[theminiv]

Hey all!! - I have checked the rattle thread and I cant find a solution for my problems! Anyone had the same? If so, what did you have done to sort?

Basically, I am on my 4th mini, They have all had rattles. But I bought a new one about 18 months ago, specced to me, which I love to bits. But after 12 months, the rattles arrived.

2 of them are in the rear quarters, which I believe are tied to the folding seat catches in the boot. Basically, if they are slammed in, they cause a rubbing rattle that makes a really annoying noise when I go over any sort of bump. When I spoke to the dealer, they put some electrical tape round the catches. This sorted the problem, but its back. I notice when the seats are folded down, there is no noise, and when they are not locked in, there is no noise. I am stumped here!

Also I have the dreaded passenger seat rattle, which goes when someone sits there!! - I have checked the head rest is down and its made no difference!

And I think both of the seat belt tensioners are now rattling!!

Why is this happening!? I have a 11 year old ford ka that does not rattle, is it so hard for BMW to make a car which shines quality throughout!!!

Dont get me wrong, I love my little car, but along with the thrust bearing noise and the extreme poor fuel economy, its embaressing taking the car back to dealers with a huge list of faults!

It makes me want to buy a new R56, but will the same happen in a year. . . .

[oldnell]

Don't be embarrassed about taking a car back with faults. The dealers get paid by BMW for warranty work, so they love it (just so long as they don't spend too long identifying what the fault is).

I had a passenger seat rattle that disappeared when a passenger sat in there. Turned out to be the lever for the seat height adjustment.

Oli

[theminiv]

Yer I know what you mean. What I find with the dealers tho is that they, as you say, dont like taking the time to find the problem. I have had this problem before, they like allocating time slots to the cars, and if they dont do it in the time slots, they basically give it back to u for rebooking. Problem I have is that I dont like using my local dealer, the dealer I bought from is 50 miles away, so its hard to go back and forth. It really needs to be driven with the technician in the car and I need to say, sort it before you ring me back.

I had the steering column replaced by Sytner Cardiff and they gave it back to me, all the column now rattles and I had to tighten all the screws up cos they left them loose!!

Its just so hard giving a list of probs to them, and actually getting it done in one shot.

[oldnell]

I've always felt that my dealer could never fix an issue in one visit. I'd be very specific about a problem, book it in, and then they'd identify/verify the problem. Then they'd order parts and I'd go in again. That's the best-case scenario. The other scenario is that they can't find a fault and then it goes in again, ad nauseum.

[KillerByte]

Quote: Originally Posted by oldnell (original)

The other scenario is that they can't find a fault and then it goes in again, ad nauseum.

That's the scenario I keep getting.

[theminiv]

C this is my point, I told the same dealer about the rear rattle and they put electrical tape on the catches, I presume this is to stop the rear seat from touching the actual boot plastics, because this is what makes the squeak. My current fix is to put 2 bits of felt tape on the seat catches, they wont lock in now, but it stops the rattle. Probably dangerous, but not annoying!

I will be taking the car in next week prob, and basically sitting in the car with a technician and showing them all the problems. Then saying, keep the car until its sorted lol!