I have a BMW Z4 -2003 - 131,000km.
I notice recently some rattling, high pitched, creaky sounds and rattlling at low speeds when driving. It was annoying as hell. At first I thought it was some type of electronic feedback as it was very faint and seemingly coming from the centre console. It almost sounded like someone was using a squishy toy everytime i went over a bump.
I read several posts and here is what I found out. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OPENING YOUR CONSOLE. I can't believe the number of people that recommend doing this.
Open the hood:
For me the problem was the brackets and posts. I read some posts where you need to loosen and tighten the bolts. I think if you hear a noise you have a crack in the support holding thoses posts so look carefully for any small cracks or damage. If you press down on bars and hear a sqeak, you need to look very closely at how the bolt is connected to the body of the car.
Upon close examination I noticed one of the bracket supports had a HAIRLINE CRACK IN IT! This hairline crack was enough to make a faint sqeak when you pressed down on it. This faint sqeak is what you hear, believe it or not, as the sound travels through the car body and into your console. The suspension is so stiff i guess it really puts stress on those bars.
I'll upload a picture when i get a sec.
I took my BMW to a spot welder who carefully sealed this crack and PROBLEM SOLVED.
After carefully checking and using a surge protecter he made a few quick welds.
He charged me $30 to fix this and took him less than 5 minutes.
NO MORE ANNOYING SQUEEKS!
Note there was a concern about spot welding and overloading the electronics - SO BE CAREFUL - other posters may want to advise on this.
