Electrical buzzing on 20i - throttle related - FIXED

J

jwa1

Member
My 20i has what I perceive as an issue as there is an electrical buzzing sound from the centre console. It is throttle related and not excessively loud but definitely noticeable. It is coming from the interior of the car not the engine bar. BMW told me it was when the engine was in 'lean' mode, I'm not convinced and am going to rebook. I think they might have mistaken what I was talking about as the slight tappy engine which I have no issue with and know is normal. Does anybody have and info or experience of this?
 
A few N20 owners have posted about this, a metallic, fan like spinning noise or similar. Some think its the electronic audio exhaust enhancement that this car has, some have it more than others. No one I've seen post knows what it really is tho.
 
Yeah I've read some post which then tend to get distracted onto other things that to me sound like a different issue. It's exactly how you describe it. The dealer told me the 20i models don't have engine replication through the sounds system. Hopefully somebody has had it sorted and can share their experience...
 
jwa1 said:
Yeah I've read some post which then tend to get distracted onto other things that to me sound like a different issue. It's exactly how you describe it. The dealer told me the 20i models don't have engine replication through the sounds system. Hopefully somebody has had it sorted and can share their experience...
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Ah I thought I'd seen somewhere it had some module thing to enhance the 4 pot engine, perhaps not.
 
Apparently it's only on the 28i but I'm not taking the dealers word for it! I might remove all the audio fuses at some point and test if the noise is still there.
 
jwa1 said:
My 20i has what I perceive as an issue as there is an electrical buzzing sound from the centre console. It is throttle related and not excessively loud but definitely noticeable. It is coming from the interior of the car not the engine bar. BMW told me it was when the engine was in 'lean' mode, I'm not convinced and am going to rebook. I think they might have mistaken what I was talking about as the slight tappy engine which I have no issue with and know is normal. Does anybody have and info or experience of this?
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Is it not perhaps this, the injectors, what you are describing - which is perfectly normal on the 20i and 28i

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=48626
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=40938
 
mine has exactly this as well. 2.0 msport, 2014 model, had it from brand new, had the noise from brand new too!
 
Good luck but in all honesty I think you will be wasting your time with the dealer on this one, it appears to be a characteristic, mine did it but after a while you get used to it or gets drowned out by the diesel engine BMW have fitted to these cars, one of reasons I got rid :(

Tim.
 
TitanTim said:
Good luck but in all honesty I think you will be wasting your time with the dealer on this one, it appears to be a characteristic, mine did it but after a while you get used to it or gets drowned out by the diesel engine BMW have fitted to these cars, one of reasons I got rid :(

Tim.
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Ditto. My 28i did it. And agree with Tim. Overall the engine did sound like a bag of bolts. The buzzing tended to be an off throttle/light throttle buzz. Add in the driveline shunt (manual) and it was a really, really annoying car in traffic. A shame cos the engine sounded pretty decent when you buried the foot to the firewall. I got rid of mine as well.
 
RobH said:
TitanTim said:
Good luck but in all honesty I think you will be wasting your time with the dealer on this one, it appears to be a characteristic, mine did it but after a while you get used to it or gets drowned out by the diesel engine BMW have fitted to these cars, one of reasons I got rid :(

Tim.
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Ditto. My 28i did it. And agree with Tim. Overall the engine did sound like a bag of bolts. The buzzing tended to be an off throttle/light throttle buzz. Add in the driveline shunt (manual) and it was a really, really annoying car in traffic. A shame cos the engine sounded pretty decent when you buried the foot to the firewall. I got rid of mine as well.
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You don't hear it with the roof down or when you bury your foot. I only notice mine in traffic which is something I can live with. Otherwise turn up the stereo!
 
Ok quite surprisingly this has been FIXED on my car! I got my 20i back from its 3 day booking I made a while ago today. Initially I was given the 'it's the fuel injectors' line, I told them I wasn't convinced and it would be good to hear it on another car on collection to make sure we were talking about the same thing and that it was a normal noise. I didn't think anything more of it but upon collection I was told of the fix.

Apparently there is a BMW technical bulletin about it. It is caused by the fuel line attached to the bulkhead which vibrates and resonates through the cabin. The fix is to remount it. I can 100% say that my car has absolutely no buzzing now. I was completely shocked about it. It is so nice to be able to hear the engine clearly.

I will call the dealer for more details of the bulletin if anyone thinks they will give me that.
 
jwa1 said:
Ok quite surprisingly this has been FIXED on my car! I got my 20i back from its 3 day booking I made a while ago today. Initially I was given the 'it's the fuel injectors' line, I told them I wasn't convinced and it would be good to hear it on another car on collection to make sure we were talking about the same thing and that it was a normal noise. I didn't think anything more of it but upon collection I was told of the fix.

Apparently there is a BMW technical bulletin about it. It is caused by the fuel line attached to the bulkhead which vibrates and resonates through the cabin. The fix is to remount it. I can 100% say that my car has absolutely no buzzing now. I was completely shocked about it. It is so nice to be able to hear the engine clearly.

I will call the dealer for more details of the bulletin if anyone thinks they will give me that.
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That would be quite helpful! Would really appreciate if you could get that reference!
 
Apologies for the delay, I will give them a call on Monday. They didn't solve one of the problems I booked it in for so it'll be going back (revs up to approx 2k rpm when starting once driven and then left for an hour or so but not from cold).
 
jwa1 said:
Apologies for the delay, I will give them a call on Monday. They didn't solve one of the problems I booked it in for so it'll be going back (revs up to approx 2k rpm when starting once driven and then left for an hour or so but not from cold).
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Please do let us know and good work getting it fixed! Very keen to send mine in and get this looked at before warranty expires in June!
 
Thanks all, I must admit it was a bit of a result getting this fixed and I was expecting more of a battle!

I called to get hold of the bulletin reference today and was told they aren't allowed to give those out however I was told to tell you to book in with your local dealership and mention that there is a PUMA reference for the issue which is to do with the way the fuel line is mounted to the bulkhead. If you hit any issues I'm happy to PM my details so the dealer can look up what was done on my car. I had the work done at Salisbury BMW which is part of the Ridgeway group.

Billy - keep me posted on how you get on!
 
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