Roof down rattle - frustrating

B

barkersoldbean

New member
E89 28i 2014, M runflats
Roof up totally silent over bumps - roof down and there’s a squeaky rattle behind driver right ear over cats eye size bumps.
I say sqeaky rattle - because it’s kind of both.
I thought it was the side windows - not; door catches - all greased - not; rubber door seals - silicone gummi - not.
It’s driving me nuts.
Any obvious places to look and method to find source?
Thanks and apologies if already covered - I did scour the forum to find an answer.
 
barkersoldbean said:
E89 28i 2014, M runflats
Roof up totally silent over bumps - roof down and there’s a squeaky rattle behind driver right ear over cats eye size bumps.
I say sqeaky rattle - because it’s kind of both.
I thought it was the side windows - not; door catches - all greased - not; rubber door seals - silicone gummi - not.
It’s driving me nuts.
Any obvious places to look and method to find source?
Thanks and apologies if already covered - I did scour the forum to find an answer.
Click to expand...

If you use the search function there’s lots on roof rattles, like this https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=47943&hilit=Roof+rattle+fix
Rob
 
Ole gits rule said:
Just an obvious one, have you checked the seat against the rear trim?
Click to expand...

If the seat was the cause it would be evident roof up or down I’d guess? :?
Rob
 
As posted before, I took my E89 to my local indy, who, for £70 + VAT, spent an hour with another mechanic lubricating & testing a large number of points of contact and connection. Money well spent.
 
Anything i place on the passenger rattles. Never known a vehicle like it.
Even the seat started squeaking and took some adjusting to stop it.
 
FIXED!!!!!!!!!

I had some free time today and have now finally fixed the issue - this might be a fix if you have the same issue of a rattle/squeak with roof down behind your right ear - somewhere behind the headrest.

I started by working out that the issue was related to the boot lid - with the roof down = rattle/squeak, but with the boot lid raised by 2 cm (ie just starting the process of putting the roof up) the squeak/rattle went away 100%.

I lubed everything that moved in there - seals, mechanism - everything - and blow me - the rattle/squeak was actually WORSE!

Then whilst out of the car, I started the roof closing process via the key; as the boot lid pivots you can get a good look at where it joins the main bit of the car - ie. just behind where the rear screen normally sits.

At each side (see pic and red circle) there were two scabby looking bits of sticky backed felt that were scrunched up. I removed them both, copied the shape with sticky backed 3mm closed cell neoprene rubber (the sort you use in modelling).

IMG_1550.jpg

Zero squeak/rattle over the cobbles (my test ground) so I guess this was the issue.

Upon observing the process of the roof opening and storing - you can see why the originals get scrunched up - the final act is the boot lid pivoting forwards, closing - and then it moves forwards by 5mm to engage tightly with the main body of the car. I think that over time the front edge of the original self adhesive felt pad has caught and its rolled back and allowed the squeak/rattle to happen.

Time will tell if the same thing doesn't happen again - but at least I've got to the bottom of it.

The feeling of relief to have a quiet car with the roof down is difficult to understand unless you are similarly frustrated - my wife's solution (turn the music up) just wasn't cutting it. I can see why "maniac" sold his car - I think that I would have done so too eventually.
 
Interesting analysis, I’ll give my car a peak / test of that analysis/ cure :thumbsup:
 
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