Here's a stumper.  I have a strange noise in the front end; it's not really
a vibration, just a WOH...WOH...WOH noise with a frequency that matches the
rotation of the tires, in or out of gear, engine off or on.

It sounds a bit like a propeller airplane drone, only it matches the tire
rotation.  At freeway speeds it is not noticeable; higher speeds are
therefore stabilizing the problem and reducing the noise, rather than
showing up as vibration.

I have some front-end shaking under hard braking, but I had chalked that up
to misalignment.

It doesn't change if I steer left, right, or straight.  I can't isolate the
exact area in the front where it's coming from.

Recently I have done the following things to my Mini in the following order:

1. Replaced the oil seal on my left driveshaft
2. Front-end alignment
3. Replaced the front right lower balljoint
4. Front-end alignment again

The noise seemed to start after #1.

My bushes are all in good shape, and with the front end jacked up the wheels
are nice and tight in all directions - I've had both front hubs apart before
without finding any problem, and no longer have any reason to suspect
front-end looseness in any component.

The driveshaft nut is torqued down properly and the wheels are a few months
old with no visible problems.  I rotated them front-to-back and did notice
wear on the inside of the front tires, so obviously I had too much toe-out
for awhile.

I wonder if I should forget trying to do my own alignment, and if that is
still the problem - would it make that noise with improper alignment?

I've been told that getting an alignment in the U.S. may be a problem
because the car is so narrow that most shops won't have alignment equipment
that can handle it - can anyone confirm this?

Thanks all, in advance!

Geoff