Hi everyone and thanks for taking the time to see this thread.
I have an 08 Cooper S with start/stop feature. When I engage 1st gear at 0 km/h on an uphill I hear a "squeak" (like metal on metal). This does not occur in any other gear or when I downshift (2nd to 1st (Speed less than 15km)). I believe that the noise is from the hill assist system does anyone concur with this? If this is the case what do I do? I had the front brake pads changed 4000 km ago and the rear pads changed 2000km. Could those be an issue. (They were changed at a BMW/MINI Dealership). Thanks again for your time.

 

New to me.

But at the very least it would be best to make this a matter of record with your dealer by making an appointment with your SA. If it can easily be replicated it's a home run in the realm of: "...my car is making this noise?!"

And this does two things. If there is no TSB on this issue, and more complaints follow yours, one could be established by MINI in the future. And, keeping track of customer complaints is an important part of the MINI Service Dept. to help with future part changes at the manufacturing plant.

Either way, MINI should be the ones to do the repair/fix. Besides, once tampered with by any other source, they may just say you are on your own with this one...

 

Wasn't entirely clear from your post whether the "squeak" occurs when you shift into first, or when you (or the hill assist feature) release the brakes; the hill assist will engage on an upslope regardless of the gear selected -- even in neutral.

Depending on the slope, it could just be the brakes themselves; when brakes are released on a fairly steep slope, depending on how they are released, they can "groan" and "squeak" and make all kinds of other noises. Brakes, even relatively new ones, will sometimes make these noises for a number of reasons (dirt/brake dust on the pads/rotors, heat build-up, etc.), so what you're experiencing could be a relative "non-issue." Maybe give your wheels/rotors an extra-good rinse next time you wash your car...?

If you've noticed any degradation in your car's braking performance otherwise, certainly I would take it back into your dealer and have them double-check their work.

 

Have somebody stand next to the car and re-create the sound. Try to identify if the sound is coming from the wheels, or from under the car. If it is from the wheels, you should look at the brakes as your culprit. From your description, I'll agree with the above opinion and guess that it's a brake issue.

 

First of all thanks to everyone for your prompt responses.
To gRay rAvEn:
I am going to take the car to my MINI dealership to install the driving lights (rally lights) on Thursday. I shall also address the aforementioned issue.

To timfitz63:

My apologize for not being clear on my post. Essentially what happens is the following. When I select first or reverse and release the clutch on a gradient I hear this squeak like metal grinding on metal or like a steal door that needs some lubricant. I've also noticed that when I engage first/reverse and lift the clutch at a higher than normal rpm (around 1500 rpm) the same noise starts again. The reason why I was led to believe it that the issue was pertaining to the hill assist system was that I would only here the sound when the car had a velocity of 0 km/h and mostly on a gradient. I understand that debris can build up between the calipers and the brake pads and that is why I attempted some hard breaking. This test failed to indicate any signs of degradation. However, we had significant rain fall these past two days which may have caused this noise to occur.

To Helix13mini:

I identified the sound to be coming from left front wheel. My concern is that there is no damage to the transmission. Is that a possibility?

 

Hey guys just an update on the matter. It turns out that there is something wrong with my clutch plate because it started slipping last night and smelling really bad. The thing is I've taken it to my dealership many times regarding this issue and they told me that everything is fine. Now that my warranty is up (expired a month ago) I'm really angry. Is it 100% certain I'm going to need a new clutch or can the clutch plate just need adjusting. It grips fine at low speeds and in low gears. but after 5th and 6th it just slips like crazy (3000 rpm-5000rpm where it holds steady). On an uphill in 5th it held steady at 3000rpm (wouldn't go any higher). Thanks for your responses.

 

Sorry to hear that. Usually these modern-day clutches are self-adjusting, so I don't know if that would really be a solution. But I'll qualify my statement with an admission that I'm not up on the internal workings of the MINI clutch...

Addressing the question of warranty repairs: if you end up in a position where your early diagnosis (needs a new clutch) ultimately proves accurate, and MINI starts balking at covering the repairs, you should start stacking copies of all of your earlier service sheets in front of the service manager, illustrating how you brought the matter to MINI's attention many times during the warranty period, and they kept dismissing it (telling you it's fine). Therefore, you expect BMW/MINI to cover the repairs under the terms of the warranty, expired or not. Depending on the dealership (some are clearly better than others when dealing with these kinds of issues), you might have to dig in your heels and fight them; but if you have the service documentation on your side, they'll ultimately lose the argument.

 

Thanks timfitz... That's exactly what I was going to do. I mean the only place where the car has been serviced in is at the dealership. No one else has even touched the car. BTW nice colour scheme on ur JCW Clubman :p

 

Likewise!