sorry to hear about your dash rattles and stuff guys. Our 02 makes a squeak when we have the sunroof cracked, but I can close it and it's gone.

A dash rattle would be quite annoying. I'd do a search on the forum or find out how to remove the dash or part of it to fix myself. BMW could care less about rattle problems or that we keep bringing our MINIs back to them to try and fix.

I wonder if that dude that Sueded everything in his MINI has any more rattles? Dc6-mcs I think it was that took all his interior out.

Good luck guys and gals.

 

yeah so hopefully this thread will stay alive for folks to post loud rattle issues and how (or if) they get resolved. we're all in this together. :smile: JB

(I mean, 1,500 lurkers out there?)

 

I finally figured out where the driver's side rattle is coming from. Thought it was the door or window but realized today that it is coming from a plastic area that is part of the ragtop mechanism. I stuffed one of my gloves in the plastic & bingo rattle is gone. Only problem is I can't put the top down with the glove stuffed in there At least now I can take it to the dealer & tell them exactly where the sound is coming from:smile:

Lois

 

I've had my MCS (same build time as Sequence) in the shop for the past couple of days. The squeak/bubble pop/styrofoam sound had progressively gotten worse, and with the temps up to 100+ the past few weeks, it was really loud. Turns out the MINI of Murray service dept had to completely remove my dash, along with the interior A pillar covers - which necessitated replacing the airbags inside them - to replace the stops that rest the dash against the frame. They told me they replaced the foam spacers with aluminum spacers (?) and that took care of the issue. They are detailing the car now and I should get it back this afternoon and will report back. Hopefully I have similar results to those who have had this cured.


Seems like quite an involved process to take care of these squeaks - I've had to take it into the dealership 3 or 4 times due to the difficulty in finding the source and the lack of parts (airbags and a replacement tail light from an unrelated incident), but they have been really good about shuttling me around. Luckily I live less than 20 miles away from my dealership.

 

No dash noises in my February '05 build MCS.

 

I had the same dash noise, only not quite as severe, in my November build MCC. Ralph Schomp removed the dash and placed some felt spacers to eliminate the noise. So far, two weeks , no further squeeks.

 

My 05 MC has dash "bubble" syndrome as well, took it to the dealership, they put in felt tape and foam. When I got out of the dealership 2 days later, the first crack on the road was responded by a smart "pop" from the dash

Going back to the dealership after I run the car in Its brand new and only 10 days old!

 

Thanks for the update.

My dash has been relatively quiet lately but the heat made my sunroof rattle when closed (thick felt bar, fixed) and have had both window regulators replaced (squeeeeal) at only 6500 miles otherwise the car is mechanically perfect, and a miracle Ive not recieved a ticket yet....

plus I've had the SR open and windows down lately taking in the sounds my MCS emits. :smile:

 

I don't have a sunroof, partly due to the fact that in previous cars with sunroofs, I've experienced lots of creaking.

Got the car back, no rattles at all. Unfortunately, the detail was not done well - spent an hour last night removing all of the wax remnants around the clear bra, side ports, MINI emblems, etc. I also got it back with the dash face above the glove compartment popped out - not a real good quality job.

These will probably be quick fixes, but really annoying. At least the car is solid and silent again.

 

Spoke too soon.

On the drive to lunch today, I heard the creaking sound again.

MINI is coming to take my car away for a few days to be able to isolate the issue and fix it for good. They are sending me a rental - that is going to be difficult, especially given the fact that I watched The Italian Job last night, so all I want to do is drive a MINI...

 

I had some of the same issues with my May 2005 build MCS. I found that a lot of the rattles were coming from where the dash contacted the downtubes. There is a fairly sharp point on the dash which can rub on the side of the downtubes.


Tightening the downtubes solved the problem for a while but very rarely survived a couple spirited runs. Finally I bought some adhesive foam from the local arts & crafts store, cut a small sliver and wedged it up where the two pieces of plastic met and problem solved.

