I'm having a similar issue and my dealership is kinda stumped. The service manager says he's never heard anything like it.
The noise only happens when the wheels are turning moving forward or backwards AND the steering wheel is turned in either direction. The noise is pretty loud and speeds up...
I did the mod last weekend and I'm pretty happy as well. Much less of a "rubbery" feeling. :-)
Question: Has anyone else noticed that all of the bushings are not the same size? Or is it just mine???
The madza.ca website lists a Speed3 2008.5. There's a post somewhere on here that had a list of differences. From what I remember they were mostly cosmetic: Some new colours, the seats are a different colour, and the HU can play MP3 discs.
Interesting... I was talking with a dealer here in Calgary about 3 weeks ago and they were willing to order one in for me.
I've also noticed the black soot around the exhaust. It turns completely black in a day or two. I was cleaning it daily for the first week and then gave up... (screwy)
I'm glad I found this thread too. Rattles and creaks annoy me to no end and my MS3 is only 3 days old. It's pretty cold here and that thing is creaking like crazy. I was really, really hoping it was one of those "known issues"! :-)