1st Gen R53 Cooper S Help: grinding noise when accelerating hard....

The mount may still be bad without fresh goo near it. These mounts are a known issue and many have had them fail at low mileage. If not caught right away the goo will harden. All one is left with is a very dirty spot along the beam the mount sits on.

I went through 2 of these mounts before 40K miles on my car. It has been replaced with the TSW designed mount.

 

Which powerflex bushing are you talking about? The TSW upper mount and the BSH lower mount should have you covered. You can also replace the transmission mount (located on the driver's side) but that one will really make the car shake and is better off stock.

 

The two yellow bushings on the left in that top photo are for the transmission mount. I've heard from several people I trust that the transmission mount bushings create way too much NVH and offer little benefit for street-driven cars; they're not worth upgrading. The transmission mounts primarily handle side to side vibration, while the upper and lower engine mounts handle fore and aft rotation and vibration, which is what you see primarily with a longitudinally-mounted front engine.

The yellow pair on the right and the smaller purple pair are for the OEM lower engine mount. The yellow ones plug into holes in the stock rubber bushing on the engine side, and the purple ones replace the smaller stock bushing on the frame side (someone correct me if I mixed that up). The BSH lower engine mount replaces the entire OEM engine mount: rubber bushings, metal frame, everything. So half of the bushing kit is redundant and the other half is unnecessary, in my opinion.

See stock lower engine mount with holes here:



OEM MINI lower engine mount R50 R53 - Way Motor Works

 

You're welcome.

But don't worry, I wasn't going to pass up a chance to pontificate about MINI parts. Way better than waiting for software to load at work...

 

I'm just curious to know what the cause was and if you get it fixed now. And yes, this is a bunch more fun than putting together the weekly financial metrics for my manager and CFO...

 

Adding a little more.........
Specific to my Possibility #1
Depending on the output of your engine and the condition of your motor mounts, you would typically only experience this vibration/grinding-sound in 1st and 2nd gears, for some cases it would only be 1st gear, and yeah pretty close to full throttle.
There are several things you can do that will help 'a little bit', but my advice is to just fix it once and move on with your life. The TSW/WMW poly engine mount will cure excessive engine movement. The other mounts can help, but are not important compared to this one.

Possibility #3 (Actually related to #1)
Also, make sure that the front most exhaust hanger for the catback system is in good condition and is properly supporting the system at the proper level. If those red rubber mounts are weak or failing, and/or the hangers on the aftermarket catback are not in the proper position the system could be hanging a bit low and this would mean the header is closer to the X-brace than it should be. Thus making it more likely for a close encounter.

Good Luck with your Diagnostic adventures!

 

No, it is not under load, so it aint the same!

 

Yes you have a dead engine mount. Replace that first & check again. Try one thing at a time. If that doesn't do it I'd be checking that x brace for looseness & contact.

FWIW when my mount died the only symptom I had was an ugly dark stain on the frame rail.

 

Wow, this was so close you did not even need to remove the X-brace to prove the theory. The TSW engine mount will check excessive engine movement and if your existing mount is really bad it could also properly reposition the engine. I believe you really need the TSW poly mount. Engine movement is most severe in 1st and 2nd gears.

And check that front catback support.

 

You can take the exhaust down & using a special service tool make clearance.

 

Don't worry, the TSW mount will fix it. No clearancing necessary.

 

I'm having the same thing since on installed the V2 header. The X-brace is about a 1/4 inch from the cat, but I had to lower the rear exhaust mount last year when I installed the B&M shortshifter cover. I have 42,000 on the clock so i ordered a new OEM top engine mount and the BSH lower from Way. I may have to raise the exhaust mount some and I was thinking of putting a spacer on the rear X-Brace mounting points to lower the brace just slightly. I only hear it hitting during take off and some times on desel.