Hello fellow Mini friends,

I have a problem that has gotten progressively (but slowly) worse over the past couple years. It's not a drivability issue but more of an annoyance that I want to solve. Back a couple years ago I couldn't reproduce the issue at the dealership when the car was still under warranty, but now I can reproduce the issue almost at will.

Car:
2004 Auto Mini MC - mostly stock

Symptoms & observations:
- when putting the car in R, then D, then R, then D (etc) something under the car makes a "tick" or "tock" sound
- the "tick" seems to only come after a "tock" and visa versa
- another way to reproduce the sound is when driving/coasting down a road; if I release on the gas and then step on the gas slightly (causing a slight jerking motion) I can sometimes reproduce the sound
- the sound can be soft at times and louder at other times
- these days, I almost always (80-90%) hear the sound when coming to a complete stop (probably because the Auto tranny Mini has a tendancy to jerk slightly when coming to a stop)
- tick and tock sounds are independent of speed and independent of gear (I've switched to SD [sports] mode and tried it on 1st gear, 2nd gear, and 3rd gear)

Why I think it's drivetrain and not tranny:
- the sounds occur if I leave it on 1st gear in SD [sports tiptronic] mode, so there is no gear shifting happening

Guesses:
- is there some joint/bushing that connects the engine to the drivetrain that perhaps now has some "play" that when releasing the gas and pressing again causes the possible slack to cause a sound?

Other research:
From past posts, someone complained of similar noises being...
- a loose bolt (doesn't sound like it for me since I can be stationary/parked and switch from R to D to R to D and cause the noise to occur
- engine mount issues (doesn't sound like me because I popped the hood and put my ear near the engine - couldn't hear any sounds from the engine area, though it was quite loud - but I did put my head near the ground and listened around the tranny/drivetrain area and heard it easily and it didn't sound like it was coming from the front of the car)


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Any help would be appreciated - thank you!

 

Any past experience or expert advice?