Here's the deal, mine makes the noise too. But, I don't want them to tear my car apart to put a part in that does not fix the problem. Every time a tech tears a car apart there is a chance they will damage something. When they acknowledge the problem and come up with a fix then I will be interested. I have 3.5 years left on my warranty.

 

my 2010 jcw does it too,only at first start up and with a/c on

 

I just bought a 2010 JCW and it's making the same noise. So annoying! It sounds like my a/c has a supercharger! sometimes I hear this knocking sound which I thought was a frog inside my car I didn't hear this during test drive and it wasn't a short test drive either. Now 400 miles later, it starts showing up. And I too, noticed the noise even when radio was on. Don't get me wrong, I love this car, that's why I bought it. I have driven many cars from Mitusbishi to Mercedes. My last one was a VW GTI, and the a/c-cabin noise was excellent. This noise in the MINI brings me back during my college days when I used to drive a Mitsubishi Lancer GLI. No matter what was done to the a/c, the noise never went away. I spent a lot of money trying to get rid of the noise. Finally, I gave up and moved on to other brands. I forgot about that type of noise for a awhile driving other car brands. Now, after almost 13 years, it's back! In my humble opinion, I don't think it's the a/c, I "think" it's the cabin design(sound deadening materials etc.) I'm still debating whether to take my car to the dealer or not. I just love this little car so much, so much so that I'm willing to ignore her flaws sounds like my marriage I guess love could be blind. I hope MINI/BMW could rectify the situation and come up with a solution.

 

Good news! MINI has come up with a service bulletin/fix for this issue. My MINI is at the dealership right now and the technician is installing a special weight that is intended to eliminate/reduce the a/c compressor vibration. Hopefully this solves the problem!

 

This is excellent! Please, please, please let us know as soon as you get it back if the problem is fixed. thanks!

 

Seems like the fix worked! I don't hear anything now. It's kind of odd, turning on the A/C and not hearing the noise, but I'm not complaining!

Here' what they wrote up on my service paperwork:
INSTALLED DAMPER PER BULLETIN 64 01 10

I hope this information helps!

 

Awesome news, thanks for sharing. I really want to go to the dealer that told me over and over again that "all MINI's make this noise -- it's normal for an air conditioner".

 

Many thanks for letting us know about your success.

 

Thank you for the info. I am going to ask about this when we stop by MINI dealership in order to get the free annual service. Wife's 2010 MCS has exact same problem since day one so hope it can be fixed.

 

I noticed and commented on the nasty noise since the day I pulled it off the lot, I new it was whack! It goes to the shop on the Weds before thanksgiving. I will share my comments once i pick it up.

Also, bought the Mini logo'd windshield sunscreen...nice but pricy.

 

I have an '11 and it makes the noise when my non-automatic A/C is turned on. I have not paid too much attention to it, but mine sounds like the whine of car stereo with an improper ground. I will listen more closely tomorrow, and maybe pull the radio fuse just to rule it out.

 

mine is 11 and dose make the same axact noise, to me it wasent a problem since my 09 infiniti G35 also made the same noise. but I guess I need to take it to the dealer to do the service "BULLETIN 64 01 10"

 

My ride's aircon was noisy too. Thanks to this thread, I got my dealership to look into it and order the part. It's been a week since they fitted the weight, so far so good, the whirring noise is gone. Thank you guys

 

Parts are on order for mine and the A/C noise will be gone. Let's see... cold-start rattle, gone... wind-noise around the sunroof, fixed... popping clutch pedal, fixed today after the 3rd clutch pedal assembly. Now I'm beginning to finally hear how bad the stereo system really is.

 

Just took my Camden 50 in. Found out that if you don't get any Service Bulletin done within 90 days of the release of it......you pay!!!

So if you hear your a/c whining, take it in. I just did mine. No Charge!!!

 

Yeah the bulletin will fix the problem it just came out a month ago. I haven't heard anything about not getting done withen 90 days though. Claudia I know you posted awhile back but if I were you I would contact the dealer that you got it replaced at and tell them about the bulletin.

 

This is great news. After 1 year and 17K miles, this will be the only repair (so far!) I will have done on my MINI. Does anyone have a copy of this service bulletin in PDF format? I would like to read and present it to my dealer. Thanks!

 

I had bulletin 64 01 10 done today. I would say 95% of the noise is gone with 5% of the noise just at the beginng of when the A/C compressor first turns on, after the car has been sitting a while that is. When the compressor cycles now, I only hear the relay in the fuse box (on passenger side) click on and off. Nice!

The only part installed is a heavy metal clamp (damper) around the low pressure hose behind the engine at the right strut tower. A simple fix for an annoying noise. Go get it done if you haven't already!

 

I had the bulletin done on Friday. While it doesn't silence the a/c, it makes it normal. I'm so glad I didn't bring up the noisy a/c issue last summer (my first summer with the car) when they didn't have such a quick easy fix. Thanks to all that posted up here, I knew it wasn't an issue with just my car and that eventually they'd have to come out with a bulletin for it.

It's a quick, easy (and free) solution so get it done next time you visit the dealer.

 

Glad it's not just me... I have a 2011 Clubbie S & it's the loudest annoying AC i've ever heard. I was going to address it next time i'm at the dealer (3 hrs away) but sounds like it's not going to be of any avail.

 

but then, I just read the post above & it sounds like it is fixable. My bad!

 

Just had applied to mine and so happy to get rid of that annoying noise.

 

Mines in the shop for them to take a look at tomorrow. Exactly the same sound here, the loud whirrring coming from the compressor.

I sent my SA the tech bulletin. Keep you posted as to the results.

 

Got car back today...PROBLEM FIXED!!! It's very quiet now and no more whine.

Easy fix, they did the balance weight and all is good now. Thanks to FLOW MINI in Winston Salem NC. Great service!

 

I've only heard my car doing that once, it was around a 100F outside, maybe temperature has something to do with it?