f20 F20 BEHIND DASHBOARD RATTLE

[M57TUD]

Hi Guys.

Brief background: I have a 2017, F20 116d Shadow Edition so with M-Sport package (therefore ride stability is expected to be harsh).

I have a rattle coming from deep inside the dash on the drivers side.
This rattle;

- Occurs on slightly corrugated road surfaces i.e. minor and repetitive bumps;
- It's getting slightly louder with age;
- It doesn't seem to be the steering column cowling;
- It doesn't appear to emanate from the door;
- Has no relation to the speaker system;
- Does not seem to have anything to do with the i-drive console;
- Does not come from the passenger side glove box like referenced elsewhere.

It does seem like its coming from the right side area BEHIND the dash to the air-vent - this has been mentioned elsewhere and I'd agree.

Crucially, I experienced the exact same issue on a 2016 116d ED plus that I had as a company car from new. Therefore, I would suggest this is a typical F20/F21 problem.

I have not heard of the warranty enhancement work on the battery lead so would appreciate insight there?
So, if anyone has any ideas on this dashboard void rattle - I could really do with some pointers!!!

Finally, and in the interests in contributing on understanding of other rattles, I can share the following.

- The centre armrest will rattle, but only if fully extended. 
   I have placed a windscreen anti fog chamois sponge on its side in the storage area - this puts pressure on the lid and stops, dulls down the rattle.

- A rattle up by the B pillar; I identified this was the grab handle up by the drivers head - just needs some sort of insulator fur tape? on the point of contact.

- The rubber grommets on the engine covers - especially on the 116d's wear out in no time. Thus the cover will rattle. (Fixed under warranty).

- Exhaust rattles badly on start and warm up (116 ED plus) - traced to a exhaust coupling not holding exhaust within tolerance, fixed under warranty 
  but necessitated the exhaust being removed for an up-rated enhancement (rebuild - of the mount) to the exhaust coupling. Fixed the issue.

That's it, apologies to all for the essay.

Regards - M57 TUD.
 

[Greydog]

Hi Gavin

I had a dash rattle in the X5  it would start at around 40mph then disappear above 50mph I was on the verge of taking the dash to bits when while under the bonnet I noticed 2 clips on the cabin filter housing were undone, without thinking I did them up. Later that day it dawned on me the rattle had gone, at service they must have either not done them up properly or not at all. The rattle resonated in the ducting so seemed to come from the dash.

Rattles can drive you to the edge can't they

Dave

[SilverJohn]

Hi Gavin & Dave

I've got a behind the RH dash rattle/buzz on my E93 but it only starts at around 70mph which makes it a tad difficult to find and I can't take it to the specialist dealer and insist he breaks the law to fix it. !!

I'll just have to stay legal and quiet.

Stay Safe

John

[M57TUD]

Hi Dave, John,

Thanks for replying so promptly. I am definitely going to have a look under the bonnet as the noise travelling through the ducting makes sense.

I will report back what I find.

Separately, I would say that for the most part and contrary to some of the nagging posts you read about "i'm never buying BMW again" - these cars are still relatively well constructed in comparison to the french and Chrysler types!!

Stay Safe.

 

Gavin

[Greydog]

Morning Gavin

By their very function Forums often appear to paint at best a confused picture, we have by and large 2 types of member 1. The Enthusiast here to tell us about there car and share their knowledge and 2. Those with a problem that they would like it diagnosed or a fix explained. 

Most posts on any Forum are the latter so to those who initially look it seems as though our Beemer's are all falling apart.

Due to the manufacturing process which is roughly (1) Designer/Engineers produce a concept, (2) Production Engineers re-engineer all sorts of stuff so it can be built and maintained, then (3) the Accountants get their hands on it so it will be made as cost effectively (cheaply) as possible maximizing profit.

So to repeat something I wrote recently, in the film Apollo 13 Tom Hanks just before launch says something like "here we are sat on top of $50m worth of parts all supplied by the lowest bidder" We all drive an Apollo 13.

