Took delivery of my MCS on Wed of last week - well everything is seemingly ok (no SES lights) I'm a little concerned about what seems to be something not quite right with my NEW JCW - the dealer installed the JCW kit on an off-the-lot MCS - I'm not quite sure how to explain the noise but it really sounds like a slight diesel-like clatter at startup and idle. I immediately checked the oil (it's right on the mark) - the only thing I can think of is the belt tensioner for the supercharger. I'm going to schedule an appointment with the dealer tomorrow - to get this looked at as well as the brakes that want to squawk everytime I pull up to a traffic light and a annoying buzz in the dash.

Kind of a bummer, since I've good luck with the other four MINIs I've owned.

 

My MINI jcw sounds the same as yours. I was told that sound was a pcv valve or something like that purging. I am sure we are talking about the same noise.

 

is it a NORMAL noise or ABNORMAL noise? My bud with an 05 MCS JCW seemed to think it was ABNORMAL.

 

Hi,

I have a factory 2006 JCW and there is no clatter noise.

 

my 06 non jcw makes the same noise, i think its the belt tensioner...

 

Clatter confirmed by senior MINI tech at Tate - it's most likely the rocker arm that's causing the noise. When they install them - they generally settle in within 10 mins or so of running in - mine evidently did not - I'm surprised it wasn't caught on pre-delivery check.

So until they get it resolved - I'm running around in an Enterprise rental - Chevrolet Silverado FULLSIZE (squishy, awful, floaty, lathargic, piggish) pickup truck. All I need to complete the redneck package is to throw my dog Cooper in the pickup bed.

 

Good luck getting your car running as it should

 

Yeehaaww! Now you know how I feel sometimes! Of course I bring mine on myself with the "Insured by HK" and "Terrorist Hunting Permit" bumper stickers (among a few others)... At least when I travel down south in NC, I get honks & waves of appreciation, though! Only thing missing is a Dixie flag...

Lemme know how you make out on your car, the lifter thing, though uncommon, isn't unheard of. Sorry it happened to you, but then again I know that JCW kit sat around for ages-I doubt it was anything that Sam did (he installed it, was pretty straight-forward but was time consuming). Harry & Sam will get you straightened out, though, so don't fret.

If it'll make things easier, would you like me to call Bill & have him swap you into a MINI loaner? I'll do that, even if I'm not there-I still have some pull. Cheers!

 

I have had the same noise at startup intermittently since new. It's quite a nasty diesel like clattering noise which increases with RPM. I am able to recreate the noise at will by doing the following. Start engine from cold. Let it run for 5-30 seconds maximum and shut it down. Restart it........NOISE. Seem to me this is the computer sensing a cold start condition and feeding it either an extra shot of rich mixture of gas something that the computer does when starting a cold engine. The only difference is here, is that the car was already started cold, and the second application of a cold start is resulting in this nasty sound. I logged my situation with Mini at my last service call. They said they were not aware of any common situation. Yeh right. What they mean, is they haven't a fix for it. I would suggest avoiding multiple cold starts and also have your proplem logged on a service invoice with Mini, just in case it causes a more severe problem later.