Cow Bell Noise: Losing Patience

[Blk07335i]

Had the cow bell noise develop over the last few days. Last night pulled the wheel and removed the left rear rotor. Cleaned everything and applied anti-seize to the hub. Reinstalled everything and the noise is gone. Didn't find any pebble or anything else that looked out of the ordinary.

[dapopa9]

I had a very similar noise to that in the video and it turned out to be the TPMS piece located in the wheel had fallen off and was actually bouncing around inside the tire and hitting the rim!

[ES_TRADER]

Originally Posted by Blk07335i

Had the cow bell noise develop over the last few days. Last night pulled the wheel and removed the left rear rotor. Cleaned everything and applied anti-seize to the hub. Reinstalled everything and the noise is gone. Didn't find any pebble or anything else that looked out of the ordinary.

maybe it fell out while u were taking everything out and didnt notice because it was a tiny pebble??

[Blk07335i]

That's a possibility but I examined the floor and couldn't find anything that would make that much noise. I'm starting to think it might be the E-brake binding on the inside of the rotor hub.

[jrlee53]

Originally Posted by radiantm3

You guys are lucky you are getting this mod for free. I preordered mine in black:

///M power makes milk and steaks taste better.

[alipali]

I've had sporadic cowbell for many months now, but lately it has become more aggressive and consistent, and I can anticipate at least one cowbell rendition with every trip, and thereafter numerous encores at regular intervals. For a while it was quite embarassing. I often found myself apologising to the valet at my local garage where I parked. He soon became annoyed at the sound, and me, and would purposely and spitefully readjust my seat settings at any given opportunity.

Anyway, I dropped the car into the dealer yesterday and described the cowbell sound as a "tink tink tink" sound, and definitely not a "clank clank clank" sound. I was quite clear about that! Of course, the sound mysteriously wouldn't reproduce during examination. Short story is I got fed the bulletin posted earlier about it being normal for such a high-performance car and that it's actually designed that way etc etc.

I was resigned to live with it, but it's clearly not what they are describing in the bulletin.

[ES_TRADER]

To those who get the noise on and off are you taking note of the road surfaces you drive over?

I kno for sure I get it without fail after driving over dirt roads, loose gravel, or construction zones. Especially driving over these areas at low speeds gives it a chance for the debri and pebbles to get lodged.

I find that these tires are very sticky and stuff gets stuck on it all the time and probably just drops into the rotors

[mazing]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

.

http://www.gofastvideo.com/video/876...ic-SNL#playvid

Couldn't resist if it was already out there apologies, if not enjoy. Not to make light of the situation but what the hell.

[Mr. ///M3 RD]

Originally Posted by James T. Kirk

.

Your post so inspired me to say it again so here it is

Reminds me of the time someone asked me in Switzerland;-

"Why do the cows here wear cow bells?"

I simply said ...

"So they don't fall asleep while they are grassing" (feeding of course on the grass LOL).

[alipali]

If it's a case of sticky tires throwing stones and pebbles into the wheel well it might be useful (though probably not) to see what tires are being used.

P-Zeros here.

[F82_SID]

I dont know about you guys but I have had this noise several times and it is definitely not a pebble. It sounds like a spring or something just like in the videos.

[markjord]

Originally Posted by E92_SID

I dont know about you guys but I have had this noise several times and it is definitely not a pebble. It sounds like a spring or something just like in the videos.

Yeah I've had it 3 times now. It is definitely pebbles.

[ES_TRADER]

Originally Posted by alipali

If it's a case of sticky tires throwing stones and pebbles into the wheel well it might be useful (though probably not) to see what tires are being used.

P-Zeros here.

P zero as well

whenever i park the car, and i look at the tires, theres always some debri stuck to it

[InterJon]

Originally Posted by richpuer

P zero as well

whenever i park the car, and i look at the tires, theres always some debri stuck to it

Went to car control clinic yesterday. Great time. I left with a souvenir, The cowbellz.

[nez]

Cow bell in the right rear today. Had going fwd or reverse. stopped after driving it 10 meters. Hoping it stays gone.

[rdollie]

Odd, I'm checking in with another Seattle cow bell. Seems to be more prevalent in this area of the country...

Originally Posted by ex10psi

this may be pure coincidence but i also have the cowbell noise, also in the RR wheel area, and i'm also located in WA state

the noise comes and goes. i'm not certain that its a pebble in the rotor? alex long who's my SA at bmw seattle said he's never heard of any customers reporting this type of noise.

i plan to put my car up on my lift and check around the area. i'll report back what i find.

[ex10psi]

for the record, after quite a bit of time has passed... i no longer have the cow bell noise. completely gone. i didnt even get a chance to put it up on the lift to check, never had dealer look at it, didnt do anything special. noise just went away on its own and its never come back.

odd...

[bblefas]

I had the same problem about a month ago!! Cow bells or tin cans mine was only right before i came to a complete stop it would tin tin tin tin then stop and then when i took off all the way to like 25 mph but now the noise has stopped for 2 weeks,,,Very embarrassing and loud coming from rear passenger wheel...im still scratching my head to figure what the cause was

[bblefas]

Originally Posted by richpuer

P zero as well

whenever i park the car, and i look at the tires, theres always some debri stuck to it

haha i do the same as well, I've never had a tire that was so sticky so many rocks pebbles stick to them.. (P_ZERO) BUT I LOVE TRHOSE TIRES , BETTER THEN THE PS2

[michaelpnett]

Originally Posted by ex10psi

for the record, after quite a bit of time has passed... i no longer have the cow bell noise. completely gone. i didnt even get a chance to put it up on the lift to check, never had dealer look at it, didnt do anything special. noise just went away on its own and its never come back.

odd...

I had it a few times, but it always resolved. I do not believe "the pebbles". It is way to loud. Strange, but was never a big issue on my car. Always went away shortly after it started.

[davmanm5]

I have just gone through this and it turned out to be a faulty flywheel. It actually had pressure spring in the flywheel break and was rattling around inside. They ended up replacing both the clutch and the flywheel under warranty.

United BMW of Rosweel are some great people to deal with (Eric Rossman and David Ballard) and actually listened to the symptoms, although when I described it as a "cowbell" they did look at me a little strangely, and proceeded to diagnose it.

[Smokey]

Interesting, the solution seems to vary: mine made the noise when driving off in the morning and stopped once the car was warm, but if I drove on the highway and then returned to city drivng, it came back. Took it to the dealer and the tech changed the diff fluid and the problem never came back.