Roof rattle....Dealers attempts to remedy.

[Gonkface]

So here is my problem.

Took delivery of the car in November. Everything tight and enjoyable. No noises. By January there was an annoying rattle coming from what sounded like the rear roof deck. Tried in vain to remedy using all tips found on this Forum (thanks to everyone who has contributed to the roof rattle discussions) and eventually gave up and booked it in to the dealer. Got it back and everything was fine for 3 months until the rattle came back. I went to the dealer and managed to speak to the Technician who worked on the car thinking I could simply ask him what bit he had fixed and I could then do it myself. Unfortunately he wasn't able to narrow it down to a specific fix as he had tried so many things!

Booked the car in again hoping that they would do the same things again to remedy the rattle but the car was returned to me with the rattle still there. Dealer said that they needed more than one day to investigate the rattle. I made arrangements with them last week and they had the car for 3 days. They said that they had tried everything they could but were not able to resolve the rattle. They are now telling me that they have had to contact BMW UK with a view to obtaining a replacement roof frame! Seems like a sledge hammer to crack a nut to me. I know it seems simplistic but I can't help but think that the rattle is being caused but two bits of something touching one another. What that something is and where it is.....who knows but wouldn't you think that a dealer would be able to remedy it without having to resort to total replacement.

I love the car but this is really p*ssing me off. The car is a joy to drive when the top is down but the rattle is incessant when the top is up.

Rant over!

 

[flybobbie]

Its taken me 12 months to make my car rattle and bump free.
I've stuck on about 12-14 rubber pads on various bits and bobs to cure rattles.
One particular rattle or bump disappears when the rear quarter lights are drop slightly.
Think this was cured by sticking some thin rubber over the four wedges the rear roof sits on when closed.
I think the official cure is to raise them slightly. But they are made of quite hard rubber so thought the pads would cushion better.
The rubber pads were from a pound shelf in Tesco. They are normally stuck on the bottom of things like HiFis to stop them scratching furniture.
When I have time I will upload a pic of all the areas padded.

 

[Gonkface]

Please, please, please upload pics of all the areas you have padded/felted. I have felted quite a few areas but there may be one or two that I have missed. Grateful for your input. Thanks.

 

[dario]

i had some rattles from the rear deck and the passenger side of the rear passenger compartment. car was with them for 2 weeks and after ripping the car apart, finding a crack on a weld, using chassis sealing putty (thats what i called it) then putting some felt on the rubber seal of the rear deck, its now sorted. FFFT!

 

[Gonkface]

Dario, could you take a pic of where the felt was added. I am at my wits end with this rattle and really do not want to put it to the Dealer again for them to meddle with the roof. I would rather try everything that I could. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[flybobbie]

Also one hidden possible bump point, the black strip guide attached to the quarter light, bumps up against what feels like a hex head bolt, located inside the rubber window trim in roof. (Poke a finger inside seal gap to find). I don't think the rears have a anti trap mode. So when it goes up it pushes hard against this bolt. Almost as though its used as a stop. Would explain why some of my bumps went ,when the quarter light was dropped slightly. Never got round to put any rubber on that, as I have always liberally applied silicon spray to all the seals around windows.

 

[dario]

Dario, could you take a pic of where the felt was added. I am at my wits end with this rattle and really do not want to put it to the Dealer again for them to meddle with the roof. I would rather try everything that I could. Thanks in advance for your help.

I'll sort this tomorrow.

 

[dario]

Dario, could you take a pic of where the felt was added. I am at my wits end with this rattle and really do not want to put it to the Dealer again for them to meddle with the roof. I would rather try everything that I could. Thanks in advance for your help.

This is what the master tech at my dealers did to mine to make it quieter.


This was done on both sides of the car and is where the trim contacts the interior trim when the roof is in the up position



this felt was placed on both sides and is in line with the are where there isn't any rubber trim. clearly the two surfaces were making contact and thus squeaking.

 

[Gonkface]

Dario, could you take a pic of where the felt was added. I am at my wits end with this rattle and really do not want to put it to the Dealer again for them to meddle with the roof. I would rather try everything that I could. Thanks in advance for your help.

This is what the master tech at my dealers did to mine to make it quieter.


This was done on both sides of the car and is where the trim contacts the interior trim when the roof is in the up position



this felt was placed on both sides and is in line with the are where there isn't any rubber trim. clearly the two surfaces were making contact and thus squeaking.

Thanks for your help with this. I had felted all these areas. I spent most of the weekend locked in the garage at home trying to locate the rattle and eventually identified it as coming from the buffer section that the rear window section rests on when closed. I tightened the bolts that attach the bufer to the boot lid and lubricated the seal behind it. Rattle gone!!!!

I will also put some felt on those hex bolts within the window seals.....just in case.

Many thanks for your helpful responses.

Cheers.

 

[R.E92]

Dario, could you take a pic of where the felt was added. I am at my wits end with this rattle and really do not want to put it to the Dealer again for them to meddle with the roof. I would rather try everything that I could. Thanks in advance for your help.

This is what the master tech at my dealers did to mine to make it quieter.


This was done on both sides of the car and is where the trim contacts the interior trim when the roof is in the up position



this felt was placed on both sides and is in line with the are where there isn't any rubber trim. clearly the two surfaces were making contact and thus squeaking.

Thanks for your help with this. I had felted all these areas. I spent most of the weekend locked in the garage at home trying to locate the rattle and eventually identified it as coming from the buffer section that the rear window section rests on when closed. I tightened the bolts that attach the bufer to the boot lid and lubricated the seal behind it. Rattle gone!!!!

I will also put some felt on those hex bolts within the window seals.....just in case.

Many thanks for your helpful responses.

Cheers.

Any chance of a quick photo of where you tightened that bolt?

Also where do you get the felt strips from? I have an annoying rattle from the passenger side which I'm sure the felt will sort.

 

[Gonkface]

You can see the nuts at the very bottom of Dario's pic. There are around fifteen of them. I tightened them all about half a turn and the noise disappeared. A word of caution though......don't over tighten them or they will strip the thread.

The tape is the fibre side of Velcro. You can get it from B&Q.

Let me know how you get on with this.

 

[zxy]

I worked on this some time ago. I diagnosed it by simply raising the back window just a barely perceptible amount with the appropriate button. The rattle was gone. It may have been caused by the locating pin in the middle but more likely the weight of the back window on the plastic base plate which is mounted by the 14 fragile fasteners. These fasteners, I noticed were coded with blue paint (like a wax document seal). I tried spray with a penetrating silicon spray and I tried very slight tightening. Neither worked. Since I usually only drive on top down days, I did not try anything else like more tightening because I am satisfied just knowing the cause.
The mechanism is so complex that there are probably other sources of rattles as well which I do not seem to have.