fix your squeaks and rattles
07-15-2010, 07:23 AM
#1
So throughout the 3 year lifespan of my 07 e60 there have been ongoing rattles, vibrations and squeaks/creaks, especially the last year or so and I have searched long and hard to fix these and here are some suggestions I have found and subsequently fixed-that were some of the culprits of various noises coming from inside the cabin.
1.All rubber door seals-using Gummi phledge-used to be sold by bmw and now available on the net-it lubricates and brings rubber back to life, moisturizes and makes like new. The dry seals can cause a lot of freeway noise and rattling like sounds in the door frames. I used this thoroughly on all door seals. Also used it on all rubber hoses in engine bay-I do this every 6 months to keep rubber fresh and from drying out. This saves you various leaks in the engine and replacing hoses uncessarily.
2. Remove door panels/cards. Very easy procedure. You remove the one torx screw under the "airbag" plastic thing on the door and remove one screw under the little round black cover, adjecent to the door hinge on each door palen. You then slide a plastic pry tool and the door literally has 12 little clips that simply pop out when pulled-there are a bunch of wires connected so you have to support the door and hold it up and not drop it-I have done this many times to access various things.
I found a couple screws loose that were holding the speaker in place and another piece of the door. I retightened and also added foam material throughout the door card for some vibration protection and insulation. This eliminated a pesky rattle that was bothersome.
3.With door card off you can remove the window trim that has the tweeter speaker cover (the speaker by the side mirrors. With this off, and the tweeter removed, you can see that there are a bunch of little metal clips that hold together the speaker cover to the door plastic frame. Mine were all loose and causing the speaker cover which is metal to vibrate at certain RPM's and on the highway. I tightened these by simply pressing them in firmly and then covering them with a soft electrical tape to avoid metal on metal contact. I also added some foam material around the foam that already holds the tweeter in place. This plastic piece simply pulls out from around the window frame inside, once the door card is off.
4. Door sills-each door sill was removed. Again you jus tneed a plastic tool to slide under the sill and pop it up. 4 pressure clips that hold it in will pop out. My sills were FILTHY, tons of dirt, dust and debree which caused a lot of creaking noises that went away after removing, thoroughly cleaning and lubricating the rubber seal around each sill.
5.wd 40/lithium greese the rails that the front seats slide on-thoroughly lubricate those, as well as tighten all torx screws (4) that hold the seat in place and are covered by the plastic black pieces on each 4 corners of the seat rails. Also tight the 2 torx screws under the thigh support cushion that holds the cushion to the plastic piece. Ideally you remove the thigh support cushiion by removing the two screws underneath (thigh support has to be fully extended to access screws). You then can take off the plastic piece underneath the thigh bolster that you see when you extend the thigh bolster. This pops off with upward pressure-held in by 4 pressure clips. You will notice that the thigh support mechanism needs cleaning and re-lubrication. Als there is TONS of dirt and debree under the plastic piece which can cause a bunch of crackling sounds and creaking since it is between the plastic and leather-when that rubs it causes sounds.
I have done all that over hte past 4 months and my car does not make any absolutely creak or sound in any situation whereas before it made all sorts of sounds.
Hope it is hlepful for someone!
1.All rubber door seals-using Gummi phledge-used to be sold by bmw and now available on the net-it lubricates and brings rubber back to life, moisturizes and makes like new. The dry seals can cause a lot of freeway noise and rattling like sounds in the door frames. I used this thoroughly on all door seals. Also used it on all rubber hoses in engine bay-I do this every 6 months to keep rubber fresh and from drying out. This saves you various leaks in the engine and replacing hoses uncessarily.
2. Remove door panels/cards. Very easy procedure. You remove the one torx screw under the "airbag" plastic thing on the door and remove one screw under the little round black cover, adjecent to the door hinge on each door palen. You then slide a plastic pry tool and the door literally has 12 little clips that simply pop out when pulled-there are a bunch of wires connected so you have to support the door and hold it up and not drop it-I have done this many times to access various things.
I found a couple screws loose that were holding the speaker in place and another piece of the door. I retightened and also added foam material throughout the door card for some vibration protection and insulation. This eliminated a pesky rattle that was bothersome.
3.With door card off you can remove the window trim that has the tweeter speaker cover (the speaker by the side mirrors. With this off, and the tweeter removed, you can see that there are a bunch of little metal clips that hold together the speaker cover to the door plastic frame. Mine were all loose and causing the speaker cover which is metal to vibrate at certain RPM's and on the highway. I tightened these by simply pressing them in firmly and then covering them with a soft electrical tape to avoid metal on metal contact. I also added some foam material around the foam that already holds the tweeter in place. This plastic piece simply pulls out from around the window frame inside, once the door card is off.
