My fiance's 2006 Mini with 90,000 miles on it began making a growling sound from the right (passenger) front side when steering either direction at low speeds. It sounds like it is coming from the strut tower and sounds like rubber on rubber. I lubed everything up and the sound reduced but is still there. Today her power steering went out. She cut the car off and then turned it back on the steering was fine afterwards.

I jacked up both front tires and tried to wiggle both to check for wheel bearings and did not find any issues. I turned the key enough to unlock the steering wheel and can still hear the noise when moving the steering wheel so it is not dependent on the vehicle being turned on. The power steering fluid is full. The sway bar drop end on the right front side was completely shot so I replaced that a few days ago before lubing everything up. There is no change in acceleration and the sound is not present when driving in a straight line. The ABS light also comes on intermittently.

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

My power steering was also making growling noise and today it gave out....I found out there was a recall on power steering on minis.....called dealer and luckily it is covered....taking it in on Tuesday
to have it repaired under warranty....mine is 2003 with 72000 miles.....part alone after market was $900 if I had to buy it....

 

Just an update to this thread. I pulled the plastic dust shield down from the strut bearings and sprayed the absolute hell out of it with silicone lube. Haven't had a problem since.

 

Have you plugged into the system to read what fault code is present? This should give you an idea of possibly why your ABS light is emitted. Is that the only light that comes on? When you turn on your A/C does your p/s fan turn on? The fact that your p/s cut out might indicate you have an intermittent failure. I'd be curious about worn front lower control arm bushings. How do they look? How do your strut tops look?