[CBCooper]

Well this is my mini cooper S this morning at 4:30am (yes, some of us have to get up that early for work!), so excuse the darkness, i'm sat in the car holding my camera toward the bonnet, slowly pressing the accelerator to no more than 2k revs. (see movie link) Now, it doesnt do it everyday but i have had my camera in my glove box to try and capture this abnormal noise so i can show my dealer, something clearly is not right! Anyone else have this problem, this is one of MANY that i have and im starting to tire of the ever growing list of problems my new car has. Not happy...off to the dealer

CB

Video of R56 MCS ABNORMAL ENGINE NOISE - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

[Carlo Sidoli]

Quote: Originally Posted by CBCooper (original)

Well this is my mini cooper S this morning at 4:30am, so excuse the darkness, i'm sat in the car holding my camera toward the bonnet, slowly pressing the accelerator to no more than 2k revs. (see movie link) Now, it doesnt do it everyday but i have had my camera in my glove box to try and capture this abnormal noise so i can show my dealer, something clearly is not right! Anyone else have this problem, this is one of MANY that i have and im starting to tire of the ever growing list of problems my new car has. Not happy...off to the dealer

CB

Video of R56 MCS ABNORMAL ENGINE NOISE - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

GOD PLEASE TELL ME THATS A DIESEL!!!!!! THAT SOUNDS AWFULL HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THE CAR FOR AND HOW MANY MILES HAS IT DONE!!!

[Mat-CooperS]

Thats sounds really rough, definitly something not right there, I thought mine sounded ropey in the morning but nothing like that! Get it back to the dealer.

[CBCooper]

Car has done 2500 miles, ITS NOT A DIESEL!! its a November build 2006 R56 MCS. I have just got back from the dealer, i expressed my concern to there Mini (expert) Technician as to wether i was damaging the engine driving it like this, obviously he could not determine what or why it was making this noise as the engine was now warm. There is a definate rattle from the top of the engine if you hold the revs at 1200 revs just over tickover, when warm, but not like when cold, as in the video. Other problems are as in some other threads on here, when i release the clutch in first- second gear i get that vibrating/rattle noise, like the exhaust is loose or something. It spent 7 days in the workshop last month for dash rattles and a knocking from the drivers side suspension, which they replaced some parts to rectify but its still no different. Also the left windscreen wiper has the most annoying squeek, its not the wiper blades either, if you take the wiper arms off the windscreen and turn the wipers on it still makes the squeeking noise, drives me nuts when its raining! Last week i was driving home on some unlit roads and the Xenons decided to move up and down of there own accord, eventually sticking in the down position pointing about 3 inches up the road, basically it was like driving with my sidelights on, i drove the remainder of the way home with my xenons on full beam and not one car flashed me, thats how low they were pointing! So...its booked in next Wednesday for numerous problems to be looked at, they asked me to take it Tuesday night so they could start the car cold on Wednesday morning to see if it makes this rattle for them.
I love my Mini's and this is my third one, but i am seriously considering selling the car once its fixed. I never thought i would feel this way, but this car has left such a sour taste, im losing faith

[wiggis]

Quote: Originally Posted by CBCooper (original)

Well this is my mini cooper S this morning at 4:30am, so excuse the darkness, i'm sat in the car holding my camera toward the bonnet, slowly pressing the accelerator to no more than 2k revs. (see movie link) Now, it doesnt do it everyday but i have had my camera in my glove box to try and capture this abnormal noise so i can show my dealer, something clearly is not right! Anyone else have this problem, this is one of MANY that i have and im starting to tire of the ever growing list of problems my new car has. Not happy...off to the dealer

CB

Video of R56 MCS ABNORMAL ENGINE NOISE - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

That sounds horrific. To my ear, it sounds like big end bearing noise and something within the combustion chambers - even possible that the higher pitched ticking is one of the pistons hitting one of the valves - either that, or there is a broken piston ring flapping around in there.

I would hazard a guess that the clever 'oil pump only runs when it needs to' mechanism isn't working, and your engine isn't getting its oil supply. If this is the case, then running it like this would be destroying the engine. When oil supply comes back, the noises would quieten down, but the bearing surfaces would be badly worn by then .......

Does this noise stop suddenly when it does stop, or does it just fade out gradually?

Take it to your dealership, with this video, and leave it there until they have fixed it or replaced the engine ...........

[CBCooper]

Well i put the video on a cd and took it to my dealer today, the mechanic watched it and didnt show any alarm at all, just acknowledged that something wasnt right. My drive to work in the morning is not far, only a 5 minute or so journey across town, but the noise remains all the way to work (with me wincing all the way). If i drive it over a longer distance the noise eventually disappears as if oil is finally getting to the parts. I'm no mechanic, but i know that something is seriously wrong with this engine. And thanks for the responses to this guys, i really appreciate the input.

CB

[Olly.]

Mine had done exactly the same but only once after I left it for a couple of days, plus it was in the minus figures at the time. It disappeared as soon as the engine was warm

I haven't had it do it again, don't think its a major engine fault though personally.

