BMW F15 - Concerning Issues - Engine Rattle Noise and Harmonic Balancer Issue

[ballen09]

Hello everyone!

My 2015 BMW X5 xDrive35i just had a total engine replacement two months ago. In the one year of ownership, this car it has undergone an EXTENSIVE list of repairs. I’m not kidding, $43,000+ in parts alone. (It has been crazy and when I have some time I want to post the entire story on here so all of you will know what I have been through and maybe it can help some of you. It has definitely been a rollercoaster with multiple BMW executive care folks involved. Everything has been covered under the basic warranty and now CPO warranty but 105 days not having my car in just one year seems just ridiculous. Unfortunately, Florida doesn’t consider used cars eligible for their lemon law and it has depreciated too much for me to part ways and take a loss.)

Long story short, here are my current issues:

1 - While driving at a low speed and about to shift in to the second gear, around 2,000-3,000 RPM’s, there is a loud rattle noise. It doesn’t sound healthy and it has been that way since I got it back with the new engine. It makes the same noise when shifting from 2nd to 3rd as well, as long as I force it to shift at those higher RPM’s by letting off the gas just before shifting and then giving it gas again in the higher RPMs. I took it to the dealership and they told me this is normal with all F15’s but mine never made this noise before the engine replacement. Every friend I have shown the video to, tells me that it sounds terrible, and I agree. Hoping you guys can help.

2 - Another issue since the repair, that is unrelated, is I also have this issue with my belt tensioner rattling when there is a significant draw on the electrical power in the car. If I am using A/C, etc it is pretty loud. Metallic ticking noise that is so loud I have to turn off A/C in drive thru's. I think my ‘Harmonic balancer’ is too wobbly but according to the dealership this is perfectly normal and all X5's do this. It looks as though the wobble is causing the belt to move too freely and thus causing the tensioner to shake and rattle severely. They removed the harmonic balancer and reattached it. Now, the noise isn’t as prominent as before but it still appears under heavy power usage. Also strangely when revving the engine to 1,000 RPM while sitting still in park.

I am linking my Youtube videos of both issues to this post so you guys can see what I am referencing.

Problem 1:

Problem 2 Inside Engine Bay:

Problem 2 Outside of Engine Bay (noise goes away when revving):

[LocksmithNick]

Use the seat heater to your advantage.

[ballen09]

I took my car to another dealership and after some time of inspecting, they discovered the flywheel was damaged from the past engine repair. Also, the harmonic balancer was in fact loose and needed to be replaced.

[turboawd]

What happened to your engine originally?

[OnlyGerman]

I would get out of this POS fast

[RED_Y_]

Wow almost year after still having problems, at this point I would consider talking to a lawyer about lemon laws in your state.