exhaust crackle & clunk noise between 1st and 2nd gear

[Gr1zzLy]

Hi,

I've only recently noticed recently that when I take my foot off the accelerator when driving that the exhaust gives off a crackling/popping sound. Is that normal?!?!?! When I test drove the car I never heard it, so am I imagining things or is this a normal part of the mini?

Also when changing between 1st and 2nd gear, there's a clunk sound coming from the gearbox. Is that normal too!?!?!? It's not like it sounds bad, but I'm just not sure if it's normal. It also happens between 2nd to 3rd gear but just not as predominant as 1st and 2nd.

[supercharged]

Hi Gr1zzLy.

The popping sound is a feature on the 2005 Cooper S and is completely normal. Nothing to worry about there. Now that you know it's nothing bad, I'm sure you'll most probably learn to love it.

If the sound you are referring to regarding the gearbox is what I am thinking of... then that's normal too. The harder and faster you change gears, the more likely you are to hear the gearbox working. If you're still not sure that it's normal, get it checked out by the dealer. The MCS's gearbox generally isn't know for being problematic to my knowledge.

Hope this helps.

SuperCharged

[Gr1zzLy]

Thanks supercharged... you put my mind at ease. The popping noise does sound kinda funky, but you can probably understand my nervousness considering that there have been quite a few problems with minis in the past. Having just got it last Friday I was very nervous that mine might have some of the problems as well...

[supercharged]

Yeah, I understand that, and it's very easy to mistake it for something bad if you don't know about it. You're not alone, there have been a lot of people who have asked about it