Hello all,
I have a 2002 Mini, 5 speed non-turbo with about 100,000 miles. Recently its been making a growling/rumbling noise from what sound like the driver’s side engine compartment. I occurs in all gears when accelerating or decelerating although the pitch changes between the two. Noise disappears with clutch in or in neutral. Transmission shifts and feels normal. I took it to the transmission shop. The only issue they could find was the clutch and throw-out bearing were shot. They found no gear damage or internal bearing issues. At this point I'm at my wits end. Does anyone have an idea what could be causing this?
Thanks in advance.

 

Did you have the throw out bearing replaced? Did they take the transmission apart for the inspections?

 

I bought a 2002 R50 with a Midlands R65 5 speed gear box that made the same growling noise just ahead of the drivers feet. It did it worse cold but never actually went away even when warm. I read everything I could about the problem and found that the Midlands transmission has this issue alot! It appears that most people cured it with a transmission rebuild or replacement.

I'm kind of cheap so I thought I'd try something different to quieten it down until I had time to pull the transmission and fix it. I bought some Lucas 80W-90 gear oil and changed the oil in my transmission using it. I know the Mini purest just perked up like prairie dogs and can't wait to tell me that I should not have put that in there because of brass synchronizers and stuff like that but I figured that the crappy Midlands transmission was shot anyway and all I wanted to do was buy some time until I could repair it. I bought some time alright... 4 years, 50,000 miles and counting with no noise since then and smoother shifts than I ever had. I guess when it finally stops working I'll install another transmission if the car is not junk by then (I'm at 180K now).

Just my 2 cents worth.

Tony

 

I've a 2004 Cooper base, it has the differential noise. Only on accession or deceleration. Adding new oil and adding friction modifier helped a little.
I was really thinking of rebuilding, but at the same time I was pondering just riding this transmission until breaking.
I'll try the oil you used! Thanks for the update.

 

@nipunsharp I have a noise coming from the driver's feet of my '04 R50 seemingly only on accel/decel and so I'm wondering if you tried the oil mentioned?