Noisy Roof and Head Restraints - sdriveZ4

[MidLifeCrisis]

Hi All,

I have a 2 year old 59 plate Z4 Sdrive23i which I've owned from new. The roof or parcel shelf creaks and squeaks when the roof is up. Its been back to the dealer four or five times but they don't seem to be able to fix it permanently. Did I get unlucky and have a badly assembled Z4 as I have not seen anyone else reporting these problems. Or does anyone know if this is a known problem and if so what the fix is. It seems a bit better in damper colder weather. The manual says do not lubricate with silicon so whilst its in warranty I'm not going to do anything myself on it.

Also, the silver plastic covers on the rear of the head restraints vibrate horribly on rough surfaced roads at moderate speeds (~70mph) causing me to try and reach behind me to squeeze the cover to try and stop the very irritating noise. Not ideal! I can compare the noise to that which an empty yoghurt carton would make if it were upturned on the top of a washing machine at full spin. Cheap vibrating plastic. Very poor build quality.

When the sun's out and the roof is down I love the car but when its up it definitely doesn't feel like an expensive BMW. I wanted to keep the car for 5 years but feel I have to get rid of it before its 3 year warranty is up as I certainly don't want to be paying dealer rates to keep having the roof looked at.

Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[sars]

Had the same problem, after an hour of driving there would be this constant squeak, the only way to resolve it was drop the roof and put it back up again. Eventually BMW took the car for a few days, found the problem and tightened the locking mechanism (latches) giving slightly more retaining force.

It worked a treat, no squeaks at all now

I would suggest you complain and complain, but you need to narrow the whereabouts of the rattle. Good luck anyway

[roofless]

Hope this gets sorted for you, not had this problem fortunately. Good luck.

[MidLifeCrisis]

Dear Sars and Roofless. Many thanks for your replies.

Sars, I was thinking its almost as though the roof is not being pulled down firmly enough to the body, so your suggestion around the locking mechanism and retaining forces sounds like it could be the answer. I'll print it out and show it to the service manager. Glad you got yours sorted. Thanks again.

I think I'll have to have a look at the head restraints myself. Maybe they improved the design on more recent models.

[bigdavey]

Just taken mine in because of a noisy roof.

Was told that it needs a shim kit fitted which has to be ordered from Germany. Booked back in after Xmas so will let you know if it fixes things.

[MidLifeCrisis]

bigdavey, many thanks for your post. I have mine booked in for 19 Dec, so I will mention the shim kit to the dealer.

I now have a rattle coming from the boot - the folding scuttle/protector that stops the lugage getting in the way of the roof mechanism I think.

I'll update the forum after after the visit to let everyone know how I got on.

Thanks

[MidLifeCrisis]

Here’s an update on my noisy roof/parcel shelf/scuttle/boot/rear window (wherever its coming from):

I was very pleased when I drove the car to the dealer, as it was rattling a lot and I thought they would definitely be able to find and fix the problem. I pulled into their car park and went in. Their tech came out with me and we got in the car and went for a test drive. Guess what! Not a squeak or rattle. We tried it on the flat, over speed humps, uphill, downhill, with the scuttle up and down. But not a sound! How frustrating! And embarrassing. I’m sure the dealer must think I’m a super fussy customer. I don’t mind the odd noise, but the noises I’m getting are totally unacceptable from a quality perspective.

The dealer had the car for 3 days and I insisted they took it for a comprehensive test drive. When I picked it up, I wasn’t expecting a miracle to be honest, but the dealer said they ‘replicated the noise’ and had applied some felt pads to the A pillars (sounds like a bit of a bodge) and replaced a partition (wherever that is). But guess what, after 50 miles the noises are back and just as bad as they were before.

I love everything about this car but its all ruined by the appalling rattles and squeaks. I just have to turn the music up to drown out the noises. I would never recommend anybody buying one. Next step, I will get back in touch with BMW HQ as the dealer (after many, many attempts) seems incapable of fixing it. Should’ve bought an SLK.

I’ll update this post when I have more news.

[Z4 Beemer]

This might sound strange, but I think the passenger seat occupancy sensor sometimes rattles in mine when nobody is sitting in the passenger seat. If I hear it, I just press the base of the seat down (near the backrest part) and all goes quiet! Might also explain why you and the Tech never heard anything when you were both in the car?

[Maniac]

Should’ve bought an SLK.

You might want to check the Merc forums or google 'slk rattles'. They have just the same issues as us. Lots of moving parts.

[bigdavey]

OK, sorry for the delay but only just got the car back yesterday.

They fitted the shim kit and also replaced the passenger side roll bar covers, along with the satnav screen.
So far, I have to say, things are a lot quieter, but by no means completely cured, but certainly livable with. The roof itself does seem to be quiet, it is just a few rattles around the parcel shelf, but only over bigger bumps ( which in Lincolnshire is the entire road network).

Sopers of Lincoln have been very helpful, but time will tell if the rattles return.

[dr_john]

i had this problem with my 23i, it happened for a few hours or so everytime I put the roof up.

BMW fixed it during the first service, they said it was down to cleaning material residue on the locking catches, anyway it's cured now.

[MidLifeCrisis]

Hi All,

I've still got roof squeeks and rattles. I'm booked in at a different dealer this week, so will see if they can fix the problems. Fingers crossed.

[TitanTim]

Hi All,

I've still got roof squeeks and rattles. I'm booked in at a different dealer this week, so will see if they can fix the problems. Fingers crossed.

I honestly don't think you will get the roof to be 100% quiet 100% of the time, mine is quiet most of the time, sometimes when the car has been standing and heats up inside, when you first pull away the roof will creak a little then goes once on the move. I agree rattles are not acceptable but sqeaks and creaks are unnavoidable.

I would recommend Krytox which is used for lubricating roof seals etc on covertibles and use it on the Zed

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4F6C6B2F-UK-S ... 2ebc9aa6af

Tim.

[thekop]

Hi All,

I've still got roof squeeks and rattles. I'm booked in at a different dealer this week, so will see if they can fix the problems. Fingers crossed.

I honestly don't think you will get the roof to be 100% quiet 100% of the time, mine is quiet most of the time, sometimes when the car has been standing and heats up inside, when you first pull away the roof will creak a little then goes once on the move. I agree rattles are not acceptable but sqeaks and creaks are unnavoidable.

I would recommend Krytox which is used for lubricating roof seals etc on covertibles and use it on the Zed

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4F6C6B2F-UK-S ... 2ebc9aa6af

Tim.

Strange looking thing, sry how u apply it on seal, on top or........inject ??

[TitanTim]

Hi All,

I've still got roof squeeks and rattles. I'm booked in at a different dealer this week, so will see if they can fix the problems. Fingers crossed.

I honestly don't think you will get the roof to be 100% quiet 100% of the time, mine is quiet most of the time, sometimes when the car has been standing and heats up inside, when you first pull away the roof will creak a little then goes once on the move. I agree rattles are not acceptable but sqeaks and creaks are unnavoidable.

I would recommend Krytox which is used for lubricating roof seals etc on covertibles and use it on the Zed

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4F6C6B2F-UK-S ... 2ebc9aa6af

Tim.

Strange looking thing, sry how u apply it on seal, on top or........inject ??

I rub it onto the seals but I bought it mainly as I had a very small leak on the passenger side in the corner where the roof meets the screen and it cured the leak straight away Its mainly used for lubricating rubber seals on diving equipment to keep them water tight.

VW sell this stuff as a lubrication kit for the EOS, so obviously the EOS suffers from creaks etc

Tim.