The dealer supposedly fixed mine a couple of months ago (swapped out the latch, if I remember correctly), but now its back and worse than ever. For those of you that have it, you know exactly how I feel. Its so friggin annoying, its unbearable.

So, my question to all you motorers is, have you, or as your dealer, come up with a permanent cure for this problem? I'm at the point where, despite all of the mods and how much I love my car, if this ain't fixed for good, I'm going to have to trade her in.

Thanks

-Chris

 

5th Gear

I wish I could tell you that my dealer found a fix. The fix (which I am not sure what they did - no parts listed) did not eliminate the problem only seemed to shift the source of the noise. My mini has recently developed a few new interior noises in the dash and the passenger door. I think that what ever is causing the new noises were frozen in the winter (along with the door locks) and now that spring has arrived in the north country so have the rattles. I can only imagine what it will sound like what I have a few miles on it. Good luck in your endeavor

 

Mine was totally fixed by the dealer. The latch was replaced and they adjusted the rubber stops. After that was done, I never heard another rattle from back there.

 

Mine has been completely fixed, and it was with electrical tape wrapped around the existing latch.

 

>>Mine was totally fixed by the dealer. The latch was replaced and they adjusted the rubber stops. After that was done, I never heard another rattle from back there.


>>You beat me to it ,I would think the stops need to be adjusted,shimed.Have them check the hinges also

 

I took it in two or three times for this (02 MCS) and the last time they actually replaced the latch hardware and probably adjusted the stops...and that seems to have cured it from rattling.

One remaining, perhaps related, problem though is that I always have had to slam the heck out of the boot to get it to close all the way (i.e., the "open door" light on the speedo goes off). I'm sure that this can't be good for the car in the long run, and to date it has resulted in the little plastic lens that covers one of the license plate lights continually falling off. Oh, and my rear wiper motor keeps making a funny noise (replaced once already, and looks like it'll be replaced again before too long). All of this I think is because of the slamming required to close the damn boot. Clearly a weak area of the car.

 

Thanks guys.

Looks like I'll just have to try bringing it back to the dealer again. If they can't fix it "permenantly," I'll try going the electrical tape route.

StillK, as I'm sure many MINIacs will attest to, I've got a variety of rattles in the "cockpit" as well, including the famed door rattles (both) and the occasional dashboard rattle. Whatever is causing the doors to rattle (more of a vibration noise than a full-blown rattle) is temporarily stopped by simple pressing on the door... doesn't really do me any good to know that, because I still can't figure out what the cause is. My fiancee thinks its the reflectors, but I doubt it...

...stupid rattles...

 

I had all the hatch problems ,no rattle , but had to slam to close,bad latch replaced,wiper motor was bad,replaced,now lense cracked,replaced next week.It's their coin,If your inside overhead light stays on you can turn it off with the switch at least.At least when the doors frooze I could still get in through the hatch,dealer had to let me out

 

3" of electrical tape, no rattle for the past 2 months. If it wears out, I have plenty more tape. Kind of silly for me to drive 60 miles to the dealership for such an easy fix.

 

>.At least when the doors frooze I could still get in through the hatch,dealer had to let me out :evil:

 

02 mcs july build:returned almost immediately to have the rattle fixed,sm used white lithium grease on the male side of the latch(door side).this fixed it for awhile,but eventually I had to go back and have the latch assy. replaced(I think there'sa service bulletin about this).when ,eventually it started up again ,I used some very fancy grease sold by a fellow named Phil Wood in california,who makes very fancy sealed bearing goodies for bicycles, again on the arch side of the latch,and lo and behold,problem gone(close to a year now).Try it, you'll like it

 

>>>.At least when the doors frooze I could still get in through the hatch,dealer had to let me out :evil:
>>Well although it was a pain to deal with I saw the humour in it ,the dealer did not though,as a group of Bimmer owners were standing around watching while I'm honking the horn so someone would let me out

 

i have a similiar problem to jsun. my 04 mcs (dec o3 build) has no rattle but often when i close it the door ajar light will not extinguish. i have to raise the rear seat and pull the emergency boot release chord, the i close normally and the light goes out :???:
cheers, jon

 

What boot rattle?

 

MINI has had in production for a few months now, a revised version of the U shaped boot latch. This new latch is THICKER than the two previous releases. The new latch can be easily identified as being black in color. The older latches are either metal plated or dull metal for the early 2002 builds.

The rattle was caused by a thin diameter U shape boot latch. When the boot was closed, the U shaped latch would rattle inside the latching mechanism because it left plenty of clearance thus causing the rattles. This explains why the electrical tape fix works well, becuase what you are essentially doing is making the U shaped latch thicker, thus reducing cleareance.