[MiniMpi]

It might be unrelated but my Cooper did something kinda similar once or twice when it was cold,3 degrees temp outside.
Engine was revving up and down and rattlely,switched it off,waited few seconds,then started it and it was perfect???
Then the other day when it was warm,came back to car,started it and it started revving up and down again only this time the yellow 'engine' symbol light came on!
Switched it off,started it again and again it was perfect.
Took it to the dealer who checked the fault memory and told me that 'The exhaust camshaft sensor' (Valvetronic,timing etc)was faulty and my car should be back to me by Thursday.
Fergal.
*****All sorted now,Car perfect.*****

[ShaunSheep]

I experienced a noise similar to this from my MCS this morning and once over the weekend. Neither were particularly cold mornings and the noise seemed to disappear after 20 seconds or so on both occasions. The car has only covered 1150 miles so I'll be keeping a listen out for any further tractor-like noises

Good luck CB, hope the dealer gets it sorted for you

[R60 Mike]

Mine made that noise last year not long after owning the car on a cold morning, Only heard it that once and not again.

I do recogonise that sound though. Thought some thing very very serious was wrong with it,

Shame i can no longer get to my engine bay as the bonnet release has broken, Wonderful

[ASTON]

that sounds like a bag of nails

hope you get it sorted soon.

[CooperS4us]

Test drove a new R56 MCS here in Miami last night and the engine at idle sounds like a Diesel Truck!

Did not notice this sound from the R56 Cooper automatic I test drove before it.

[chipcooper]

Hi.My MCS did the same on Saturday morning when I was setting off to work.So I thought I would call in to my local dealer as it is on my way! As the car got warmer it stopped making the noise! I phoned the dealer up to see if someone could listen to it aswell as the gearbox problem. I took the car last night so they could start it from cold this morning.The gearbox is a fault that bmw are reviewing (for how long who knows!!!) The dealer said they could not hear the noise from the engine! So I went to pick the car up tonight, got In, started it up and guess what? the noise was there!! I immediately went back to the service department and got a technician out. He is going to speak to somebody at bmw tomoz! I think it sounds like the timing chain as it is coming from that side of the engine!!!

[CBCooper]

Well im sorry to hear your car has the same problem Chip, as i said before mine goes in next week, but if yours gets diagnosed before mine i would really appreciate it if you could post back so i at least have some idea as to what it could be. Thanks again

CB

[chipcooper]

Engineer is coming out to have a listen to mine on the 6th of March so you might be able to tell me a bit more about it! Hope all goes well

[dneal]

If the knocking noise goes away as the car warms, it seems that your problem is piston slap.

Many automakers are designing their pistons with much shorter skirts in order to minimize weight, allowing the piston to "wiggle" in the cylinder when cold. As the piston warms, it expands which fills the gap causing the knocking sound to go away.

Google "piston slap" for more information.

[eggtruck]

Mine has done it a couple of times too - if you drive with it like that the car feels like it has very little power - almost like not all the cylinders are firing.

The only thing I can compare it too was on a Seat Leon 20V Turbo Cupra - the coil packs kept failing on it and made it missfire.

Remember guys, we are the MINI R56 test pilots!!

[Prowse]

Looks like the Citroen-Pug chaps had more input to the engine design than was advertised. Pug always did make reliable, but noisy diesels!

Seriously though, that noise can not be good, any components that are clattering about like that are surely going to be causing damage/wear.

[JG.26]

I think its a case of welcome to the delights of French engines

Reading todays Mail on Sunday test of the 207CC GT which basically uses a slightly detuned engine which is in the S, same comments that it sounds like a diesel and is noisy, but quietens down when warmed through. I think their diesel engines are actually quieter than the petrol's

[wiggis]

Hmm. I've listened to the recording several times now and .......

I think the problem is to do with the turbo. The design uses a twin scroll turbo, where the exhaust gases from 2 cylinders feed one of the scrolls, and the exhaust from the other two cylinders feed the other scroll, and the feeds are separated in the exhaust manifold.

Now what if the turbo wasn't spinning freely?. It would put considerable back pressure on 2 of the cylinders, and a slightly lower backpressure on the other 2 cylinders (the two scrolls act almost as different turbine 'gears'). If this was happening, the engine would run very badly and would be reluctant to rev up, and could quite easily sound like the recording posted. Perhaps when the turbo eventually warms up, gets good oiling through, and starts to spin more freely, the problem goes away?

So what might cause this? Even a small piece of metal swarf left over from the manufacture somewhere inside the engine could damage the bearings in the turbo enough to do this if you were unlucky enough to have such a piece of metal floating around and it were to find its way to the turbo instead of being trapped by the oil filter.

This would also explain why no one with an R56 Cooper (as opposed to an S) has reported similar issues.

Just a thought based on pure speculation .......... If I owned a Cooper S and didn't have this problem, I'd seriously consider an oil flush and change shortly after running in - just in case.