So regardless of Marque or Model every single one, at one time or another will suffer failures most due to outsourced components. The frustrating part of this are the Dealerships looking down their noses and insisting only OEM parts at exorbitant cost be used for repair, even when that part is known to be a contributing factor. 

I suffered this with my first E55 AMG less than 6 months old and rust issues were evident, while they were repaired twice they were still there and eventually the car was changed by Mercedes. I learned later "body panels had been purchased outside the normal supply chain effecting some models" I interpret that as they were cheaper.

Did it stop me buying other Merc's no, I had 3 AMG models, all had their issues. If the ML had not been so ugly I probably would be driving one. 

So we either drive leased or company cars that are fixed/maintained in the dealership circuit and moved on every 3 years or so the issues while frustrating tend to be just that (I used to be in that group). Or we enjoy our cars and have a drive/need to understand them and fix/improve them where we can. i as an inquisitive Engineer have always been in this group, even when my cars were company or leased.

The knowledge gained is then available to all Forum members and hopefully some of it is useful !!!

Dave

[M57TUD]

Gee thanks Dave. Quite eloquently put and I completely agree!
See the thing is if they built cars to last for a minimum of 10 years etc. without breakdowns and the like - we'd probably half the carbon impact/climate emergency in one go!

Anyway. That's entirely a different rant for an entirely different day.

Getting back to it -

I attach an audio clip I made yesterday (07.05.20) of my beloved little rattle. 

You fine fellas feel free to listen and chuckle into your cuppa at the misfortune of my woes... ☺️🙈

 

take it steady - stay safe.

F20 116D Dash Rattle.m4a

[Greydog]

Other than a loose cable run chattering against the ducting I am at a loss here, the worst part is the disproportionate amount of time labour to sort it if that is what it is

As a shooting man I have a solution "ear plugs"

Dave

[M57TUD]

20 hours ago, Greydog said:

Other than a loose cable run chattering against the ducting I am at a loss here, the worst part is the disproportionate amount of time labour to sort it if that is what it is

As a shooting man I have a solution "ear plugs"

Dave

 

Yeh - well I reckon by the sounds of it it must be a tray - like a cable tray carrying an assortment of items or a mount that supports other items - of which I am sure there are a fair few behind there!

The audio clipping is fairly unmistakable in terms of evidence and will be good to be able to pass on at the next service, however I would have hoped that either the (common) cause is known amongst other 1 series owners - and that this could be directed at the servicing agent OR known to the servicing agent and they just do the right thing off the bat?

 

I haven't brought this up with my local BMW servicing agent yet.

 

[Greydog]

So annoying that a 10p clip because we know that is what it will be either not fitted or broken causes all this grief

Have you tried a search on the babybmw forum?

Dave

[SilverJohn]

Hi Dave

337 reports including the key words "dash" and "rattle" on BabyBMW !!

Haven't read them all (life's too short) but there's a fair mixture of solutions including thumping, squeezing, light pressing, hard pressing of various parts of most of the car forward from the steering wheel.

One thing I've found is that if I drive with the roof down thanks to this fabulous weather we've been having, I can't hear the rattle/buzz because of the wind noise !!

Stay Safe

 

John

[P7rider]

Washer bottle in front wing 

[AJP]

Hi, I have a rattle coming from my lower A pillar area behind the dash. It sounds like a little plastic part, happens on corrugated surfaces, and more so when turning right. Does anyone know if there is any plastic inside the a pillar? Thanks 

[Greydog]

Morning Antony

Welcome to the Forum

Th A pillar will have airbag and wiring behind it I would think or even one of its own holding clips not fitting correctly.

Check www.realoem.com put the last 7 digits of your Vin into the search box it will bring up your model. Then check the body and trim section so you can see what is in there and how it fits

Good luck finding it 

Dave