My MINI(r53) has the clutch rattle. Of course taking it to my dealer gets me the "Oh its supposed to make that noise" response. Im sure it is . But thats not my issue. While driving home i drove pass some jersey barriers and noticed a knocking noise coming from my car. Uhoh right?. But heres the thing, when i get home and park the car i rev the motor a couple of times. Nothing but the usual rattling coming from the clutch. Depress the clutch, nothing. Quite as a church mouse. Drove it up the block and parked next to a building and rev it a couple of times. Nothing again. So the question i have is would the clutch rattle be heard when the car is engaged and under load and was that the sound i was hearing?

 

My r53 has been doing the same thing, but the clutch never rattles. It's only under load next to a barrier or wall. I highly doubt it's the clutch.

 

Any ideas to what it might be. Cant imagine it being something engine related if it only does it while moving. Like i said when i parked next to a building i heard nothing when i revved it. Only seems to do it while the clutch is engaged.

 

Have you checked you exaust...it could be rattling a bit...
When a clutch is engaged, there is not much to rattle (it is all locked together under load, spinning), but exausts do get beat-up...hangers get bent, corrode, they bump speed bump, corrode, etc. If it bumps the heatshields rather than the frame, you might not feel it, but you will hear it in some cases.

 

I have the exact same issues when next to the Jersey barriers, look down at the barrier, some have the groves cut in them, it seems when the car is passing it makes that noise, but only when next to those barriers. Besides the clutch rattle, that goes away when it is depressed, I cant find anything else under the car that would cause that, and again it is only when next to the barriers that I can dupkicate the noise.

 

Hankfrum, based on my '03 MCS experience, what others have said on this board and what my independent shop has seen, the symptoms you describe probably are due to a worn harmonic balancer ("HB"), which is part of the crank pulley. The HB is a hard rubber donut that mounts the outer sheave to the hub of the pulley. When the HB deteriorates, excessive play between the sheave and the hub causes a clattering noise, which is most noticeable under load (accelerating) starting at around 3,000 RPM. The noise is more easily heard with the passenger window down when driving next to a wall, which reflects the sound back into the cabin. I believe BMW/Mini may have issued a TSB for this. My clattering noise began at about 25K miles. The Mini tech said he couldn't hear it, even when we drove together as described above. 35K miles later, when replacing the serpentine belt at the designated 60K service interval, I also replaced the belt tensioner assembly (even though still serviceable), the SC pulley (substituted a 15% reduction pulley) and the crank pulley (substituted the lighter '05 OEM part), along with a DT tensioner stop. No more clattering: just smooth, turbine-like thrust. Here's a long thread that mentions this problem and the fix: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...eleration.html Good luck!