Creaking from rear of car

[FatBoyM]

I've got a 98 4 door with 30K. I've noticed recently that the back of the car creaks a lot now when I go over uneven surfaces. .
Any ideas? Is the car getting old?

[AlphaKennyOne ///M3]

I get that a lot too.....is that normal??!?!?!

Alan

Hope something is not wrong with my axles

[SMSilver97]

I get the same sort of noise in my 97 2D when I am turning out of the driveway or turinig up a small hill. I just had it in the dealer(still under warranty) and they didn't find anything unusual. Still I would think a care that cost as much as ours with limitted mileage(I have 27K) shouldn't creak.

SM

[FLDavid]

First thing to check would be your rear shock mounts (although it would be a bit premature with your low-milage car). Also, as mundane as it sounds, take a few minutes to verify that everything in the trunk is secure, i.e., spare tire, battery, mother-in-law. . .

It also might help to ask a friend to listen to the car from the outside when you back down your driveway--perhaps he or she can isolate the source of the noise (?)

Good luck

[Kritpoon]

These creaking noises coming from the rear seems to happen to a lot of M3 owner. I too have these rear noises when doing a slow turn.... on a rough road... or going over bumps. I have 2 mechanics check the noise and all three of them have different conclusion (1 dealer and 1 indp. shop). One think that the swaybar hit the lowe control arm, other think that the swaybar is hitting the exhaust... But they could not fix the problem for me. Here is my though from reading various posts about this issue, the noises can come from

1. Broken rear swaybar link.... solution you can buy a reienforcement kit from Turner

2. Worn rear control arm bushing....

3. Worn rear shock mount.....

The noises are getting to me and soon I have to find a REAL problem and fix it.

[JT-KGY]

I can't really hear anything during turns and all from inside the car. But I get it just from getting off/in the car.... I'm pretty sure that the sound comes from my suspension..

Any ideas?
Thanks,

[Jeff P]

JT,

I have heard the same noises when getting in and out of my car. Several experienced shops here in my area (SoCal) have told me this is completely normal/very common on M3s. Many other M owners that I hang out with tell me the same thing. Before I moved out here, I had the noise checked by 2 dealers and nothing was wrong. It's just one of those M-specific noises you learn to live with.

I was told that you will absolutely know when your rear shock mounts begin to fail - you will hear a thumping noise eminating from behind the rear seats when going over bumps and making turns. I highly doubt that is what you are hearing. Rest at ease.

[mrhmmhmm]

It always sounds like door panels or windows rattling. It used to be just the rear right side somtimes.. when I originally bought the car (November, 23k), now its 31k and its both left and right rears.

[JT-KGY]

Ya, i know it's not from the rear shock mounts.
My was replaced just 3k miles ago.

[Zippy M3]

JT-KGY & Jeff P,

That creaking noise when you get in and out of your car is because your e-brake is probably engaged. When I don't use it, I don't get that noise.

As for the other noise from the back, I don't know what that is. For 4 months I had a creaking noise from the front driver side when I would go up driveways. Not knowing what it was I took off the front bumper and reinstalled it. The noise went away.

[FatBoyM]

Originally posted by Zippy M3
JT-KGY & Jeff P,

That creaking noise when you get in and out of your car is because your e-brake is probably engaged. When I don't use it, I don't get that noise.

As for the other noise from the back, I don't know what that it. For 4 months I had a creaking noise from the front driver side when I would go up driveways. Not knowing what it was I took off the front bumper and reinstalled it. The noise went away.

Yeah, the creaking noise getting in and out is the e-brake, its a different sound then the one I originally posted. Sound like we all got the same problem from the rear, but can't do anything about it. . . its like that squeaky clutch. Someone suggested it may be just the frame creaking, car getting old.

[Zippy M3]

Hey FatBoyM,

I found this in the unofficialbmw.com website. Not sure if this applies but there it is...

"After 6600 miles, my 96 M3 Lux developed a squeak somewhere near the rear shelf/seat area. An earlier post mentioned that some E36's had a vibration of the brake light clamp/housing on the shelf. Mine was coming from the edges (passenger side) of the folding rear seat near the latching mechanism. Its the vertical edge which can begin to wear away the 'mouse-fur' on the short, sloping forward edge of the rear shelf.

If you have the squeak, first lower the folding rear seats and see if you have wear marks on the 'mouse-fur' (phony velour-like material). I put some adhesive foam strips (black quarter-inch) along the vertical ridges of the rear seat. Hopefully, they will survive multiple lowering/raisings of the rear seats.

The squeak is now gone! BTW, i tried a thin application of silicon lubricant on the vinyl edge, as well as vinyl cleaner- to no avail.

