... and, on startup, the usual playful whizziness of the engine was replaced, or, really, augmented, with a painful death rattle toward the passenger side. Really, it sounded like MINI included a diesel engine on that side, along with my turbo. This is a NASTY sound, like shaking gravel in a coffee can as you spin up the RPMs. It sounds like the engine is doing bad things to itself, like converting, Transformer-style, to a 1984 Oldsmobile diesel, and I was reluctant to even take the car out of the driveway, until I remembered all the post I'd seen about cold startup noises.

So, I drove about 1/2 mile to the school bus stop and home, sitting for a few minutes waiting for the bus. The noise didn't recur while idling, but whenever I went above 1500 rpm, it was there. I left the house about 6 hours later, mid-afternoon, and the noise was still there, though not quite as pronounced. Made it about a mile before I had to stop for gas. And when I restarted the car after filling up - no more noise.

When I got home, I looked up some YouTube videos of the cold start noise, and I'm pretty sure that's what I experienced.

What's MINI's position on this? Still tightening timing chains? Mine was a July4 build (go ahead, sing the national anthem - I'll wait) and I thought this issue had been addressed by then. It did not repeat today, thank god, but, man is it painful to hear my beloved car make that horrendous noise. MINI needs to own up to this and fix it, or I'll be a one-time, short-term customer.

 

rides like a truck in the cold. The rattles and noises really come out at 20 and below!

 

Just get used to it.

 

If my brand new '09 makes this noise when I pick it up next week I'm going to be pretty pissed off. I can guarantee it will be below 20 here for the next 4 months and I don't want to listen to a noise as horrible as described here all winter.

 

somedays my car rattles, others, it does not.
this is what i do but if its NOT the way to do it, please tell me!

turn the car on, and let it idle for 3-4 min.
rev slowly to 1500 rpm or until you hear the rattle.
repeat until rattle is gone.

then on, i take it easy and shift at the 2k rpm and go from there.

 

Just as long as my Mini start then everything should be ok.

My wife drive it on a daily basis and I'm waiting for it to get really really cold here before she calls me to let me know that she can't get it started.

Just yesterday she said it took a little bit before it was ready to go, she said that it seems to have been struggling from a cold start and when she applied the gas in reverse. Hope that it was only due to moisture issues in the gas that might of caused this.

I had driven my brothers 07 BMW 328i last winter when it was -40 degrees celcius and it struggled to start up a few times, it sounded really bad.

 

I have noticed mine doing the same on a few cold days and it is a month old 2009 MCSa. It clattered for about 1/4 mile after work last night as I was driving and shifting as easy as possible without getting run over.

I noticed several posters on other threads said something about hearing the noise after parking with the nose downhill. My parking space at work is slightly down hill, so today I turned around and parked with my nose uphill.

It still had a bit of a noise after work today but not near the clatter sound of a diesel and I didn't feel a loss of power.

Time will tell if it makes a difference.

DaveJ

 

I heard the noise for the first time last week. It went on for at least 5 minutes. It sounded like it was taking it's sweet time to get the oil from the oil pan to the top of the engine.

It's only done it once and it was coincidently the only time I've let my mini sit for 3-4 days without driving it.... thus even more reason why I feel the oil was allowed to settle to the bottom of the engine. If you drive your car daily, oil still stays in cam galleys, etc.

I drove it as normal, I figure if it's going to cause problems, Mini will have to fix it.

Of course, I'm sure that'll be about as productive as them fixing their sunroofs.

Mark

 

it has something to do with the way that BMW makes their engines. engine clearences and such, because they tend to run hot. atleast, that's what they told me in my classes.

 

Many BMW's will not let you shift into reverse and apply the gas until the engine is considered warm by the ECU. BMW can adjust that btw.

 

Are the cold start "rattles" more common in the cooper or MCS.

 

i've been starting in the mornings when its consistantly under 32. i've been driving to school when its 21 out at 630am!!! what i've noticed is that the car stutters a bit in the low RPMs and doesnt like to idle very much when its cold. i've got a 2008 MCSa. the stuttering thing is intersting, should i be concerned?.

 

MCS only FWIR

 

This is an interesting thread - I'm considering trading up from my 06 MCSa to a new 09 but up here in VT we have to deal with 4 to 5 months of <20 degree mornings. My 06 doesn't have any problems/rattles...now I'm worried...

 

Perhaps this will help...

My service guy mentioned that the ethanol content in gasoline is increased during the winter months in regions that experience below freezing temps (32 F or below) which is not appreciated by the MCS ECU. The combustion process being compromised by the more sedate Premium w/ additional ethanol, he suggested I use the mid-grade (89) octane gasoline from November through February. It seemed to work for me last winter - we had several days of 10ish degree weather up here in Santa Fe - virtually eliminating the coarse idling.

Just my .02.

 

It's a proven fact that a lower octane fuel will burn slower and causing an engine to idle smoother. However, without the octane points, it won't tolerate as much compression.

A little off topic but many years ago I read that you should run the lowest octane possible that doesn't allow knocking.

At the time, I was riding a 600cc Honda motorcycle. I had put 12000 miles on it in the first 6-7 months. Each time I would fill the bike up, I would reset the trip odometer. I could guarantee that I would get 150-160 miles per tankful.... never failed. I thought I was giving my bike the "good stuff" so I always used 93 octane.

As soon as I read the article, I started running 87 octane. Within a tank, I could feel how much smoother the engine was. I could feel the extra power with the twist of a wrist. It was wierd, I couldn't believe I could tell a difference.

Over the next 9000 miles, I continued to reset the trip odometer every time I would fill the bike up. From that point on, I would get 175-185 miles per tankful.... again, it never failed for the next 9000 miles.

The manufacturer suggested 87 octane and not 93 but I thought I was doing my bike a favor.


Anyway, back to the original post, it may very well run a little better with lower octane in the cold months.

Mark

 

does anyone's R56 run smoothyl and without noise or problem during extreme cold or is there no hope?

 

I've used Lucas fuel system treatment (which lubricates the upper cylinders and isn't a solvent) recently and that seemed to help the cold start and stuttering in the morning. I've only had a slight problem as I am in Texas and it hasn'tgotten below 50s in the morning hear...yet!

http://www.lucasoil.com/products/dis...tid=2&loc=show

 

The cold start issue plus melting hood scoop are the main 2 reasons why I didn't go with the S version of the Clubman. I do intend to purchase a turbo version in the short term future but not if this is not fixed. Mini needs to get on these issues cause they've lost a prospective customer until then.

 

Don't get me started.....

 

Someone reported hearing the cold start noise on just a Cooper in this thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...=130308&page=3

See post number 58.

 

That is the only post I've ever seen of an MC having that issue. In fact I'd probably consider it an outlier based on what I've read here.

 

My 07 MCS rattles as well when it's cold. I've learned to take it slow initially, and keep the revs down. The noise goes away in a few minutes. Just one more thing to like about winter.

 

How come BMW doesn't put one of their four cylinder engines in their Mini's.

 

My 08 MCS does the same thing. Goes away in maybe a couple of minutes, even after sitting out in 15 deg F weather all day.