to maybe 2k, then it calms down and all is well.

Those morning weren't all that cold...maybe 38F? Not below freezing, and it's inconsistent.

 

My S has 16k miles on it. Its been making the noise since its gotten cold in NJ. Today it was 45 deg's or so. The car sat for 7 hours and made the noise right at startup. Princeton MINI says its normal the few times I asked...they said don't ask anymore!! Im going to Morristown MINI next week for this and the many other issues. Has anyone brought this up to them? Am I going to get the same BS?

Also is there a running list on who has the noise? Maybe we need to put are collective forces together. We can all conference call into MINI USA!!!

 

We are running out of time. Spring is coming and this issue may disappear. I just hope that the bulletin can persuade MINI to research the problem. What bugs me is that the dealers must know that the problem exists since they're MCS cars in the dealerships should be making the same rattling sound everytime the car starts during cold weather.

 

Maybe if we went to our dealers (or have our friends go if the people know us at the dealers) and test drive an S on the lot on a cold morning...then when we (or our friends) here the noise, they can ask what it is, and if they get a "its normal when its cold" leave and say that made me not want the car.

If the dealers start to think they are losing sales because of that issue they will definitely start complaining to corporate and get the ball rolling on a fix

 

@ Sundevil.... Dont worry too much about it not making the Nasty Rattle in warmer times. MINE DID IT IN 16 TO 20 DEGREES last summer.

@ Checker coop...... Like your idea very much. Could have some milage in it ????

 

Hey,the old trust Tritec wasn't that bad after all.