Hey everyone. I have a 2011 R56 base with 35k miles on it that makes a weird metal scraping type of noise at speeds over 30 mph only when I turn right. The noise gets worse the more I turn the steering wheel right and it goes away when I drive straight or left. It sounds almost like the dust shield touching the rotor. That's the type of noise it sounds like and it's not a constant rubbing either.

I changed the tires, looked at the brakes, dust shield, cv axle, struts, springs, made sure the lug bolts were tightened to spec and anything else I could think of and everything looks like it should be on both sides.

I've heard it a few times when I'm driving straight but it's mostly at a right turn.

Could it be a wheel bearing needing replaced? Would a wheel bearing wear out at this mileage? If it's not a wheel bearing what could it be?

 

Sounds like classic wheel bearing failure symptoms to me. It shouldn't be worn out at 35K but occasionally they do fail prematurely - it's not at all uncommon. If you're under warranty, it should be covered.

Sometimes a rock or other debris can become lodged in a brake caliper or brake pad and cause odd scraping noises. Usually these are more like high-pitched squeals. Wheel bearings tend to be a little more low-pitched rumbly. If you want to give this a try, certainly removing and cleaning the brake calipers might be worth a shot.

Only other thing I can think of us a loose wheel speed sensor which has come adrift and is rattling around.

Good luck and report back when you find the problem. But my bet is on the wheel bearing.

- Mark

 

I second the opinion of bearing issue.

What you describe is exactly what I experienced on my 79

 

My right curve noise is more like the muted sound of driving on the rumble strips on the edge of the freeway. I've done the left bearing, both upper strut bearings, lower control arm and sway bushings and I still have the noise, which is almost a sensation more than a noise. I am not inclined to spend $500 on a axle to see if that fixes it, but if an axle let go at speed, that could be very sad indeed. I'm running NM springs for a little drop and Konis. My noise cropped up well after the spring install (a year?) at about 88K miles. I have 92K now.

 

Bearing x 3!

 

Bearing X4. BTW, that would be your left front.

 

I took my MINI in to the dealership I work at and they said they can't find what's making the noise which doesn't surprise me. They said my dad's transfer case motor on his jeep is defective yet I got it to work just fine today with no errors like they said it was giving in the dash. But anyways, I'm straying from what I was originally saying. I found out that my MINI is still under warranty so I will have to make a 4 hour trek to where I used to work at MINI of Murray and have them replace the wheel bearing and all that other fancy stuff. That's the closest MINI dealership to me until it goes out of warranty so I can take it elsewhere and not where I work now.

It's getting harder and harder to find a quality dealership to do repairs. Makes me sad :(

 

If it is not a bearing it could be a driveshaft as well. Often they only start to get noisy turning in one direction

 

It's definitely a wheel bearing. The driver's side was shot so I'm getting it replaced. I had an alignment done today and that made the noise worse so I did my own investigating and the driver's side wheel bearing had grease all over the place and not where it should be. The passenger side I checked to compare and it was bone dry. No grease anywhere that it shouldn't be.

Thanks for all the help everyone and Motor On!