My car sat all weekend (I live in Boston, it was very cold but no precipitation) and when I got in it to drive to work today I heard this unsettling metallic noise. At slow speeds its more of a scraping noise and at high speeds it starts sounding a bit rattly as well. The best way I could describe it is that it sounds like someone's rubbing two hollow pieces of metal together. The sound also gets worse when I turn the wheel to either side.

Anyone have any thoughts of what this might be? Thanks in advance

 

It sounds like rust on your brake rotors, does it go away when you hit the brakes?

 

No - I'm familiar with the rust on rotors noise and this is considerably more unsettling.

 

Wheel bearning.....I would bet. Odd for 09 though.

Jack up a corner and do a free spin of each wheel.

 

Make sure there is no ice/snow build up in the wheel wells.

 

Cat under the hood? Seriously, does the sound change with engine RPM or just speed?

 

Absolutely no change in noise with engine RPM. Had a friend listen to it from outside the car today and he said it was clearly coming from the front driver's side wheel area.

I was backing out of a parking spot today at <2mph and the noise was worse than ever. We're talking metal on chalkboard sound. Rolled forwards again and heard something but not as bad. Brought the car up to 5mph in 1st (too scared to throw it in reverse again) and the sound was bad but not as bad as it was during my short roll in reverse.

In any case, there's a MINI dealer 1 mile down the road from me so I'll be bringing it there shortly. Anybody have any suggestions as to whether or not it's safe to drive that distance (it's on Comm. ave in Brighton, MA, which is a ~40mph road filled with potholes, if that makes a difference) with this sound emanating from my car? Or is this something that I should be calling up a flatbed for....For the record, my suspension (but not wheels - have cheapo motegi wheels + snow tires) is bone stock, and I'm still under the 10,000 mile mark (so warranty still v. much applies).

 

I've had that noise after a rotor change. There's a thin protection plate behind the front rotors that sits VERY close to the rotor and is easily bent from snow or contact after a brake job. All you need to do is reach under and give it a nudge inwards and the sound should be gone.Here's a pic.

 

any reason that the sound would just appear - no snow, no contact, no change in hardware?

 

You're a mile from the dealer, stop in and let them look at it. If the noise is that unsettling, don't wait.