Mysterious Metal Clanging Noise :-(

Great info thanks...Glad you got rid of the noise.

Removing and reinstalling the propeller shaft would be required for your differential bushing and seal replacement so applying the BMW magic grease would be a small extra in your case.
If I took mine in just for the SIB grease fix would I expect a labour bill for a couple of hours plus the cost of the grease? Or is it only a half hour grease job fix?
 
Stromtech said:
Great info thanks...Glad you got rid of the noise.

Removing and reinstalling the propeller shaft would be required for your differential bushing and seal replacement so applying the BMW magic grease would be a small extra in your case.
If I took mine in just for the SIB grease fix would I expect a labour bill for a couple of hours plus the cost of the grease? Or is it only a half hour grease job fix?
Click to expand...

They seemed to think an hour or so at £75 + VAT
 
Thanks v7jco... I've been driving around with this noise for the last few months and it's been driving me mad...

Going to send mine in to my local indy to have it inspected / fixed and your notes will be incredibly helpful. Great write up !

:D
 
cheapshots said:
Wow! A lot has happened since my first post in August.

Thank you everyone for being so helpful :-)
Click to expand...

Right On...and the more posts detailing each experience with a repair the better. I'm wondering how hard this would be to do jacking the rear end up.
 
Yup, got the same issue with my 2003 3.0i. Thought it was something along the lines of the fix detailed in this post... I printed out the service detail that BMW gave and handed it to my local indy. They'll get back to me with a price on Monday, hopefully it'll be around the £100 ballpark. I'll let y'all know how much they quote, if I go ahead and what the results are if I do. Thanks for the info on this, its been super useful :thumbsup:
 
Today I took my Z to my new Indy recommended by a local owner on Zpost, and the noise is gone. :D The noise correction was twofold on mine. He did the lube and loctite fix to the differential flange & splines but he also eliminated some slop in the propeller shaft where the two section join together. This was accomplished with the addition of an o-ring in the connection and application of silicon to the splines before reconnecting the two shaft sections. They have seen this problem before and performed previous fixes in this manner. The result is a totally quiet drive train. While on the hoist they removed the CDV and applied lithium grease to the ball in the shift linkage, which had dried up. Next they checked over the steering and suspension and topped up the radiator with the correct BMW anti-freeze. They also replaced the shock tower plastic caps which had been nibbled off by a rat...previous owner must have rats and apparently they like the silicon holding the caps in place.

Now this was 100% improvement from the first Indy I took it to 2 weeks ago, who read the SIB I had printed, put the car on a hoist, listened with a stethoscope and pronounced he would need to drop the differential and take it apart because the noise was inside. He seemed to miss the bit where BMW specifically states 'do not replace the differential'....needless to say I drove off in puzzlement.

Kudo's to R&W Motorsport in Victoria BC for a job well done...they only charged me 2 1/2 hours labour for all that work which I consider a bargain for the service they provided.
 
Yes, that sounds like the same noise...most audible when starting off in first or changing to reverse. Om my car the bulk of the noise was from the area where the 2 drive shaft halves come together at the center mount...there was some play that they eliminate using an o-ring and some silicon on the splines...then tightened up the adjustment. They also looked over the SIB I handed them and applied the lube as well as some locktite to the differential splines. It just made sense while they had everything apart but the noise from the differential flange was minimal compared to the noise from the drive shaft coupling area on my car.

Get them to check the entire drive shaft before removing it...It easy to hear the noise when rotating the shaft on the vehicle after the exhaust and heat shields are off... yet almost impossible to duplicate the noise with the shaft on the shop floor. I was under the car when they were diagnosing on the hoist and it was quite obvious where the noise was coming from.

Also, while the drive shaft is off the car they will have easy access to the shift mechanism. There is a ball and rod where the shifted comes through the floor boards...some new lithium grease on the ball is a good idea while they are in there and only takes a minute to apply. Shifter works smoother now.

Good Luck...It is nice to have a quiet drive train again ...also an idea to get the CDV removed while the car is on the hoist...only took 5 minutes and no extra charge in my case. That made a big difference in driveability.

Edit: I thought it might be useful for people to know the mileage that this problem occurred.. I have about 93000 KM (58,000 miles) on my 2004 3.0i 6 speed
 
Mine too - only very occasionally, seems to come from beneath the centre of the car ('03 3.0i, 51,000 miles). Will keep an eye on this thread with interest.

The amber exhaust emissions light came on tonight as well - love the car but on the third day of ownership hope this isn't a sign of things to come :driving:
 
Mine occurred round about 67k, and got louder until I put it in to be fixed


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I showed the service bulletin to my local BMW dealer. He'd never heard of the issue. Have mine scheduled for 6 Aug. Quoted 100 Euro out the door. Had the missus 328 brake fluid changed at the same place (Euler BMW group Kaiserslautern) 103 Euro to include changing the Air Con micro filter, brake fluid change, reset oil change on Idrive. I have a local village indy do the oil/filter.
 
Has anyone had this done under BMW extended warranty?

Im just writing to BMW now as I took my car to a local indy and they said this is not a "servicable" item and thus any fault must lie under warranty.

Sunningdale refused as they said it was a servicable item and since the car is due for an oil service very soon, I was to kill two birds with one stone if I can.

Cheers
Jamie
 
I would aim for warranty repair. What mileage is yours at?

It was around 2 hours labour for me. Worth pushing for warranty repair, especially if you're at a main dealer


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Adamski said:
I would aim for warranty repair. What mileage is yours at?

It was around 2 hours labour for me. Worth pushing for warranty repair, especially if you're at a main dealer


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Click to expand...

mail sent to BMW warranty :)
Mine is on 95k - but cant see how mileage is relevant in anyway - i reported it with 75k

will report back...
 
Adamski said:
They might try to claim normal wear and tear is the only thing


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Click to expand...

Well this is what they had said "For the second point raised regarding the “Knocking Noise” we only cover components that have failed due to a mechanical defect and would not cover the lubrication of this part as this would be deemed general maintenance of the vehicle."

Humm - has the componet failed? The lubrication has dried up and my have failed is my point.

Thoughts?
 
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