Ok so I bought my R53 about a month ago and love it. I have already put about 2500 miles on it driving around the scenic Northern California coast. Its a blast to drive.

At first the sound I thought was normal but the last few days of just driving it around town I noticed it is getting louder. It starts making a sound in the upper rpms of 1st gear and through the rest of the gears as I accelerate. No noise at idle. If I let off the gas to come to a stop it still makes the noise until real low speeds like 10mph or less. It sounds like a slinky if you were to move a slinky side to side in your hands. That is the best way I can describe it.

I'm hoping it is a loose hose clamp or something easy like that.

Tech said its not the clutch and it is nothing he has ever heard. The is Bay Bridge Motors who built the TWINI so I assume they have driven a ton of these.

I am going to have my mechanic at work look at it tomorrow. If my local Mini shop tech has never heard the sound I thought someone here might have a clue as to where to look to find the problem.

Thanks in advance

 

I found the issue it is a loose washer on the driver side of the drivetrain just on the other side of where the drive axle goes in. Can I just cut the washer off? Does it actually serve a purpose?