Do you have interior rattles?

[Seattle S65B40]

Poll:

Just hit 18,000 miles and the rattles are setting in. I drive the car hard, which might further contribute to rattles, but I think some of the rattles are in common places.

Here my current interior rattles:

- Passenger seat (somehwere near the seatbelt extender)
- Nav
- Rear panel

As i just posted in another thread, to some degree these rattles are normal on M cars. My E46 was pretty bad too. Just makes me wish they did something about it. It can be really depressing because sometimes I just like to have the engine be my music in the car, and these rattles are a buzz kill...

[VonSwoopington]

Yup. 3700 miles. Passenger seat/seat belt/glove compartment area. It drove me nuts one day and I started poking, prodding, and shaking the door.

I might have gotten it to go away lol.

[SoTempted]

Sounds like the ol' felt monster needs to make a pass through your cars... He feeds on rattles. Me and him are well acquainted.

[Mike V8]

Some. One near the tach and the other in the rear. I fixed the one in the tach(loose screw) and the one in the rear only happens during the cold idle( might be from my exhaust)

[Seattle S65B40]

Originally Posted by SoTempted

Sounds like the ol' felt monster needs to make a pass through your cars... He feeds on rattles. Me and him are well acquainted.

Have you had some experience applying felt to the common areas? The one I would be most interested in fixing is the one from the Nav screen. That one has a cheap plastic sound to it and it's killing me.

[SoTempted]

Originally Posted by Seattle S65B40

Have you had some experience applying felt to the common areas? The one I would be most interested in fixing is the one from the Nav screen. That one has a cheap plastic sound to it and it's killing me.

I've felted the hell out of my other cars but no M experience.

[Crazy Bimmer]

None here but then again i dont have fold down seat option. Those things rattled like hell in my 335i and 328i that i didnt want them anymore.

[Krozi]

Very good poll questions. Usually its difficult to answer because people ask either "yes" or "no". The only reason I have really bad rattles in my car is because my exhaust is so loud. Shakes up the entire interior at low RPM lol. Before I had a few rattles occasionally but nothing annoying, so I opted for the 3rd poll choice.

[MShao825]

One of the main reasons why I sold my 335i was because I couldn't stand the interior rattling anymore (dumb reason I know, but it was my excuse to get into an M3 ).

Lo and behold, my M3 rattled from the moment I picked it up. The exhaust and x-pipe with HFC's just made things worse. After the dealership kindly enough took it in twice to try to alleviate the rattling by felting a bunch of interior pieces (to no avail), I decided I have no choice but to accept it

[Seattle S65B40]

Originally Posted by MShao825

One of the main reasons why I sold my 335i was because I couldn't stand the interior rattling anymore (dumb reason I know, but it was my excuse to get into an M3 ).

Lo and behold, my M3 rattled from the moment I picked it up. The exhaust and x-pipe with HFC's just made things worse. After the dealership kindly enough took it in twice to try to alleviate the rattling by felting a bunch of interior pieces (to no avail), I decided I have no choice but to accept it

Dude. That's a bummer. There is no reason a new car should rattle. I would have taken it back!

[ES_TRADER]

Originally Posted by Seattle S65B40

Have you had some experience applying felt to the common areas? The one I would be most interested in fixing is the one from the Nav screen. That one has a cheap plastic sound to it and it's killing me.

I have opened up the NAV part by taking out the 2 screws above and pulled the unit out...From the factory u can see that they already padded the entire inside with soft material...YET, it continues to rattle...ive looked at all the contact points and there isnt anything that rattles there....i have also lined the entire edge of the plastic nav shell, and no progress....Which makes me think it is deeper inside the dash area...but acoustics make it sound like its the nav....ive taken out the instrument cluster too by removing the 2 screws and same, padding everywhere from the factory...i added extra tape...useless....watch, take it out and see for urself..takes 5 mins...its 100% padded inside and the contact points are all soft...no rubbing...so, what seems like that nav screen or dash may definitely be something else inside..

[ES_TRADER]

i suspect the rattles on my 2011 are greater if u have zcp because of the stiffer suspension...lowering...at least i came to that conclusion...i had rattles outta the gate too day ONE...of course they came on my drive home, after signing the paperwork, and NOT on the testdrive with the CA....there should be a buyers remorse period for all new cars...theyll never let u return a car just cause of rattles


Rattles I own:

nav dash
instrument dash
driver door
passenger door
armrest clicking sound
rear deck area rattles
rear seats cracking sound
driver seat trim squeaks like a wooden chair
hood roundel loose
keyfob trunk button rattles loose

hmm...did i miss anything else...oh yea, my new iphone4 rattles too...did i tell u? everything i own in my fcking life rattles...