4. Door sills-each door sill was removed. Again you jus tneed a plastic tool to slide under the sill and pop it up. 4 pressure clips that hold it in will pop out. My sills were FILTHY, tons of dirt, dust and debree which caused a lot of creaking noises that went away after removing, thoroughly cleaning and lubricating the rubber seal around each sill.
5.wd 40/lithium greese the rails that the front seats slide on-thoroughly lubricate those, as well as tighten all torx screws (4) that hold the seat in place and are covered by the plastic black pieces on each 4 corners of the seat rails. Also tight the 2 torx screws under the thigh support cushion that holds the cushion to the plastic piece. Ideally you remove the thigh support cushiion by removing the two screws underneath (thigh support has to be fully extended to access screws). You then can take off the plastic piece underneath the thigh bolster that you see when you extend the thigh bolster. This pops off with upward pressure-held in by 4 pressure clips. You will notice that the thigh support mechanism needs cleaning and re-lubrication. Als there is TONS of dirt and debree under the plastic piece which can cause a bunch of crackling sounds and creaking since it is between the plastic and leather-when that rubs it causes sounds.
I have done all that over hte past 4 months and my car does not make any absolutely creak or sound in any situation whereas before it made all sorts of sounds.
Hope it is hlepful for someone!
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frankskywalker (02-12-2022)
07-15-2010, 08:00 AM
#2
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Nice write up. BTW good to see you posting again 
One rattle that my car that really kinda annoys me - possibly the only one I know of - is the sunroof "rattle". It is more like a groan really
The sunroof sill has been replaced about a year and a half ago, but the noise came back after this winter. I wonder if there's a way to fix that noise without having to replace the sill and/or creating more trouble than eliminating... 
One rattle that my car that really kinda annoys me - possibly the only one I know of - is the sunroof "rattle". It is more like a groan really
The sunroof sill has been replaced about a year and a half ago, but the noise came back after this winter. I wonder if there's a way to fix that noise without having to replace the sill and/or creating more trouble than eliminating...
07-15-2010, 08:37 AM
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Great suggestions on how to get at some of those hard-to-reach rattles! Got any pics you can share of the process?
The only time my door seals creak is when my car is dirty.
After I wash and dry my car, I use the damp drying towel to briskly scrub the 'felt' door seals, which not only cleans them but helps to keep them from getting too matted down - I think the matting of the 'felt' door seal is what, in part, brings on the creaking. I also make sure the inside of the door jamb is clean, and I never wax the part of the jamb where the 'felt' door seals meet the body frame.
I've used this cleaning routine on both of my E60s - I have never used any lubricant on the door seals. With my 550i I didn't experience too many door creaks (except when dirty), but when I first got my pre-owned M5 it creaked something fierce. But this cleaning routine has eliminated the M5 door creaks.
Got any pics you can share of the process?The only time my door seals creak is when my car is dirty.
After I wash and dry my car, I use the damp drying towel to briskly scrub the 'felt' door seals, which not only cleans them but helps to keep them from getting too matted down - I think the matting of the 'felt' door seal is what, in part, brings on the creaking. I also make sure the inside of the door jamb is clean, and I never wax the part of the jamb where the 'felt' door seals meet the body frame.
I've used this cleaning routine on both of my E60s - I have never used any lubricant on the door seals. With my 550i I didn't experience too many door creaks (except when dirty), but when I first got my pre-owned M5 it creaked something fierce. But this cleaning routine has eliminated the M5 door creaks.
07-15-2010, 10:06 AM
#5
cool great idea, i will try that next wash. The felt irritates the hell out of me as its always linty and hard to wipe clean- Even with no creaks, preventitive use of the gummi phledge keeps the rubber brand new looking and acting so if you keep the car or even if not-the seals and hoses on the car will last much longer.
Ya the sun roof may be a tough one-I havent had that problem after I had the seal replaced for excessive windnoise but no creaks or sounds since-not sure how you would even access this. You could try lube the racks and clean them-not sure if that would have any effect.
I have no photos and got all info by google off various forums. The toughest is removing the door cards (which i didnt know they were called) a lot of photos come up but honestly it sounds tough but couldnt be easier. Takes 1 minute to remove them. The thing though is I did not want to detach all the wiring in order to completely take the door card off and lay it down so I left the bulk of the wires and simply held it by the handle as I woudl tighten screws and use self-adhesive foam to put onto the surface. On the door card it basically is your speaker and a bunch of screws holding in the door handle and trim pieces, then a lot of "bulletin board" type of material that is quite thin-that is where I provided foam . One thing I did see is some fuss on removing the door card and putting it back on due to this "middle big clip" that needs to be aligned perfectly. I found this not true at all-if you take it off the easiest way to put it on is to simply line up the door at the top edge with the window frame edge and clip it in the top clips first. That aligns everything and then you just need to go around and smack each area around the frame to pop the clip in-this automatically lines up and engages the middle clip that some people talked about having to remove and place on the door card before putting back in.
