Rattle Noise

Z

z4tastic

Member
Hi All,

After several months now of great Z4 ownership having a minor issue that I cant get to the bottom of.

When I go over rough roads there is 'rattle', almost like an unsecured, plastic flapping noise coming from what sounds like the passenger side front. Exhaust sounds fine and I had look underneath and all looks well secured - but did notice the access panel for the fog lights was open ... re-locked it and set off and the noise was better but still present (sounds similar to seat belt anchor rattle on bad surfaces - but rattles on for a bit after you have passed over the bump then stops. )

Would be really grateful to find out if there are any known or common faults that might cause this? For example any bits of plastic underneath that are known to work loose? Im convinced it's some sort of plastic cover somewhere as it doesn't sounds like the exhaust.

Cheers
 
is it coming from inside or outside, if its inside there is a good change its the window which is an easy fix :thumbsup:
 
Also, check all the trim panels in the footwells - I have found a couple loose in mine, they are not very firmly attached, or robust. If they are loose and flapping around slightly they may be responsible for the noise.
 
If the sound seems to be coming from under the car this probably isn't it, but if it's a rattling just generally coming from the passenger side you might also want to try something as simple as popping out the cup holder to see if there's any change.

I recently had this problem on the driver side, and went around applying pressure to various parts of the dash to no avail ... then popped the cup holder out and back in again and all was well!

Noisy little blighters at times.
 
Thanks everyone, The noise is definetly coming from outside the car, it is a very pronunced rattle. It's strange ... when I go over a large bump - nothing, when I drive on a slightly uneven road surface it is really bad. It definetly sounds like it is coming from the front of the car and not the back.

I have tried the following, to no avail:

- Tried with the window up / down and definetly coming from the outside (thanks ChrisJ900).

- Checked all the footwell panels by applying pressure all seem solid (thanks bing)

- Tried getting the better half to sit in the passenger seat on the way to work this morning and tried adjusting the seat and it was the same. (thanks Adamski)

ZeeFore, I haven't trid the cupholders but will give it a go at lunch.

Finally, I had a good look in the engine bay and noticed that the washer bottle was really lose - I tightened it up, but again no difference.

Starting to convince myself its the exhaust now, had a good look underneath - nothing hanging down, exhaust seems to be secure and solid, it isn't blowing and the note from it seems perfect.

My action plan is as follows - get my local (very good) garage to pop it up on the ramps and check the exhaust to rule that out, all being well with that I will start to work my way around the engine bay.

The thing that doesn't fit my theory is that the noise is most definetly coming from the front underneath / engine bay area .... the exhaust also feels really secure.

Does the Z have an exhaust heat shield like the MX5? That used to work lose sometimes and rattle?
 
z4tastic, I assume you've also checked all the external trim / covers ? Inside the wheel arch (the plastic screws have a habit of falling out when they've been removed and squished) and also the engine / air ducts under the corners of the front wing... If the car has been badly grounded then part of one of the latter may have come loose. Failing all that, Indy it is I guess, hope they don't find anything bad :(
 
Thanks Bing - will check them all out at lunch time. Have booked in for a check on Thursday at my local Indy who are very good.

I could be wrong but it sounds too loud to be a bit of trim, the other thing I noticed (and have been told to try) is to take up to high revs on a smooth open road and sharply back of the throttle - apparently if it rattles on a smooth road when I do this it is the exhaust / heat shield. If it doesn't more likely to be a trim issue as you described.

Ok - watch yourselves if you are around the car park at the Royal Inf in Edinburgh this lunch time ... :wink:
 
Car gone to garage for an insepction ....

Tried backing off the throttle at high revs and I am not getting any rattles....

Bing - checked all of the trim outisde the car and underneath and all solid and no screws missing or broken (thanks).

However, I scanned this forum and noticed a few posts along the lines of "I took my car to the garage to look at an exhaust rattle and it turns out the exhaust is fine, but both my back springs are broken". The op's for these posts have descirbed the rattle noise and it's near identical to mine ....

Will wait for the garage report and update ..
 
Now have a rattle free Zed :D

Garage Report read: "Plastic Panel Lose on Engine Undertray - refixed and handbrake cable rubbing against pins, cable re-routed."

Charged me £29.00 and now no rattles!!

:D
 
I was close then :wink:

Glad you got it fixed, and nothing major. Z Paranoia - we all get it :D
 
Just checking - did they tell you where they re-routed the handbrake cable TO ? Hopefully not the to the horn :lol:
 
FYI if anyone else has the same problem with the parking brake cable rattling against the body. (In my case this was N/S/R rattle at low speeds on rough roads) DO NOT take it to BMW who tried to charge me £154.08 to resolve this (cable "adjustment")

You did well at £29 z4tastic
 
bluestreak56 said:
DO NOT take it to BMW who tried to charge me £154.08 to resolve this (cable "adjustment")

You did well at £29 z4tastic
Click to expand...

Which BMW dealer was that...?
 
I think I was lucky! I use a great indy, everytime I have an obscure rattle or weird issue these guys seem to fix it first time, every time and charge very reasonable amounts.

Not sure what they did to my cable, but feels much tighter and less play.

£154.08 seems very hefty for an hour, our Surgeons get paid less than that! (a lot less!) ...
 
Just out of curiosity did it completely cure all rattles when your cable was re-routed? I still hear a faint rattle on mine .. although I may be being finicky..
 
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