Let me clarify that my sound is a METALLIC sound, like metal on metal, no grinding......it is definitely not a rubber sound. Perhaps there are two different issues on this thread.....

 

i just put a trans in a car today for what seems to be the noise that has been going around on this post. the noise i herd was a ratcheting type metallic noise. it would only do it when the wheel was turned all the way left and at really low speeds. it would also make the noise if i turned the wheel the other way and put the car in reverse. the trans fixed the issue. we had the mini reps come out and look at the car but it was a watse of time they first told us to replace the Cv shafts then after that the wheel bearings. and after none of that fixed the car i decided to just go ahead and put a trans in the car. and hey guess what the car is fixed now. so much for the factory reps comeing to "help" lol

 

Does replacing the transmission actually fix the problem or just get the customer out of the shop happy for a little while? Obviously the noise would go away with a new transmission at first but as most here mention, it takes a while before the noise starts. The reason I ask is because I'm 100 miles from my dealership that believes only those who purchase BMW's from them are worthy of a rental car. I figure I have time to kill before leaving it with them since if my car breaks beyond 100 miles from the dealer, MINIUSA's roadside assistance will cover a rental.

 

i do know that when the new trans is in the car it doesn't make the noise when it is new. however since i can't really keep the car to make sure the noise never comes back i can't say with a garauntee that the noise won't come back. i can tell you this, i have not had a customer come back for the same noise complaint with the transmission after a new one is installed.

thats stupid that your dealer won't give you a loaner car if you own a min. is it maybe becasue you live so far away?? iono it still seems dumb to me

 

Went to the dealer yesterday and unfortunately for me, was unable to reproduce the noise even though there was bit of a wait. Usually the noise only happens first thing in the morning.

Fortunately for me one of the techs there has a good friend who had the same exact problem. Friend dropped off the car and said "Drive it for a week till you hear it". Well, he drove it for a week and didn't hear anything...until he pulled it into the lift area to do some other work and whammo! There it was.

So they put my car up on the lift and said they would take a peek. Turns out they noticed some play in my right front ball knuckle joint.......So they replaced that.... and I'll be damned if the car does not pull to the left now.

I didn't hear the noise this morning either but maybe it's because the weather got like 10 degrees warmer in the past few days here in NYC.

They have started a PUMA for me as well and I am penciled to return on the 9th of December.

 

The Zoomness has the same noise, first thing in the morning, with the wheels locked to the side. I really can't fathom the thought of being without it for 3 weeks while it's being fixed, so I guess we'll only get it fixed at this point if they'll give us a rental... unless we discover that it is a "bad" noise.

On goes the saga of owning a MINI Cooper!

 

so last night i was determined to figure out whatz going on here - im not sure the noise i hear is metal rubbing on something but in a parking lot in dead silence i tried to figure this out.

I hear the noise + slight vibration at very very low speeds only, while turning left and right, and also when coming to a stop. btw, i put the car in neutral and tried this and it did the same thing. So can that be related to the tranny ? My dealer (mini of towson) swears its tire noise, that its a trait of directional tires after you wear them out a bit. I have heard a similar noise on a freind's mini which is a manual vs my automatic. My mercesdes with directional tires does the same thing, though the noise and the vibration as much less pronouced so its very hard to notice it (a lot more rubber to dampen the effect i guess). I got the mini's tire's rotated last week and it did reduce the noise a tiny bit.

However, i still want to make sure that this is not an issue on the mini - anyone in the dc area that has this problem wanna go to the dealer together and bug them about it just to make sure ? if we all go at the same time maybe they will pay more attention to this problem.

 

bryan1970, that's what I was told one day I was up there and wanted to do some running around. Oh well, they gave me a ride in the shuttle van to the place I wanted to go. Not complaining until they want my car overnight.

Mine has to be transmission related. The reason I say it has to be transmission related is because it only occurs during acceleration. I can start accelerating while turning and the grinding starts but if I quicky press the clutch, the noise stops.

It's good to hear you haven't had the MINI's with new transmissions return.

 

Any more word on this subject? My dad's all worried sick and goes pale every time he hears that sound; he looks like:

I don't want a new transmission! unless of course they give us a JCW rental... ya right

 

My SA mentioned that it could be the clutch/flywheel.

I'm still waiting for my next appointment (early Dec) for them to take a closer look.

In the meantime, I haven't heard the noise since.

 

You know I'll be d*mned because I have not heard the noise since they replaced my ball knuckle joint on the front passenger side.

Tech had said there was a bit of "play" but I didn't get to see it firsthand.

Knock on wood.

