well my car has this LSD noise.. (rubbing noise when making a turn at parking lot speed. noise stop if the clutch is pushed in.)
I've been reading some posts on Mini2 forums and seems like putting old spec oil(for the non-LSD cars) fixes the problem.
Did anyone had this fixed in the States?

 

Well, my car was in for other things and mentioned the car groans at wheel lock. Reply "no abnormal noise was heard."
So I guess they consider it normal.
Doesnt bother me much. It usually only happens when its cold.

 

Same noise. Same response from Service that it seems normal. Mine is most noticeable when cold - but happens on almost all tight turns.

I haven't paid close attention to what happens in relation to the clutch pedal. I'll have to check that out.

 

There is another thread on this subject. do a search. some people have had TRANSMISSION REPLACEMENTS due to this noise. It's definitely worth checking out, and I have noticed the noise as well.

 

That's interesting about the oil from a non-LSD. There is a new vendor announcement about Redline synthetic fluid. I wonder how this will do with the noise from the LSD.

I'm headed to the dealer tomorrow for a few things, including the noisy LSD. I'll report back tomorrow night about what they say.

 

Well this is what they found. The CV boot was rubbing together because it was not broken in yet. Normal.

I need to get my hearing checked. I thought it was good enough to differentiate between rubber rubbing together and metal grinding together. Oh, and I may need to consider going with 205/45/16 tires because my current 205/50/16 may be rubbing when turning sharp because this MINI for some reason, the wheels turn more. It must turn a lot sharper because I had this same size tire on my previous MINI.

BTW, the sound is still there. Not that I thought it would go away after the CV boot explanation.

 

Did they give you an estimate as to how many miles it should take for the boots to " break in "? It would be interesting to see if this was really the couse ofthe problem. Anybody else start off with the noise and have it go away as they accumulated more miles on the car?

 

Does your car stop the rubbing noise if you press on the clutch?

 

Yes. I was told it stopped when the clutch pedal was pushed in because there was no longer tension on the shaft inside the rubber boot causing it to rub. So, thinking back, I got two reasons for the noise. One because the boot wasn't worn in and the other, the shaft rubbing the boot.

I didn't believe this but I had nothing to counter that response. I don't know enough about the working of a LSD to ask knowledgable questions.

I didn't think to ask about the break in of the boot because I felt these were answers just to make me feel better about the noise.

 

Isn't the LSD clutch operated? If so, won't it make some sort of noise when turning sharply??!?