Creaking and Rattling

[peterlinke]

Having owned several BMWs starting with an E90, there are constant creaking and rattling noises that drive me crazy, but that I have been able to fix for the most part. Most of the following fixes apply to F15 and E70/71. My last car was E71 and now I have F15.

Dash Wood Trim Creaking
This is very noticeable. You just have to touch it and it creaks. Solution: remove the trim assembly (held in by spring clips and easy to take out). Be careful, there are wires attached. Place a small strip of felt tape below all of the holes that the spring clips go it to. Tighten up all the little TORX screws, both on the dash part and the ones holding in stuff on the trim assembly that you just removed. Clean all the built up dust and debris away away from all the edges. Then put it back together.

Arm Rest - Place felt tape where the armrest meets the console. Also place felt tape at the bottom of the holes where the arm rest latches go in.

Center console (shifter and iDrive Controller area). Pry up the plastic assembly and clean out all the debris in the edges, then put it back together (optional: apply some dry lubricant to all the edges before reassembly- I use Sailkote from Team McLube). This assembly is difficult to take out, but it is only held with spring clips. Start at the front and work your way back. Make sure the lids for the center armrest storage compartment are open.

Creaking Seats - this is especially bad on the drivers side in the E70/71. For the F15, BMW uses better plastic but it still creaks a little. Apply the dry lubricant between the leather and the plastic. If that doesn't solve the problem, run a strip of felt tape where the leather meets the plastic (on my E71 this was the only solution that works).

Tailgate - I have a number of mysterious noises in the back which will be a project for another day Will post solution of I figure it out.

General creaking - there is often creaking where 2 plastic parts meet. Generally this can be solved with the above solutions, especially removing one of the pieces and cleaning where the pieces meet. The dust and various debris gets caught and impedes there being a good seal and then allows motion which makes noise.

I will say that my SO has a 2012 Mercedes C250 and while I think it is generally not particularly exciting, it is 100% squeak and rattle free - and always has been. Solid as a rock. BMW could learn something there.

[deutsch100]

I had three E70 X5s (2007 30i, 2008 4.8i and a 2011 35d) and they were ALL plagued with horrible rattles. Worst was the driver seat! It would crack, snap and rattle. Some dash rattles, some rear tailgate rattles and the '07 had the most horrible 3rd row rattle.

I have to say I have only had a few rattles in my '17 F15 40e and now my '17 35d. I was able to fix the passenger front seat rattle to the point of almost gone, and I had a bad one in the wood trim, driver side...between the light controls and steering wheel. I used museum putty and wedged it up underneath the wood trim, and the rattle is almost gone!

My 4 BMW 7 Series were very rattle free. My M3 was a rattle box though. In general MBZ has less rattles than BMW. To date, my Range Rovers were actually the absolute most rattle free cars I have ever owned (besides two boring as hell, shoot me, Lexus RX400h suvs).

[ZigmundUK]

Alternative solution: turn the radio up...

[xxxjecxxx2]

Originally Posted by peterlinke

Tailgate - I have a number of mysterious noises in the back which will be a project for another day Will post solution of I figure it out.

You ever figure something out for the tailgate? Same issue here.

[Localbrew]

I had this issue in my Audi years ago, dealer used felt to remedy the creaking.

[9mmkungfu]

Originally Posted by xxxjecxxx2

You ever figure something out for the tailgate? Same issue here.

There are two areas of adjustment, one on each side of the car where it meets the tailgate. There is a thread that shows what they look like if you don't know what I'm talking about or I can take a pic tomorrow. Adjusting these got rid of my tailgate rattle.

[Localbrew]

Originally Posted by 9mmkungfu

There are two areas of adjustment, one on each side of the car where it meets the tailgate. There is a thread that shows what they look like if you don't know what I'm talking about or I can take a pic tomorrow. Adjusting these got rid of my tailgate rattle.

I'm interested in seeing the spots for adjustment. Thanks!

[9mmkungfu]

Originally Posted by Localbrew69

I'm interested in seeing the spots for adjustment. Thanks!

I found the older post I was referring to earlier. It has a great pic in it here:

https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=992670

You'll see it when you open the tailgate.

[mnx5er]

2015 had a known armrest problem. They fixed it in future years. Things was a pain.

[9mmkungfu]

Originally Posted by mnx5er

2015 had a known armrest problem. They fixed it in future years. Things was a pain.

Do you know what the fix was?

[xerisys]

Have a look at my post here re noise coming from tailgate: https://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...5&postcount=10

Might be the same issue that I had. The small clips holding the rear bumper (just under lower hatch) were rubbing each time I went over anything at an angle (eg car park ramps, driveway). A little grease and some plastic inserts fixed it.

This is my first ever BMW (Mini doesn't really count) and I too am v.surprise at the number of creaks and rattles. My old Audi A4 and new VW Golf GTI are heaps quieter. Merc is another level again.

Still...quite enjoying the X5 and have now removed all the rattles...plus agree volume control best cure!