I’ve got a 2013 Cooper S with 90,000 miles (Manual). Ever since I’ve had the car there’s been this scraping/whining noise and it’s gradually gotten worse. Sounds like a bearing.

The noise is always present while I’m driving and hard to hear when not moving. The noise gets worse when I take longer to shift and when I down shift to a lower gear. I originally thought if was a clutch bearing, but when I fully press the clutch and rev the engine the noise is still present. (Isolating it to the engine area correct?)

The noise does seem to be coming from the right side of the car near the front right tire. I discovered this when driving between two concrete walls and I heard the noise a lot more from the right side of the car.

I’ve heard of issues with the idler pulley/accessory belt tensioner. What do you guys think it is?

 

it probably is friction wheel. when it starts to go bad, it'll start making whining noise especially at higher rpms.