[SoTempted]

Jesus that's thorough. I would do the same thing. Remove nav, drive around, maybe have a friend peek inside while driving, listen, hold certain things suspected of causing the rattle, touch stuff, move stuff. It takes me almost 2 years to get used to and accept rattling in my cars.

[chris s]

i have a bad one...drivers side dash where it meets the windshield. Drive me friggin batty....I think i need to attempt to stuff something in there to see if it stops!

[Seattle S65B40]

Originally Posted by richpuer

i suspect the rattles on my 2011 are greater if u have zcp because of the stiffer suspension...lowering...at least i came to that conclusion...i had rattles outta the gate too day ONE...of course they came on my drive home, after signing the paperwork, and NOT on the testdrive with the CA....there should be a buyers remorse period for all new cars...theyll never let u return a car just cause of rattles


Rattles I own:

nav dash
instrument dash
driver door
passenger door
armrest clicking sound
rear deck area rattles
rear seats cracking sound
driver seat trim squeaks like a wooden chair
hood roundel loose
keyfob trunk button rattles loose

hmm...did i miss anything else...oh yea, my new iphone4 rattles too...did i tell u? everything i own in my fcking life rattles...

HAHAHA dood, my iPhone rattles too! WTF?

As to your investigation, it's intersting that all contact points are felted from the factory. At least they are trying. Perhaps something within is loose. Many M3 owners have reported this [nav] rattle. Anyone that could come up with the fix will be praised forever!

[smmmurf]

Idrive knob rattle, I intend to get this looked at at next service visit

I might have something from the nav but i can't tell because the idrive one is so damn common

[ES_TRADER]

when i drive over decently paved roads, smooth highways, car is DEAD QUIET...its those few bumps, expansion joints and road cracks here and there that send shock waves up through the frame and make my car cheapo sounding...like its gonna fall apart...it's those moments that just eat me up inside. oh yea, and going over railroad tracks...im at the point where i think everytime i go over RR tracks, it makes the rattles worse and worse..so now, if i have to go somewhere im unfamiliar with, ill google map it, and if i see RR tracks on my path, ill drive tens of miles out of the way just to avoid driving over them....

[OC3]

Had rattles suddenly at around 5,500 miles (now am at 7,000 miles). Plastic, leather sounds everywhere inside the car (i.e. non-metallic sounds). Dealer lubed the rubber seals around the doors openings and they're gone.

[Seattle S65B40]

Originally Posted by OC3

Had rattles suddenly at around 5,500 miles (now am at 7,000 miles). Plastic, leather sounds everywhere inside the car (i.e. non-metallic sounds). Dealer lubed the rubber seals around the doors openings and they're gone.

Very useful to know. Thank you.

[tlp]

Originally Posted by OC3

Had rattles suddenly at around 5,500 miles (now am at 7,000 miles). Plastic, leather sounds everywhere inside the car (i.e. non-metallic sounds). Dealer lubed the rubber seals around the doors openings and they're gone.

[Budge]

Originally Posted by richpuer

I have opened up the NAV part by taking out the 2 screws above and pulled the unit out...From the factory u can see that they already padded the entire inside with soft material...YET, it continues to rattle...ive looked at all the contact points and there isnt anything that rattles there....i have also lined the entire edge of the plastic nav shell, and no progress....Which makes me think it is deeper inside the dash area...but acoustics make it sound like its the nav....ive taken out the instrument cluster too by removing the 2 screws and same, padding everywhere from the factory...i added extra tape...useless....watch, take it out and see for urself..takes 5 mins...its 100% padded inside and the contact points are all soft...no rubbing...so, what seems like that nav screen or dash may definitely be something else inside..

Do you have a center channel speaker? Even if you don't maybe the noise is coming from in there. It's pretty easy to check.

[ES_TRADER]

Originally Posted by RATED ///M3

Oh man, this is the stuff i need...i heard it was discontinued tho...where do u get it?

on getbmwparts.com it says "RUBBER CARE TUBE
This part has been discontinued and is NO LONGER AVAILABLE from BMW. Please do NOT order. "