FYI The E36 coupe can fit a 10-foot length of PVC rain gutter- with the passenger seat lowered, the 'pipe' fits & allows the trunk to be closed. The relevance of this tidbit is thats how i discovered my squeak was seat-position-dependent."

[T///MW]

I have that same rattling issue - I will have to give this a try. I find that open and closing the seat is a short term fix - maybe this will quiet the rattle.

Thanks

Tim

[Rocket Ghost]

Wow! I had the same concern with the creaking. I am actual "relieved" to see that a lot of owners have this problem. Now i wont worry as much.

Now i will just worry more about the Unbeleivably CRAPPY sound coming out of the stock BMW stereo!

[FatBoyM]

Zippy -
Thanks for the tip, but unfortunately (especially since I needed it for my skis this weekend), I don't have fold down seats. . . so that's not it. But I'll see if there's any potential areas of mouse fur being rubbed.
The squeak is really annoying me. Especially coupled with the squeaky clutch.
Thanks.

[Alan Taur]

As my wife can attest to, I absolutely cannot deal with squeaks and rattle. I've been on a quest to rid of all untoward noises in my car for the past 18 months, which is coincidentally the length of time I've owned my 95 M3. I will list all the trouble spots that I've discovered:

1. Door/window seals. I used BMW Gummi-Pfledge to renew my weathered and hardened seals. After working it in, my car no longer creaked when entering my driveway. I have since then replaced both door seals with the noises going away completely. You may also need to tighten the door latches.

2. Both seats. I pulled both seats out of the car and blasted all the hinges/joints with lubrication. This is only a temporizing measure, as the squeaks never fail to resurface.

3. Urethane bushings. If you hate squeaks, stay away from all urethane bushings for your sway bars and control arm mounts. When they eventually squeeze out all the original lubrication, they will squeal like a stuck pig.

4. Folding seats. Exceptionally prone to making noises - either rattles from the latching mechanism or squeaking from leather rubbing on leather. Someone once posted that Talcum/baby powder makes a great lubricant between leather surfaces. Guess what? It works!

5. Rear shock mounts. Technically not a squeak, but a clunk. These will eventually fail in all E36s. Replace them with the E30 or E46 cabrio versions. Stay away from the aftermarket ones. They will ruin your stock ride, as well as make clicking/clunking noises. I replaced my Turner shock mounts with the E46 ones. I'm much happier now.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope this helps someone out there.

[Greg]

I had a similar experience with my 325 is. Every time I accelerated or decelerated there was a creaking sound. It kind of sounded like a soda can being crushed in small spurts. It was coming from the are around the back seats. It took a while to figure out what it was.
Anyway it turned out that my subframe had torn itself out!
This is a very frustrating and annoying repair that can be very costly.
Have an expert examine your subframe to see it's condition.

Best of luck

Greg

[FatBoyM]

I think I figured it out this weekend. . .
I drove down the driveway with all 4 doors open and it stopped. It looks like it's the door seals. . .
Alan, I assume I can get gummi-pledge at any dealer, but how much are the door seals? Should I just do that instead?

Thanks in advance.
Jon

[Scott Yu]

Gummi-pflege is good stuff, I know Alan puts a little on his toast and marmalade in the mornings. I can't speak for the door seals, but have another quick suggestion. Don't know exactly what kind of creaks and squeaks you're getting, but I killed off most of mine when I used some Wurth HHS 2000 spray lubricant in the door latching mechanisms. When the lubricant dries out of these areas, the doors creak, groan, and complain.

best,

scott yu

Originally posted by FatBoyM
I think I figured it out this weekend. . .
I drove down the driveway with all 4 doors open and it stopped. It looks like it's the door seals. . .
Alan, I assume I can get gummi-pledge at any dealer, but how much are the door seals? Should I just do that instead?

Thanks in advance.
Jon

[JT-KGY]

We should have a creak/squeak forum... because as much as I love the way my performs.. I really hate these noises!! It make me feel my car is about to fall apart even though it is not in reality.

Anyways, let me add one more.
My windows squeaks when it rubs against the weather strip while rolling up. To the point that when the lube is completely dry the window actually stopped half way like it hit something obstructive. I applied this rubber lube/conditioner, but it will go away after a while and the squeak will return. Anyone has a better solution? How much is it to replace all the weather strips around the door (for coupe)??

Fixed my clutch pedal squeak last weekend, sprayed much of WD40 up into the root of pedal. Hope I didn't destroy any electronics/wires.

My glove box is going crazy whenever road surface just get a little bumpy... I've tighten all the visible bolts (all 6 of them).. didn't help.

Power seats are starting to squeak also... haven't even find out the source yet.

Center console rattles at near 4k rpm... probably b/c I installed an aftermarket headunit... going to remove it this weekend see if the rattles goes away.