2010 Camden 50 and I hear the whinning when I turn on the a/c. It quitss down as I Speed :-) Faster.

 

Mine does it too. Irritating because it messes up the great exhaust sound in the car.

 

My 2010 Clubman (non-S) makes the exact same noise when engaging the AC. It has only 1300 miles on it so far...

I am still considering whether or not to take it to the dealer. If I do I will post their solution.

 

i have the same problem. mine seems to be a little worse. the car sounds like a wind-up toy for several minutes.

 

My MINI's a/c is still making the noise. It is constant and gets really loud as the RPMs get higher. I may get it back in the shop soon. Still not convinced it is the compressor... maybe some other component of the system.

 

Well, if there's any question at all, it would be best to just get your MINI service department to check it. If the sound is regular and repeatable, there shouldn't be any problem demonstrating it to them.

Ask them to run one or two other 2010 "S" Hardtops they've got there and see if it emits the same sounds with the A/C running. It just may be a "feature" of this particular year and/or model. It's been known to happen...

 

My 2010 MCS has the exact same problem. I noticed it the first time I turned the AC on. The whine is only there when the AC is on and is directly proportional to RPMs of the engine.

 

Spoke to the technician at MINI again yesterday about the groaning noise. He is not aware of any fix to this "feature". It's common in the newer MINIs. Louder in some, not so loud in others. I got a loud one.

Looking forward to cooler weather so I don't have to run the noisy a/c so much!

 

I had the compressor replaced in mine and the problem did not go away, so we can eliminate that as the cause. There's a cheap and/or badly fitted part somewhere that's causing this, or maybe not enough sound deadening -- there MUST be a way to fix it!

 

This sounds like an increasingly common issue with the 2010s. Is there a way to raise the issue with MINI, similar to how the cold start issue was brought to attention?

 

There is no way to fix it. It's the internal design of this compressor they use and there is nothing wrong with it. It works, but at the cost of noise. If you want a quiet, more expensive compressor, buy a Lexus. =)

 

I've owned or driven in many, many cheaper cars that don't make this noise. Crappy design, then, on MINI's part. Cheap cars like the Toyota Echo & Yaris, Honda Civic, etc., show that an A/C compressor does not need to make this cheap noise.

 

Mine does it as well even though it's a 2009. I've gotten used to it. If its the internals of the compressor then replacing it with a different model may help but that would be at the expense of the warranty and probably at an out of pocket cost.

I just turn the radio up

 

Agreed. I also have owned plenty of cheaper cars without such noise. This is an issue that should be addressed by MINI.

 

Ours is a newish '10 MCS and was surprised when I first turned on the AC and noticed the 'growl' that was pretty obvious even with the radio on. Goes along with the changing rpm. Will bring this up on our first maintenance visit.

 

I know the noise that the AC compressor is not normal. I have taken my Camden twice for the same problem. If everyone complains about the noise then MINI will do something. I do hope that everyone will call their dealers and address this issue. I don't know about you but I paid a lot of money for my MINI and would love to have it fixed so I can enjoy the time I spend in mine. The is my second MINI and I still have my '06. I love these cars but am not willing to live with a design flaw that it so irritating. How about you?

HRMINI Post 9/19/2010

As many of you already know I have taken my Camden to Crown MINI twice now for my AC problem of making a horrible noise. I went to pick it up yesterday and was told that the BMW inspector (or whatever they call him) was there and spent some time on my MINI. Alan the MINI Service Manager said they tested 6 other MINI's and they all made the same noise. However mine seemed to be the loudest. The inspector admitted it was a known issue but they didn't have a fix for it and did not say if there would be any announcement at this time about the problem.

He told me that I should receive something from MINI about my AC problem in 60-90 days. And that maybe it would be one of those issues that get fixed by the number of complaints.

I did express how disappointed I was with the outcome and I was not going to settle for that's just how it is. I have no intention of having to turn my stereo up loud enough to drown out the noise.

Please if you have a 2010 Mini listen to the AC, you can hear the noise escalate with an increase of throttle. Contact your MINI dealer and don't settle for that's normal. The more of us that contact them the better. Hopefully it will push them to come up with a solution quick.

