I have been driving for a little while now and there is a noise that I can hear coming from the passenger side (possibly the front) and I cannot figure out what it is.

2003 R53 6-speed

The sound comes when the car is rolling, does not matter if it is in gear or not, load or not, straight or in turns, accelerating or decelerating...the noise is just there.

Bearing, CV joint, something loose, please help

 

Do you have an audio recording that you can post?

 

You have some good info there, but not quite enough. Bearings make a grinding noise, but it tends to get worse in turns (as the wheel is pulled away from the car mostly)

You can coast down a hill, and shut off the car (do not lock the steering wheel and the power steering will be gone, so be safe). If the sound remains, you can be pretty sure it isn't the engine/SC. If it goes away, you should be able to hear it parked with a buddy giving it gas.

 

The sound does not change at all with RPM and is not present at all when the car is sitting still. Only present when the car is moving, I will try to find a hill without traffic so I can try it with the engine off.

I was afraid it was the SC but the sound would change with RPM up or down from my experience. The noise is also present regardless of the direction of turn right or left. We took it on a run with some other MINIs yesterday and really put it through the turns (first time I got the car to break loose actually) and it does not seem to affect the steering or handling but I don't want to find out it is making something progressively worse. Next week I am going to take it in and pay for the stealership to take a look if I can't figure it out.

 

WIth the car up in the air, bad bearings (once they are really bad) will let the wheel wobble up and down. You just have to jack it up 1 inch or so to feel it.

 

That is what I need to do, just need to figure out how to get it in the air with a jack (bought one used and did not come with one) there was a wobble and I replaced the tie rods ends because they were shot. Maybe that would have contributed to the bearings getting worn out if they are. HRM, thanks for the help so far.

 

Once a car gets a wobble, it is all down hill. Bearings, tierods, Lower control arms, rotors, and even tires get scaloped. Any one of these can take out all the others if left bouncing the wheel too long.

 

Hi all. I have a 2004 Works S. I have been hearing a noise that appears to be located in the passenger area also. The noise is there at speed whether the car is in gear or in neutral, under load or not,pretty much as you described. Dealer service said it was not a wheel bearing, they could not locate any noise from the right front area,they even rotated the tires. I was fearful of an engine connecting rod problem but this does not seem to be the problem at least for now. Could the noise be from the right rear area ? I am puzzled also.

 

The MINI of San Diego dealership has offered to let me bring it by so they can check it out. If I can get them to ride with me and just listen they will hear it. Then it is just trying to figure out where it is coming from. I can narrow it down to the right side but that is about it.

 

Wheel bearing noises usually get worse with cornering loads. I'd bet on a CV joint. I would relax - things like this are usually a few hundred dollar serious, not thousands serious.

- Mark

 

Yeah, you call them "stealership", but you're sure glad they're there with their expertise and knowledge when you need them....

How 'bout we lose that appellation, and just call them dealership?

As to your noise, I'd bet on a tire or maybe a wheel bearing...

 

I had a clicking-type noise (only way I can explain it) and it would make noise when taking off or even just driving. Took it in to a german auto repair shop that wouldn't steal my money just to look at it, ended up being a loose bolt. I also thought it would be the CV joint or the others you mentioned. They tightened the bolt for free. good luck.

 

I will stop calling them stealerships when they don't charge me 3 times what it cost to repair something at a specialty shop. I do appreciate the knowledge but there is a limit to what they should charge.

I jacked up the car and wiggled the tires on all corners and no play, heard a similar sound though as I was letting it down on the passenger side so it may be suspension. Tires are out; did it with the previous ones and the new ones I put on them a month ago. I know the Mini can be pricey to own so that was not the problem, I love driving it too much for that to be the final deciding factor in keeping it. With 130K on it I have been through my share of repairs.

 

The good thing is a MINI dealership opened up closer about a year ago and now that the previous one I used to go to has competition they are working on their customer service now. The repair costs have not come down though.

There is a local shop who specializes in MINI, BMW, AUDI, etc. and they have never let me down yet..they even go as far as letting you bring in your own parts if you can find them cheaper. Not too many shops letting you do that. Thanks for the advice, one of the guys in our group works at the dealership and offered to let me bring it in for free so I am going to take advantage of the offer.

 

You must be talking about the MINI dealer next to BMW of San Diego? I haven't taken mine to Brecht yet because I won't pay them out the @$$ just to look at it. I don't know which shop you take yours to but try all german auto in escondido.

 

All 3 of my MINIs have eaten the right front tire faster than any other. This may be normal. (As such things go).

 

That would be the one, I took mine to a shop on Mira Mesa called IAS, they were great and if there is something that needs to be done I will be taking it back.