creaks and rattles

[dpolitzer]

Folks what are your experiences with your cars? I've only had the car for about 2 months and have notices several creaks and rattles...
Front dash--slight tapping sound like a wire slightly hitting something solid
Creaks from rear, side...I've put folded up pieces of paper in many places (rear deck, plastic around bottom of seat) but it only helps so much.
BTW, the design of the door pull on the driver's side is horrible and is very prone to creaking because it's essentially a big piece of plastic that house the window buttons. They should used the passenger side door pull.
Obviously I don't hear it when I have the music on but when I'm listening to talk radio you really hear thing.
I'm taking in the car tomorrow and am just telling them to drive it/keep it and sort out the noises...not what I expect in a 50k car.

[thekurgan]

I expected many rattles to appear when the temp dropped below 40 F, but the car is still drum tight with ~4k miles.

[mryakan]

I have a couple. One is from the rear, sounds to me more like it is coming from the seatbelt tensioner. I do have a childseat permanently fastened in the back and the seatbelt tensioner is locked, so maybe that is the cause. I have not played with it to eliminate it, it is not all the time so not a big deal.
The other one which is a bit more annoying is next to my left ear (thus the extra annoyance factor) which also is not all the time and I am not sure if it is from the trim piece on the B pillar or from the seatbelt slot. I have tried adjusting the trim piece by hand and maybe it's just my imagination, but the noise goes away for a while.
Both are not annoying enough to warrant a trip to the dealer just for that, but next time I am in I'll mention them.
Oh yeah, on some cold days I do hear some extra noises, but those are really really cold days (below -15C or 0F) so I assume some additional noises are inevitable since everything hardens. For those who hate the RFT, they can blame the noise on the RFT transferring more vibration into the cabin which accentuates any marginal issues.

[greenie99]

The annoying creaks in my car seem to be happening when the interior is cold and I crank up the heat. The point where the centewr console meets the lower dash creaks like crazy. There must be an air duct at the rear windshield `cause that creaks as well. When I turn off the heater, the noise goes away.

[mryakan]

The annoying creaks in my car seem to be happening when the interior is cold and I crank up the heat. The point where the centewr console meets the lower dash creaks like crazy. There must be an air duct at the rear windshield `cause that creaks as well. When I turn off the heater, the noise goes away.
Is it just when the blower fan is running? cause that could be a fan bearing. I had that on my e36, never fixed it and it was only at a certain fan speed setting.

[Railgunner]

My new '08 335 Sedan with about 450 miles on it is pretty tight. Got some kind of faint fluttering rattle sound coming from the trunk, rear deck, or somewhere in the rear of the car that kind of comes and goes. Most noticable around 45-50mph. Can't figure out where it's coming from. Had someone ride in the backseat to see if they could hear it and the noise stopped with someone sitting in the back seat. Other than that, it's really solid, way more so than my '07 G35 Sedan was. My G35 had a loud buzzing rattle from the rear deck that the dealership tried to fix several times and it always came back. My G35 also made creaking noises when you hit a sharp bump.

[Kernel Kurtz]

Now that it is cold out, I notice the rear seats seem to creak a lot. I understand that the folding seats give up some torsional rigidity so I suppose it's not unexpected. I rarely listen to the radio, almost always listen to CDs. When the music is on, I don't notice it, but I usually don't play the CD player till the car warms up. I suppose I should check the Audio manual and see what environmental limits it recommends. I've always assumed that playing a CD right after I get in a -35 car would be hard on the player, but I could be wrong.

[greenie99]

Is it just when the blower fan is running? cause that could be a fan bearing. I had that on my e36, never fixed it and it was only at a certain fan speed setting.

Yes. The noise eminates from the bottom of the rear windshield. I see louvers there so I assume that air is discharged to the windshield. Its a popping noise that happens every 10 seconds or so. Wouldnt a fan bearong make noise at the fan or is the noise traveling to the vent? Thanks Mr!!

[greenie99]

My new '08 335 Sedan with about 450 miles on it is pretty tight. Got some kind of faint fluttering rattle sound coming from the trunk, rear deck, or somewhere in the rear of the car that kind of comes and goes. Most noticable around 45-50mph. Can't figure out where it's coming from. Had someone ride in the backseat to see if they could hear it and the noise stopped with someone sitting in the back seat. Other than that, it's really solid, way more so than my '07 G35 Sedan was. My G35 had a loud buzzing rattle from the rear deck that the dealership tried to fix several times and it always came back. My G35 also made creaking noises when you hit a sharp bump.

"Sounds" similar to mine but I cant be sure.

[neapolitan]

Yeah, I have the bottom of rear windshield noise when cold and that vent is on. Otherwise there is not a single creak or pop from mine... I think that mine was actually a tiny bit more creaky for the first month, but absolutely nothing now. How many miles? If it persists at around 2k I'd take it to your dealer...

[Kredithai]

Minor occasional cup holder rattle

[cwoodffr]

the rear console in mine has a faint buzz at certain engine revs. If I reach back and open the little slider door, stick my hand in and pull on the console forward it goes away for a week or so. Other than that not a sound.

[greenie99]

Yeah, I have the bottom of rear windshield noise when cold and that vent is on. Otherwise there is not a single creak or pop from mine... I think that mine was actually a tiny bit more creaky for the first month, but absolutely nothing now. How many miles? If it persists at around 2k I'd take it to your dealer...

10K. It must be a Pennsylvania thing! LOL

[PeterC4]

"Sounds" similar to mine but I cant be sure.

