I have a 2003 cooper s with 65k on it and it has recently developed some front end noises. The first is a high pitched squeak coming from the front. I cannot tell which side but it happens when going over a slightly bumpy road. It almost sounds like a squeaky bushing.
The second is when taking off in first from a stop. When letting the clutch out, there is a heavy clunk coming from the passenger foot well area. I don't think it is the clutch as it operates fine, has good pedal feel, the engagement point is still fairly close to the floor, and it doesn't do it in any other gear.
Any body have any thoughts on the causes of these issues?

For reference, the car has no mushrooming and an m7 front strut bar, and under the strut towers looks fine with no tearing. I took the front wheels off and the tie rods have no play, the rubber boots up front look fine and none appear to be broken.

 

Did some further reading and it sounds to me like the lower control arm bushings and ball joints need to be replaced. I did the kick test and the front passenger wheel shakes and moves much more than the drivers side. Also the steering wheel shakes at high speed. I am thinking of going polyurethane on the LCABs. I also am going to change the sway bar end links and bushings while I am in there. Anyone have any good recommended brands for these parts?
Thanks!

 

I would recommend MOOG front suspension parts. All the parts are lifetime warranty and everyone I talked to about them swears by them for quality and strength. Rockauto.com has them for the best value from what I found. LCA's are a no brainer to go with powerflex. I replaced mine with a guide from pelicanparts and this website. If you have any other questions, let me know and I can try to answer them as I just recently did all this work.

 

Did you have to remove the sub frame or just loosen it and wedge some wood between it? Also, did you have any trouble installing/pressing in the new bushings?

 

I removed the entire sub-frame and replaced the ball joints, tie rods and LCA bushings all at one time. I purchased the powerflex bushings pre-pressed into the brackets from WayMotorWorks, saved tons of time and effort for very little extra cost. Once the sub-frame is dropped you have very easy access to everything, I would recommend just dropping it. The sway bar bushings are also right there and easy to change. Check your power steering reservoir lines too, mine were leaking fairly bad and its another easy change while the car is apart. I did it in my garage with the car on jack stands and used only hand tools (no air), took me a solid 2 days to get it all done, but I was going slow and using extreme caution. Only snag I hit was getting the ball joints to release from the steering knuckle, just had to jam a flat blade screw driver between the ball joint and the knuckle and it released after a few good blows with a large hammer.