The adjustable rubber stops on each side underneath the hatch door also need to be adjusted. CAUTION: WHEN ADJUSTING THE RUBBER STOPS MAKE SURE YOU DO SO ON INCREMENTS OF 1/4 TURNS EACH WAY (COUNTER/CLOKWISE), IF YOU DON'T ADJUST THEM CAREFULLY YOU CAN MAKE THE BOOT RATTLE PROBLEM EVEN WORSE!


So when you go back to your dealer tell them you want the newly revised BLACK U-shaped boot latch. If they don't know what you are talking about, just take your friendly service advisor back to the showroom and show it to him on a new MINI.

_________________
'02 Cooper CVT PW/B, MFSW, CD Boost, 15" 8-Spoke silver wheels.
'04 MCS CR/W, UJ Roof Flag, Aux Input, HK, Sport MFSW, Rain sensing, Auto dim mirror, 16" silver V-spoke wheels, Chrome grille, Chrome mirrors, OBC, front fogs.

 

>>i have a similiar problem to jsun. my 04 mcs (dec o3 build) has no rattle but often when i close it the door ajar light will not extinguish. i have to raise the rear seat and pull the emergency boot release chord, the i close normally and the light goes out

 

>>>>i have a similiar problem to jsun. my 04 mcs (dec o3 build) has no rattle but often when i close it the door ajar light will not extinguish. i have to raise the rear seat and pull the emergency boot release chord, the i close normally and the light goes out
Underneath your rear seat cushion. Just pull up the cushion and the manual boot release cord will be tucked away right there. Some early 2002 MINIs did not come with it from factory (Contrary to what the owner's manual claimed). The manual boot release was added sometime in the '03 production year.


A description of it should be in your Owner's manual.

 

>>i have a similiar problem to jsun. my 04 mcs (dec o3 build) has no rattle but often when i close it the door ajar light will not extinguish. i have to raise the rear seat and pull the emergency boot release chord, the i close normally and the light goes out :???:
>>cheers, jon


Your rubber stops need to be adjusted. Adjust each side on 1/4 turn increments. Make sure that the latch mechanism is not getting jammed. If it is, then take it back to the dealer for either re-adjustment or replacement under warranty.


I find it unsual that your hatch gets stuck and can not be opened again from the outside. I think you have a defective boot latch mechanism.

 

" i have a similiar problem to jsun. my 04 mcs (dec o3 build) has no rattle but often when i close it the door ajar light will not extinguish. i have to raise the rear seat and pull the emergency boot release chord, the i close normally and the light goes out "

I had the same problem. The dealer eventually cured it by replacing the latch release mechanism. Just to clarify, this is the part that's mounted on the car at the bottom of the hatch opening, not the U shaped part on the hatch.

I say eventually because, at first, they appeared to be on a wild goose chase -- their initial diagnosis was a bad wiring harness throughout the car. Their approach to problem solving wasn't very reassuring!

 

Like I said, most of what's attached to the boot of my car is messed up. I'm beginning to think that I might need a new LATCH RELEASE mechanism as I often have to push my remote 3 or 4 times to get the thing to unlock...and when I press the mechanism to open it there's really no give at all. I'm used to just pressing on the little grippy thing until something eventually clicks and it opens.

Unfortunately, my dealer doesn't have any attached BMW showroom...so I can't do what lot15 did. But it would be great to start flailing away at my boot while there were a bunch of BMW buyers around. Of course, it'd probably be a more effective performance if done in front of a bunch of prospective MINI buyers. Hummmmm.

 

My boot rattle...and rear seat latch rattle...were fixed within weeks of my getting my MINI. Over a year later...still no rattles. Boot was fixed via the rubber stops. Seat latches by wrapping a little felt on around the ring side of the latch. (...maybe one of these days I'll get around to having those parts replaced.)

 

Cooper4us answered this already but I don't think anyone read it. The official fix for the infamous boot rattle is the new BLACK U-shaped boot latch.

If your boot is rattling and you do not have the black latch (or 3" of electrical tape!!) make a trip to your nearest dealer.

Ask for the BLACK latch!

If you have the BLACK latch and still have a boot rattle then have your smallest friend ride in the back with the back seats up to listen for exactly where the rattle is. Or take it to your dealer. Caution the dealer method will take three trips. One to tell you your hearing things. Two to replace the part with the wrong part. And three to replace the part with the actual failing part... If you have aftermarket valve stem caps then your screwed as this will void your warrenty!

 

THE BLACK LATCH IT IS!!!

Thanks

-Chris

 

I love everything about my car, but I've never been able to get rid of the boot rattle. I've tried everything from replacing the latch, replacng my m7 wing mounts, electrical tape, etc. After trying everything I can think of, I just decided that my rattle is one of my car's personality traits. I've obsessed over it long enough, so now on to bigger and better things<g>. :smile:

 

Goodness gracious am I reading your sig right? 2000 watt stereo? That's 160 amps!

Back to the topic at hand... Do you have the black latch?