 

My 2010 Clubman S with 5800 miles on it, has made this sound since day one, and although it's "different", it's not a flaw to me.

I had the clubbie serviced for a week due to some damage during transport, and got a 3 series wagon, and for a second I felt like I was in the MINI. It has the push to start button, the same dings, all the way down to the same whirring sound when the AC was on.

Is this a serious problem? I don't think so. Turn off the AC and roll down the windows if it's really bothering you, lol.

 

OctaniGuy -- this IS indeed a serious problem for a car that costs this much. My previous cars were far cheaper and did not have this issue. Your post shows that it's a BMW problem.

A very well-respected MINI mechanic in the L.A. area told me that BMW uses very cheap parts much of the time in their cars, no matter how expensive the car is (at which point he pointed to an M5 on the mechanic's stand). I paid $32,000 for my Clubman S -- this problem should not exist and if it does should be fixed immediately by the dealer. This thread makes me realize that it is not an isolated incident with my car but yet another cheap part which is put in a car that's certainly not cheap.

I went back to my dealer three times for this issue and they finally replaced the compressor after acknowledging that it IS a problem. Unfortunately it did not fix the problem, which leads me to be believe that BMW has found a cheaper and crappier supplier for the AC compressor for 2010 MINIs. Next week I'm going to request that they find a "new" compressor from an older year MINI and put it in my car. Will report back with the results.

 

Or buy a Toyota Yaris or a Honda Civic.

 

This isn't a $32,000 car, it's a $25,500 car and some change, lol. And yes I paid over $40K for my $25.5K Clubman S and I spent more on mods, and I love it to death.

Call it what you will but in the early days of the MINI, people complained of rattles as being "serious" problems too.

From the 1st gen MINIs, the biggest problem with the AC wasn't the noise, it was that it robbed the engine of power. Especially noticeable on the Coopers.

For the 2nd gens, I find that if I have my AC on when I start the car, it might take a few tries on the start button to keep it idling unless I give it some gas, or turn off the AC. Some would cry "Cheap" too.

We have warranty's to fix whatever breaks on the car, so stop worrying about something you deem MUST be broken because it sounds funny.

You've got a British car, engineered by the Germans...it's not Japanese, so quit comparing it to a Japanese car.

And if you really can't get over the "cheap" feeling, then sell the Clubman S and find a different car that does make you happy.

Richard

 

I'm not going to sell it because I love driving it. The only thing I'm comparing it to is how well-made most Japanese cars are; there's nothing wrong with wishing the Germans would get their act together in that regard. No one's "crying" cheap -- we're pointing out a fault in a car that shouldn't be there for this much money. Even if I "love" a product I'm not afraid to call it out on its faults, as BMW is merely a corporation.

Anyway, this is beside the point. Just because you personally don't deem it serious doesn't mean it's not serious to others, as evidenced by this thread. If it doesn't bug you then...there are other threads. Many of us here are hoping to find a solution to this.

I know some get annoyed by how much I rail on MINI quality. It's not unfounded, but I indeed do it too much and will stop the excessive bashing (which is as irrational as fanboy-ism).

 

Again, I agree. I had a Scion xD before my $36K MINI and the A/C compressor didn't make a sound. I also had a 2003 MINI Cooper S that was also noisy, but it didn't cool worth a crap. I have also owned a 2001 Lexus IS300 that was just as loud as my current MINI. It is what it is and I just know I'll have to live with it.

Again, I don't want the dealer replacing something that technically isn't broken and potentially causing more problems. I haven't taken my MINI in for one thing in almost the one year I've owned it. I can't complain! =-)

 

I would love to hear from '11 MINI owners to see if the compressor has been replaced with a good one that doesn't make this noise. If so I'll demand that MINI replace mine with a new one -- and they will, oh yes they will.

 

Already posted that our new '10 MCS has the AC growl but haven't been in for the first service yet.

But, this weekend my wife was with her mom car shopping and stopped by our BMW/MINI dealer. While there my wife saw our sales guy and manager. She mentioned the AC growl and they all said that was NORMAL!! It was just an AUX fan....Oh boy...

 

Too funny! Ahhh, corporations.

I wonder how they would explain why I've never personally heard it in the following model year MINIs that I've driven or have ridden in: 2005, 2007, 2008.