What "whirrs" when I open the door to my R56? Car is off and been sitting since the night before. I open the door and something "whirrs" for a few seconds.

 

Ghost in the machine

 

Could be the fuel pump priming itself or the gas tank door unlocking itself.

 

^ LPFP powering up.

 

Weird. I wouldn't have thought it would do that until the fob was in the ignition.

I know it's not the gas door. I didn't even know that locked until I heard it click last night which is a different noise. The HPFP is in the tank, correct? That seems to be the area the noise comes from too.

Thanks for the replies.

 

The low pressure fuel pump (electric) is in the tank. Any time the ECU wakes up it primes (unlock doors, etc...). Found that out the hard way when I was changing a HPFP for the first time lol. Luckily no one was under the hood. Still messy though.

 

Now that I looked, you did say LPFP, not HPFP. I guess the LPFP priming isn't as big of a deal as the HPFP. Considering the cost of those I don't want the HPFP to cycle when it doesn't have to. So... note to self. ALWAYS disconnect Mini battery when servicing...

I also discovered it has an oil or water pump that will run after the car is off to cool the turbo. At least I assumed that's what it was since it quit a few minutes after me poking my head around the engine compartment.

This car is SO much different than my Ford. Pretty neat actually.

 

It actually is.

I've decided to start a little collection.

 

Yes, these MINI's are quite the marvel. When they work right. Stay up on your oil level (my 2011 N18 with 64k uses just about zero oil between 5k changes with Mobil 1 0w40 and MINI Genuine filters), and keep any eye and ear out for oddities. Check your fluid levels often, as some leaks can "hide" for a while before you see a puddle on the ground. The pump running after shutdown is your auxillary water pump. It circulates coolant through the turbo after shutdown. The noise you hear before startup is indeed the LPFP, priming the system. Myself and some other folks have also heard odd clicking and "pump-type" sounds coming from the right rear quarter panel, down low, after shutdown. This is the internal EVAP vacuum pump, doing it's thing, testing the integrity of your evaporative emission control system. So many black boxes, doing so many things. As long as it all works, a great system. Enjoy!

 

I wondered what that noise was after shutdown. I thought the car was burping. haha I had no idea how to describe it so I didn't bother asking.

Seems a lot of guy are running Mobil 1. I've traditionally used Castrol in my other cars but I saw somewhere that Mini no longer recommends Castrol. I'm only 1200 miles into ownership but so far I haven't had to add any oil.