I have a hunch that we might learn something here....


(sorry about the bold tags...my first poll Lomag, if you are able to remove them, feel free! )

 

Doesnt creek YET! I hope it staies that way. I try to keep them clean by wiping them down with a dry cloth after each wash. They are still the old seals not the new "yellow dot" one

P.S. How come the bold tags didnt work?

 

The main reason I posted this poll was that a few years ago, after years of driving my E39's with no door creaks, I had the car detailed and it came back creaking. From that point on, I couldn't stop the creaking no matter what I did.

I'm surprised so far that there seems to be no connection to creaking and cleaning -- I thought for sure there'd be something...

 

No cleany, no creaky. But, I too had creaks with the E39 as it aged. I cured those with periodic spraying with the dastardly silicone. Little did I realize that my fix was not a fix.

 

Oh there is definitely a connection. Mine, like your E39 experience, started after a waxing, though I did NOT wax the door jams. I did use one of those quick spray waxes but was quite careful to NOT spray near the doors, instead spreading with a cloth. Still got the creaking so I guess I was not that careful

 

Rudy, I think you're probably right..... my car was fine until the inside was done. Up to then, the outside paintwork had been done and the door sills and jambs, BUT notthe rubber seals round the doors.

These seals were wiped over with something (I have to find out from Paul who did my zymol etc.. what he used - for future reference) and voila - creek creek creek.

So in my case, 100% sure that something applied to the seals and/or door sill/jamb surfaces causes the creaking.

Getting new seals put in anyway and will see what happens after that.

Best

Hobi

 

I notice that the creaking gets worse on hot & humid days.

 

Just FYI, I had the new door seals installed under warranty about three weeks ago, and it has completely fixed my rattling problem.

 

Same here, but with all the rain we've been having, the car has not been waxed since the new seals were installed. A good wash and wax will be the true test...

 

This is a classical BMW problem.

I have had this problem on most my BMW 4D cars since my BMW320i E36 back in 1997.
The latest problem was on my '04 E60.

I went to our local BMW dealer today as an consultant, 'cause one of my friends wants to buy a '02 E46 318iA. We made an test drive yesterday and the car had squeeky doors seals!

I talked with a bunch of techicans and they said that you should not use any silicone or such, and the wax also can make "creak" problems.

BMW has developed some sort of "cleansing petrol" for cleaning the seals.
Can be purchased at your local BMW dealer, but if your car is under warranty, be sure to get the problem fixed in time.

So this goes for the facelifted E46.

This might be off-topic, but anyway...