The other thing I forgot to mention is that when you take the speaker cover/window trim off (it literally is held into place by the pressure of the rubber seals-no clips or anything so you just rip it out and then push it back in. There is one small pressure clip at the very front of the trim near the door hinge that pops out and then pops in again when putting back.
I repainted the speaker covers with a fresh coat of matte black paint as mine were a bit chipped from the years. So you get them looking like brand new.
Ya the sun roof may be a tough one-I havent had that problem after I had the seal replaced for excessive windnoise but no creaks or sounds since-not sure how you would even access this. You could try lube the racks and clean them-not sure if that would have any effect.
I have no photos and got all info by google off various forums. The toughest is removing the door cards (which i didnt know they were called) a lot of photos come up but honestly it sounds tough but couldnt be easier. Takes 1 minute to remove them. The thing though is I did not want to detach all the wiring in order to completely take the door card off and lay it down so I left the bulk of the wires and simply held it by the handle as I woudl tighten screws and use self-adhesive foam to put onto the surface. On the door card it basically is your speaker and a bunch of screws holding in the door handle and trim pieces, then a lot of "bulletin board" type of material that is quite thin-that is where I provided foam . One thing I did see is some fuss on removing the door card and putting it back on due to this "middle big clip" that needs to be aligned perfectly. I found this not true at all-if you take it off the easiest way to put it on is to simply line up the door at the top edge with the window frame edge and clip it in the top clips first. That aligns everything and then you just need to go around and smack each area around the frame to pop the clip in-this automatically lines up and engages the middle clip that some people talked about having to remove and place on the door card before putting back in.
The other thing I forgot to mention is that when you take the speaker cover/window trim off (it literally is held into place by the pressure of the rubber seals-no clips or anything so you just rip it out and then push it back in. There is one small pressure clip at the very front of the trim near the door hinge that pops out and then pops in again when putting back.
I repainted the speaker covers with a fresh coat of matte black paint as mine were a bit chipped from the years. So you get them looking like brand new.
07-15-2010, 12:25 PM
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hey diamond, thanks for the great info.
when you say door sills, are you refering to the panels right by the seatbelt winding mechanism at ear level? i want to take it off and give it a squeak treatment, but didn't know how to take it off. of course i'm afraid to break any clips and that might also be another reason. i tried pushing towards the roof and pulling, but no luck either. any info would be appreciated, thanks!
dc
when you say door sills, are you refering to the panels right by the seatbelt winding mechanism at ear level? i want to take it off and give it a squeak treatment, but didn't know how to take it off. of course i'm afraid to break any clips and that might also be another reason. i tried pushing towards the roof and pulling, but no luck either. any info would be appreciated, thanks!
dc
07-15-2010, 03:34 PM
#7
No no I am sorry I was not clear-I mean the sliver pieces on each door frame that is part of the frame but under where hte bottom of the door is when closed. The long silver pieces. They snap right up and a bunch of dirt collects under them.
More to your question I actually did not take those slats off by the seatbelt but that is another good idea. I do not know how to remove those however. That is always the concern-you are kind of flying blind when taking a lot of this stuff apart
More to your question I actually did not take those slats off by the seatbelt but that is another good idea. I do not know how to remove those however. That is always the concern-you are kind of flying blind when taking a lot of this stuff apart
07-15-2010, 11:59 PM
#8
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Nice write up. BTW good to see you posting again
One rattle that my car that really kinda annoys me - possibly the only one I know of - is the sunroof "rattle". It is more like a groan really The sunroof sill has been replaced about a year and a half ago, but the noise came back after this winter. I wonder if there's a way to fix that noise without having to replace the sill and/or creating more trouble than eliminating...
One rattle that my car that really kinda annoys me - possibly the only one I know of - is the sunroof "rattle". It is more like a groan really
The sunroof sill has been replaced about a year and a half ago, but the noise came back after this winter. I wonder if there's a way to fix that noise without having to replace the sill and/or creating more trouble than eliminating...
07-16-2010, 12:32 AM
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Thanks I've been meaning to do this to just never gotten around to it. V - I just tracked down my sunroof rattle. Actually a passenger did after I made it a big deal. It sounded like it would come from everypoint in the car. WHen you put your ear to where you thought it was, it changed. It was a metal clunking sound. At red light, idling, sometimes I thought it was coming from inside the door, behind the dash or even underneath the center console. Tricky one. Took about 30 min to track.....
Anyway, it could be something rattling in the access panel - just pry the panel where the sunroof switch is open with a screwdriver and see if you find the source of the noise there. Chances are, there's something loose there.
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