I think I have this too...in the back it sounds like a faint rattling.

[dpolitzer]

Just came back from the dealer....to their credit they found 3 out of the 4 rattles/creaks I told them about. The first was in the front..they found that the center speaker housing was lose and the glass on the Idrive display was a little lose...
They also found that that seatbelt tensioner housing needed to be tightened..finally they reinstalled the entire plastic base around the seat...much much better.
On a side note...all the BMW loaners were gone so Enterprise gave me a Mustang...it's probably the worst car I've driven in 10 years and I've had about 30 in that time.

[seferiad11]

Just came back from the dealer....to their credit they found 3 out of the 4 rattles/creaks I told them about. The first was in the front..they found that the center speaker housing was lose and the glass on the Idrive display was a little lose...
They also found that that seatbelt tensioner housing needed to be tightened..finally they reinstalled the entire plastic base around the seat...much much better.
On a side note...all the BMW loaners were gone so Enterprise gave me a Mustang...it's probably the worst car I've driven in 10 years and I've had about 30 in that time.


I'm impressed they did that well. What is the plastic base around the seat? I'm always try to know where to look for a common rattle.

[dpolitzer]

If you look at the bottom of the seat, the entire area (about 2.5-3" high) is plastic and goes around the whole seat. It houses the seat adjustment buttons. If you push on it you may hear some creaking. I put some pieces of paper in there along certain stress points to help. BMW, took the entire section off and then reassembled. Works out better than my paper.

[trek1500]

I must be lucky! 1100 miles and no creaks and rattles...just the growl of the engine when I punch it!

[Danny 335i]

2600 miles on my 07 335i coupe,6MT,sport pack. Not a rattle or squeak anywhere at any speed,even over rough backroads still rattle,squeak free.

[joeygott]

10,600 miles and not a squeak or rattle anywhere. And Im REALLY sensitive to it and can't stand when I got them in my old car.
Car is tight so far. It's been pretty cold in last month or two and still nothing.

[mryakan]

It was way too cold today (0F) and our roads suck (too many uneven pavemnt, bumps and potholes), so I was expecting a bit more rattling today, but the extent and frequency was very annoying that I was about to go crazy. Then I took out the child seats from the back and stowed them in the trunk, and all the noises went away (aside from the occasional ones I had been experiencing before). I will probably take the car in for them to check those minor rattles, but I am glad the new noises were not from the car itself. If you hear a lot of rattling, make sure you eliminate other sources 1st before blaming the car.

[mryakan]

I have a couple. One is from the rear, sounds to me more like it is coming from the seatbelt tensioner. I do have a childseat permanently fastened in the back and the seatbelt tensioner is locked, so maybe that is the cause. I have not played with it to eliminate it, it is not all the time so not a big deal.
The other one which is a bit more annoying is next to my left ear (thus the extra annoyance factor) which also is not all the time and I am not sure if it is from the trim piece on the B pillar or from the seatbelt slot. I have tried adjusting the trim piece by hand and maybe it's just my imagination, but the noise goes away for a while.
Both are not annoying enough to warrant a trip to the dealer just for that, but next time I am in I'll mention them.
Oh yeah, on some cold days I do hear some extra noises, but those are really really cold days (below -15C or 0F) so I assume some additional noises are inevitable since everything hardens. For those who hate the RFT, they can blame the noise on the RFT transferring more vibration into the cabin which accentuates any marginal issues.
So I took the car in yesterday to check the noise sources out. Well it seems the clicking noise from the rear disappeared once I lowered the rear headrest. However I could still hear the noise next to my left ear but the master tech that drove it with me couldn't hear it! I didn't think I had hearing that is much better than anyone else, but seems I am the only one who could discern it, so I volunteered to be the test driver after they try to fix it. All they did was take the B pillar cover, lubricate areas where plastic meets plastic and put it back. The noise seems to have vanished. Kudos to the techs who fixed it without knowing what is wrong, or there is still a slight chance they exorcised from me whatever was making me hear those noises :shifty.

[animal163]

i got the creakin noise sometime under the dvd player panel, it creaks crazy and make me very frustrated, took it to the dealer and they couldn't fix it , need to restate the problem on next service

[AWD Addict]

God I hope there are none. I left a rattling Subaru behind for a better built machine.

[gthal]

I too absolutely HATE rattles and creaks. My rear parcel shelf creaked like crazy so I removed it and fixed it. What we need to remember, however, is that no matter how well built a car is, there will inevitably be some noises over time. Hopefully, not so much to drive us crazy. I have never driven in a car (other than a brand new one) that didn't, at some point in time, develop some creaks and rattles.

[seferiad11]

I too absolutely HATE rattles and creaks. My rear parcel shelf creaked like crazy so I removed it and fixed it. What we need to remember, however, is that no matter how well built a car is, there will inevitably be some noises over time. Hopefully, not so much to drive us crazy. I have never driven in a car (other than a brand new one) that didn't, at some point in time, develop some creaks and rattles.

How did you fix it?

[gthal]

How did you fix it?

I would post the link to the instructions but I can post links yet. Go to E90post and search for rear parcel shelf creak. Here is a text link... you need to put the "www" and "." in where appropriate.

e90post com/forums/showthread.php?t=69985&highlight=rear+creak+shelf

[Kernel Kurtz]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69985&highlight=rear+creak+shelf

[mryakan]

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69985&highlight=rear+creak+shelf

This assumes you have rear folding seats :confused.