Take each wheel off, rotate the hubs by hand and listen to them, if you hear or feel a rumble then your bearings are on the way out but its more like your tyre wear. Run your hands over the tread and see if you can feel or see any saw toothing or scalloping of the tread pattern.
Failing either, lift the rear floor up to see if there is a leprechaun in there humming a tune.

 

Thanks....there is a bit of a scraping noise when i apply the brakes backing up first thing in the morning, but i was told that is normal ....will update on the pitch of the leprechaun if applicable!! )

 

Never heard any brake noise from either of mine when reversing. what can happen on the rear brakes is the wire retainer that clips the pad onto the piston may have corroded so it would pay to inspect the pads. Be aware you will need a tool to retract the rear piston as you need to wind it back in, not push it. I think Modmini on youtube has covered rear pads on his site if your not upto speed on the Mini brakes.

 

Light rust on the disc rotors overnight is normal and nothing to be concerned about, mine will even get a light film after washing the car, as soon as you drive off the pads will clean it. On rear pads, some pads have a spring clip that hold the inner pad onto the piston and sometimes it can corrode and snap so the pad isn't firmly attached to the piston so the pad wanders around and can create noise but more importantly, develop an uneven wear pattern for obvious reasons. You would just install new pads as a set to both rear wheels.

 

Is this noise present when the car is running but not moving? Fuel pumps can make this type of noise as they begin to fail. Sometimes you can open the fuel fill and listen at the opening and tell the noise is coming from the tank.

With regard to wheel bearings.....go somewhere that is fairly remote and at 20ish miles an hour swerve the car from left to right. As you turn to the left the right side wheel bearings will load and conversely to the right the left bearings will load and the right will unload. A problematic bearing, under load, will make more noise, and when unloaded will become quieter.

 

thanks for the input....going to replace the wheel bearings this weekend...will update after

 

Hi Guys,

I Have a 2011 mini clubman s....lately there has been an increasingly louder humming noise that seems to be coming from the rear of the car? Wondering if it could be wheel bearings?? Tires?? or something else having to do with the rear suspension??... how would i go about checking to see if its a bearing issue??

I have 68K on the car..and the rear tires seem to be good (thinking maybe a the steel belt in the tire is off? but there is no noticeable bulges etc.)

any help would be great!!!

Thanks
Tim

Commonly know as stepped tyre wear, this affects the inner edge tread of the rear tyres. The inner tread blocks of the tyre wear unevenly and leave the tyre edge like a threepenny bit, this wear creates a noise from the tyre much like a rumbling wheel bearing – very annoying!23 Nov 2013