[grant watson]

I am an great fan of the mini..but it does have its probs.

I picked up my mcs on the 1st of march 2003 and it has developed rattles already. I had a cooper before that had huge probs..widows dropping down on own accord, cracked windscreens, rattles in boot, dash, doors, new suspension arms, new ecuX2, to list a few...

SO back to my new mcs, it has the same buzzing noise that my cooper had on the drivers door, I cannot locate it or stop it by pushing against it... has anyone got a better idea of what it is...I am considering taking it apart myself as bmw never found it in my last one. any suggestions on where to start. I am also hearing a rattle from the new glove compartment, or is it deeper than that?!!?? really frustrating....

[cooper4us]

My August 2002 build, '02 MINI Cooper CVT doesn't have a single rattle or noise in the cabin. Solid as they day we took delivery 6 months ago.

There are 4 factors as to why rattles may be prevalent on these cars:

1) The interior have lots and lots of plastic
2) Very stiff body structure
3) In the case of the MCS, you have the stiffest SS+ suspension.
4) Stiff and rough riding Runflat tires.

It seems to me that owners of regular Coopers with the 15" non-runflat tires seem to have less problems or complaints about interior squeaks and rattles.

Our MINI does not have runflat tires or the SS+ suspension...does this help minimize rattles...maybe so.

[grant watson]

fair enough, low profile tyres and stiff suspension can highlight these rattles, I heard that from mini/bmw.
however as a product designer and with a fair knowledge of plastics, moulding, tolerances, expanding contracting due to temp, etc I can only say that they have cut costs and not used plastics well enough in the interior, most cars use plastics in interiors. I believe that the moulding quality and the structural strength of the mouldings themselves let them flex and move in relation to the 'stiff body' It is a hugely annoying fault, and I have had some really loud rattles and resonating panels in the past, not acceptable even in a cheap car.

considering that a huge amount of minis are on the chilli pack or cooper s and coopers chilli pack config, I think they should look into this problem.. in my opinion its not the way they are built, its the plastics that are at fault... try pushing your hand on the top of the dash..not too hard!!, it will make a creaking noise... thats not right in this day and age of manufacturing.

[cooper4us]

I agree with your assesment about the quality of the interior plastics. It seems that cutting corners in terms of materials and some manufacturing process seem to be plaguing almost every car manufacturer in the industry.

[oldnell]

Grant, I agree with you totally. If you take a look at relatively cheap cars like the new Fiesta, the dshboard seems much more solid than the MINI and it doesn't squeak and rattle.

My six week old MINI One (c. 2000 miles) has rattly speaker grilles on both sides and an incredibly annoying rattle somewhere around the speedo. I can stop the speaker grilles buzzing by touching them, but no matter what I touch around the speedo, the rattle is still there.

What's more, it's intermittent, but when it does rattle it will rattle for a good hour or so and then disappear.

Even the MINI One (which I have, with standard wheels and standard suspension) seems to have fairly stiff suspension to me. Any personal belongings I have in the car rattles away wherever I put it.

Very irritating. I should be enjoying the car, not worrying about what's going to start rattling next.

[cooper4us]

Like I said, mt '02 Cooper CVT doesn't have a single rattle in it. Maybe US bound MINIs are better built?

[KenL]

Quote:

Originally posted by cooper4us
Like I said, mt '02 Cooper CVT doesn't have a single rattle in it. Maybe US bound MINIs are better built?

Yes, maybe having the steering wheel on the wrong side stops the rattles