 

I wonder if what many of you are hearing is the low speed power steering noise that MINI discusses in "The idiosyncrasies of your new MINI"? This is what it says:

"Besides being a mouthful, the Electro-hydraulic Power Assisted Steering is powered by a separate electric motor so as not to drain horsepower from the engine. This motor makes a high-pitched sound when it's working properly. In a parking lot, at low speeds, you can actually hear it. Don't worry. This is normal. All systems check"

 

This sounds very reminiscent of a problem I had on my 996, so I thought I'd just mention it in case its applicable here. In my case the problem related to brake dust shields. If I got the brakes fairly hot the shields would warp slightly. Would only hear a metal on metal rubbing when turning the wheel at low speed. I assume it was still rubbing at high speed, but road and drive train noise simply drown it out. Presumably something in the geomtery changes sufficiently for the shield to contact the inner rotor face when the steering angle is changed. Fixed it by simply bending the shield back away from the rotor to add a little more clearence. May have absolutely nothing to do with the problem decribed here (do Minis have dust shields?), but it sounds like there are multiple ones so I thought I'd offer it up as a possibility.

 

INteresting...LIke I posted above there might have been something in contact with the inner surface of the rotor due to the "play" the tech noticed....

It's been a while now and I have NOT heard the noise since. Woo hoo.

 

I've definitely heard it in the past couple days--WTF IS THIS NOISE!!!

 

i am so glad i have read this post..i am going f#$%ing crazy here....i just heard this noise this morning...and i am so **** off right now, i havent call the dealer yet but i was ready to blow off some steam, i was so worried i thought my after market wheels lugs was loose i thought the car wheels was about to fall off, then it sounds like a cv joint or wheel bearing making noise...guys i am so paranoid right now its a shame......

 

Some good news. I know for a fact that 2,000 miles can be put on the car with this noise and nothing has fallen off yet. It's become worse as in I can turn the wheel slightly now and the noise is heard where it use to take a full turn to hear it. I guess the CV boot still isn't broken in like the tech said where I purchased my MINI.

I'm headed to another dealer for my first maintainance. Hopefully they will be familiar with these foreign cars.

 

I have not heard this noise since I had my ball-knuckle joint replaced. Knock on wood!

 

So is this something to worry about? The Zoomness has had it for several thousand miles, so I hope not. Speaking of which, it's time to start modding... yeah...

 

Sorry i forgot to post this earlier - I got the tires shaved and the noise went away completely... and then came back again after a few thousand miles.. The answer - un even wear with is common on the S model/certain tires combo. Some people notice this noise, especially if you used to driving very smooth cars, others dont. After putting a set of brand new tires on to test this, the noise went away again.

Its a tire thing, not a drivetrain issue - atleast im my case..

 

I don't understand how tires can be responsible for a metal-on-metal sound.

Can you elaborate on your theory?

Or perhaps we are discussing different sounds again.

Btw I've had my re-appear after 5K now...and it is happening more frequently.

I'll be slapping on some 15" Kumho Ecsta SPT's this Sat so I'll test out your tire theory but I'm still at a loss as to how rubber is responsible for this noise.

 

Aquaanox, were you running thr Goodyear run-flats? It seems that everything I have in the driveway has Goodyear tires on it. They are all loud.
With the Mini once the tires warm up the sound you described is gone ( Goodyear run-flats ). Other Mini's I have driven ( with non run-flats ) don't seem to have this problem.
LordOfTheFlies, Rjmann may have answered "the metal sound", the backing plates seem to load up with crap ( on mine ), break dust ( when wet makes a catch all & sticks to the backing plate ), sand and just about anything else that will stick to them.
CV joints & LSD should make a different type of noise.
Is the LSD for Mini a Torsen unit? They have gears not clutches.

 

my noise was my dam after market wheels lugs was loose......

 

I just noticed this on the gekko as well. Now I'm talking about the un-lubed rubber-on-rubber noise, not metal, so I'm hoping it's the runflats. They've got almost 6000 miles on them. It happens in both directions, during a sharp slow turn.

I mention this to bump and see if anybody has any new info about their noise. Seems like a lot of unfinished stories above.

 

seriously dont worry about this... ive seen this on countless mini's now after a few thousand miles on the tires. If you put on a new set, the noise will go away, also if you get the tires smoothed out by a tire shop, the noise will temporarily go away.

Ive seen this on both non runflats and runflats. i bet you can hear it on any mini depending on how quiet it is outside. Most people i know never even know there was a noise until i pointed it out to them.. I spent a lot of time troubleshooting this with the dealer and the tire shops etc and this is their unanimous opinion as well.

Enjoy driving !