If you loosen your downtubes you can sometimes see where the plastic is rubbing together. It makes placing the foam much easier.

 

..since I've leaned my (gas leg) knee on the driver's side downtube since my first day in a MINI, I wonder if this somehow contibutes to the problem?

 

The area giving me problems is in the dash, on the passenger side, at the base of the windshield. I had a tech come out and ride with me to isolate the rattle before they take it back later this week. I'll have to have them check the downtubes to see if that contributes to the issue.

 

I was on here earlier. My problem was definately between the downtubes and the dash. Shims I inserted worked sometimes but on occasion the noise came back. Since the weather turned warm I haven't had any noise so haven't worried about it. We'll see next winter.

 

I get the odd "BUZZ" from my dash, right in front of me. I just push the dash and it goes away.
If that does not work, a good sharp rap fixies it for days

 

The "buzz" is coming from the top center vent. Your dealer needs to add some felt tape around the vent opening. Very common issue on early '02 and '03 MINIs.

 

According to MINI of Murray here in Utah, this is the first of this type of issue that they have ever seen in an '05 (my creaking/squeaking of the dash in hot weather). They said they will be having the regional service manager (or something like that - can't remember the exact title) there to inspect the issue.

 

I unfortunately also have the crackle sound on a 1/2005 model build, standard trim ... I heard from day 2 of ownership and noise couldn't be recreated with service tech in car.. The sound seems the worst when temp is between 30 and 40 degrees, and goes away completely about 50 degrees. One time driving to work, it was so loud I initially thought it was sand being thrown up from a car in front of me, but there was no sand or vehicle in front of me... It was loud enough to hear over the radio... ..... guess rattles are part of the new dash..

 

I also had that same rattle - the dealership fixed it first try - unlike the current situation. I'm stuck driving a Neon while they try to figure it out (what a crappy car - brand new, too). My dealer is too small to stock loaners. I miss my car...

 

Turns out that my windshield was set too low at the factory, which caused it to rub against the pins that hold the trim. The service manager on a whim leaned out of the car while they were driving it around and pressed against the outside of the windshield and the sound stopped. They reset the windshield and now the sound is gone!

 

I've got the dash buzzing, too. It sounds like there's a dragon-fly trying to get out of the dash. All's fine until I hit about 70 mph, then it's BZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Early 05 MCS. I'd have the dealer take a look when I get my first service in another month but I don't want it to get worse.

 

Excellent. Thanks.

 

Well, the crackly dash rattle on my early build 05 MCS has returned with a vengeance-- It's gotten worse now since I took half a roundabout at about 30mph, and when I was exiting the RB I could feel the body flex and at the same time the crackling and popping sounds coming from the dash manifested. Now, smooth roads, rough roads it doesn't matter, the only time it doesn't do it is when the car is cold in the AM and/or parked out of the sun.

It also goes away when i either push in on the dash right above the speedo, place my fingers at the A-pillar base and push towards the passenger side (thinking about inserting a shim there) or put my fingers in the long air vent at the front and gently pull towards me. This problem has been on record with my dealer, and the last time they tried shimming the downtubes with felt but obviously this is not it. It's coming from UNDER the damned dash....

Although the rattle has not diminished the fun factor so far, it is getting very annoying. My dealer says there are no recorded problems like this with 05's but I'm having a hard time believing them. Perhaps the bright side to all of this is that when I take my car in for its first service it'll be constant and they can least attempt a more comprehensive fix. Jimbo

 

my dash rubed against the windshield....sound like this was your original problem too.

look at the front edge of the dash and press down lightly - do you see any signs of rubbing against the glass? My rattle was worst when everything was cold. I slipped 6 felt pads about 1 inch square between the dash and the glass - no more squeek. That and some velcro pad on the sun roof flip up vanes and I'm about as rattle free as anything I've had.

 

I have an 06 and the bubblewrap/styrofoam squeek started today as well. And if I press above or below the speedo or on the pillar it dissapears. When I get back in town I'm going to the dealer to see what happens