Hi Guys,
I'm a new z4 owner, and I've used your forum to gather rather a lot of information for buying the z4, and some aftercare too! So first things first - thanks to all the forum members.
I've owned the car for over a week now and I'm enjoying driving it. I have had a few problems, that touch wood are now fixed - and I ran over a nail wrecking the rear right tyre
Anyway, I'm sure at some point I'll post a thread somewhere else with more info - but this is the problems forum so let me get to the problem...
After a few hundred miles of owning the car, I noticed a strange noise coming from what seems like the centre of the dashboard - it's a bit of a ticking / squeaking noise and it seems to come from right in between the speedometer and rev counter - but you can't really pinpoint the exact location. It doesn't happen at all whilst moving, and it only happens very occasionally on a very flat new piece of road. If you are driving through town, it's a pretty much constant noise.
I have searched the forums and found people mentioning the struts coming loose, and so I checked out the bolts. The drivers side strut nuts weren't fully tight, but they certainly weren't loose. The passengers side strut is fully tight, even with a little bit of force they wouldn't budge (to undo). I couldn't find what torque these nuts were supposed to be, and even so I don't think I have a torque wrench that goes above 25 at the moment. So I ended up doing the drivers side nuts up as tight as possible. This seemed to quieten down the noise, but it still came back.
The previous owner did have a problem with the driver side strut mount shearing, but has had it re-welded, and it seems to be very secure - I can't replicate the noise by bouncing the front of the car, or putting force on any of the struts in any direction.
So I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on other things to check? I'm thinking of replacing all of the bolts on the struts, and possibly getting an OEM strut brace, but I don't think this is going to stop the noise from occurring.
I'm also thinking it could possible be front springs and/or bushes, but I'm not really sure what this would sound like - and I think I'd be able to replicate the noise when bouncing the front of the car.
If all else fails I might drop by the local dealers (Coopers in Reading), but I've already bought the car, and parted with £650 for 4 new tyres this month, so funds are somewhat limited for a while
I might try and get a recording of the sound if I can find someway of doing that.
I'm a new z4 owner, and I've used your forum to gather rather a lot of information for buying the z4, and some aftercare too! So first things first - thanks to all the forum members.
I've owned the car for over a week now and I'm enjoying driving it. I have had a few problems, that touch wood are now fixed - and I ran over a nail wrecking the rear right tyre
Anyway, I'm sure at some point I'll post a thread somewhere else with more info - but this is the problems forum so let me get to the problem...
After a few hundred miles of owning the car, I noticed a strange noise coming from what seems like the centre of the dashboard - it's a bit of a ticking / squeaking noise and it seems to come from right in between the speedometer and rev counter - but you can't really pinpoint the exact location. It doesn't happen at all whilst moving, and it only happens very occasionally on a very flat new piece of road. If you are driving through town, it's a pretty much constant noise.
I have searched the forums and found people mentioning the struts coming loose, and so I checked out the bolts. The drivers side strut nuts weren't fully tight, but they certainly weren't loose. The passengers side strut is fully tight, even with a little bit of force they wouldn't budge (to undo). I couldn't find what torque these nuts were supposed to be, and even so I don't think I have a torque wrench that goes above 25 at the moment. So I ended up doing the drivers side nuts up as tight as possible. This seemed to quieten down the noise, but it still came back.
The previous owner did have a problem with the driver side strut mount shearing, but has had it re-welded, and it seems to be very secure - I can't replicate the noise by bouncing the front of the car, or putting force on any of the struts in any direction.
So I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on other things to check? I'm thinking of replacing all of the bolts on the struts, and possibly getting an OEM strut brace, but I don't think this is going to stop the noise from occurring.
I'm also thinking it could possible be front springs and/or bushes, but I'm not really sure what this would sound like - and I think I'd be able to replicate the noise when bouncing the front of the car.
If all else fails I might drop by the local dealers (Coopers in Reading), but I've already bought the car, and parted with £650 for 4 new tyres this month, so funds are somewhat limited for a while
I might try and get a recording of the sound if I can find someway of doing that.
