Noisey Wheel

Hi there - I had the same problem a few weeks ago - went to the garage who said that they could find nothing wrong!! They suggested it was something to do with how the run flats were wearing on the inside ( i mean do I look that stupid!) and left me to it - the noise then went away for a while and came back - they then suggested that i had the noise all the time but was only hearing it now as I am summer driving with the windows down!!! In despair I left and it seems to have gone again - sorry that its no help but thought I'd share my thought anyway!!

 

Well thankfully my car has no warranty so I'll either do the work myself or take it to an independant garage. I just didn't want to go replacing bits when I wasn't quite sure what it was. If I find out I'll let you know.

 

The fact that the noise increases with cornering load suggests a wheel bearing, I have had wheel bearings fail in the past (not on a mini tho') which have made noises similar to the ones you describe

 

First thing I would do is jack up the RHS with the wheel on and give it a spin by hand. See if there is a catching noise. Might try it again with the suspenson jacked up so as to put it under compression. Could be you just picked up a loose object that is trapped around the hub somewhere.
Also I would try rocking the wheel top to bottom and side to side to see if I could feel any play in the bearings or ball joints.
I would then take the wheel off, have a look at it for signs of rubbing on the inside, and inspect the brake and hub for any signs of trapped stones or such like. You might try giving the drive shaft a good pull whilst it's accessible to see if it feels loose.
If that does not reveal anything I don't really know what else to suggest.

 

Hi there,just a thought-are you using Goodyear runflats-if so it will be the tyres.They will need taking off their bead and resealing,although good tyres they have a habit of moving on their bead and creating a rubbing noise-usually goes away with speed though,best wishes





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Binding brake calliper? or maybe your pads are on the way out.

 

Hi there,just a thought-are you using Goodyear runflats-if so it will be the tyres.They will need taking off their bead and resealing,although good tyres they have a habit of moving on their bead and creating a rubbing noise-usually goes away with speed though,best wishes
I

I don't have run flats. Horrible things

 

Binding brake calliper? or maybe your pads are on the way out.

As I said the noise is unaffected by braking.

 

First thing I would do is jack up the RHS with the wheel on and give it a spin by hand. See if there is a catching noise. Might try it again with the suspenson jacked up so as to put it under compression. Could be you just picked up a loose object that is trapped around the hub somewhere.
Also I would try rocking the wheel top to bottom and side to side to see if I could feel any play in the bearings or ball joints.
I would then take the wheel off, have a look at it for signs of rubbing on the inside, and inspect the brake and hub for any signs of trapped stones or such like. You might try giving the drive shaft a good pull whilst it's accessible to see if it feels loose.
If that does not reveal anything I don't really know what else to suggest.

Thanks, I will try all of the above

 

The fact that the noise increases with cornering load suggests a wheel bearing, I have had wheel bearings fail in the past (not on a mini tho') which have made noises similar to the ones you describe

I'm leaning towards wheel bearing now I've had another good listen whilst coasting with the clutch down. It seems it might actually be whirring all the time and the wub wub wub is where it gets worse.

The trouble is I have no interior at the mo' so the car is very loud. If I open the window or sunroof it actually makes the sound less clear to hear.

 

The fact that the noise increases with cornering load suggests a wheel bearing, I have had wheel bearings fail in the past (not on a mini tho') which have made noises similar to the ones you describe

Yep, wheel bearing - I'd change it PDQ as you really don't want that to seize.

M

 

Does seem weird though if it is a wheel bearing. If it is I seem to be the first person to post on MINI2 or NAM of a front wheel bearing failure. I've only seen posts about the back ones on searches.

Seems a relatively easy replacement so I'll post details when I do it. Gonna have to be next week though as I'm on nights this week so guess I'm gonna have to take it easy.

 

Yeah, drive carefully. If it is a wheel bearing it might have started to disintegrate, as opposed to just wearing out. Too many track days?

 

I've only done two in it but I got it second hand. The problem was caused at the Bedford trackday. Anti-clockwise circuit so all the weight was on that side and with 230BHP (allegedly ) wheelspinning out of the corners I'm not surprised.

 

From what you've described I'm pretty sure I've got the exact same problem. I'm also out of warranty so any tips how easy it is to change the bearings would be great.

I've just had all four wheels re-balanced because I was hoping it might be that, but no improvement. Have you noticed the sound it much clearer at certain speeds?

 

Not really, it just gets faster the faster you go and increases significantly under load and reduces when unloaded.

From what I've read it looks simple. The bearing and hub carrier are held by four bolts. The entire assembly has to be replaced as the bearings are not removeable.

 

Got a price on the wheel bearing today. £102 But that is because it includes the hub as well.

Seen here http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts part number 7.

 

Fitment is relatively easy as well (in theory) I willpost after I fit it.

Remove road wheel,
Remove wheel speed sensor from hub carrier.
"Unstake" and remove hub nut.
Remove caliper and brake disc.
Undo 4 bolts retaining hub and bearing.

Refit in reverse sequence.

An hours work at a guess for first attempt. 30 - 45 min's thereafter. Bolts are at rear of hub carrier so may be awkward to reach.

 

Got a price on the wheel bearing today. £102 But that is because it includes the hub as well.

Seen here http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts part number 7.

:aargh: Ouch

 

Well I got the hub and bearing and a hub nut for £93.78. For some reason they always apply a discount to my bill when I get parts from my dealer. Only once have I not had a discount and that was only for trim clips.

 

Just out of interest, how many miles have you done? I've always associated wheel bearing problems with high mileage yet my GF's Cooper has been in today and had both front bearings replaced at 30,000 miles....

I'd been nagging her for ages to get it sorted too, probably since before it's second service at 25,000.

Apparently BMW have said it was due to 'driving too fast over speed bumps' which sounds like complete b******s to me.

 

45K

I killed mine on the track day as I said. 230BHP through the front wheels doesn't help either.

My Cooper has done similar mileage with no issues. Searching around it seems if they're going to go they go at between 15k to 50k. There's plenty of people who abuse their cars and have had no issues so I guess this is one of those parts that you get good and bad ones.

 

As you say, if you're pushing 230bhp out and using it then you might expect a bit more wear and tear than a standard Cooper being driven normally....

Just another dodgy part then.

 

Someone with a standard Cooper on here had one of theirs go at 15K. Seems to be pot luck unfortunately.

 

Well tried to fit the hub and bearing today but got as far as the hub nut. Couldn't undo it with a two foot breaker bar. Even taking my full weight jumping on it.

Spoke to MiniSpeed who said "oh yeah, they're a right pain in the ****!"

Apparently they broke a breaker bar trying to get one off and said they've had more luck with the air impact wrenches.

So annoyingly I've booked it in for them to do at least I have the parts. I would not recommend this as a DIY item unless you're sure you can undo the hub nut.