dieseltouring

Update: Well the stuffing didn't work. I now suspect the rubber seal around the rear hatch and/or window. Others on here have suggested this can cause creaking. Since treating my seals with ArmorAll protectant (all I had to hand) the rear has been silent, but then it has been quite cool so need to wait for a hot day (next summer maybe!?) to be really sure.

hondik

Interesting thread.. just to add more information for you - I have no sunroof and I have no noises (I got a pre-LCI with 75.00Km)..

dieseltouring

Ok, maybe a bit premature, but I think I have cracked it in my car. For me, I believe the majority of the "old ship creaking in a bad sea" noise was coming from the retractable luggage cover housing where it mounts into the car. Some was also coming from the plastic trim at the bottom of the hatch opening. Part of the problem tracing the cause is that there is more than one, so no single experiment seems to fix the noise.

I have done two things with the load cover mounting:
Put a layer of self-adhesive felt on the lower plastic surface of the docking area on each side of the car.
The luggage cover housing now slides into its locking mechanism on this felt
Put some felt on the end of the two small sprung plastic pins at the back of the luggage cover housing
I believe these are simply to push the housing out of the locking mechanism when the release button is pressed.

And, for the plastic trim at the bottom of the hatch opening:
Put a small felt "washer" between the plastic trim and the metal body of the car under each mounting screw.

Need a sunny day to prove it for sure, but for the last week the car has been much quieter (and so much better).

V70Cat

The driver and passenger side front window were creaking on my 08 and BMW said that they had a bulletin on it. They did something with the insulation in the door and it is fixed. The car is quiet, just like new.

dieseltouring

Well, touch wood, I believe I have finally fixed the creaking. Seems so obvious now, but the last remaining source on my car was the tailgate latch. For anyone who has a E61 that creaks as if it has poor structural rigidity at the rear I suggest applying grease to the latch pin at the center of the boot floor that the tailgate latch grabs on closure. If this works, (it was only temporary on my car), sand the pin with fine wet and dry and re-apply the grease. I am sure the creaking was minute metal-on-metal contact movements of the latch as the tailgate flexes.

After suffering creaking for so long, you wouldn't believe how good the silence is!

mmitev

Interesting, I will try that as well.
I have only one sharp creaking noise remaining, and its either a piece of plastic or this latch, but it definitely happens when the tailgate flexes.

PS. Otherwise the insulating of the plastic piece along the bottom of the gate opening (between bumper and trunk) definitely removed a lot of noises.

mmitev

Does anyone know whether the E61 M5 has additional bracing under the car?

Looking at Real OEM diagrams it seems to me that there are additional/larger braces that add rigidity around the rear axle.

Does anyone have good pics underneath an M5 E61 rear?
Maybe from an exhaust installation or something?

olivierfm

Great question!
I compared the Real OEM diagrams for both the e61 with sunroof and the e61M5 with sunroof and it looks like they share both the same braces (pull rod left and right #7 in diagram - same part number). However it looks like it might also have additional braces (pull rod left and right - #14 in diagram)and additional braces front and rear (#18 and #21 in diagram). Can anyone clarify this??

mmitev

Exactly, I've attached the diagram to make it clearer:

Shared between M5 and normal E61:
- pull rod left and right #7 (same part number)

Only in M5 parts list:
- pull rod left and right #14
- additional "struts" #18 and #21

Does anyone have pics under an M5 E61 to make a comparison?

mmitev

Ok I found something - thanks to Gustav @ M5Board.com and the video he posted of his Supersprint installation in Italy!
You can see the whole video here: Please pay particular attention to the footage between minutes 10:00 and 12:35.

Here is one screenshot where we can see the basic layout. My comments:

1. The two large braces #7 are clearly visible, although I must say they look much larger than on my 530d Touring! Also a bit earlier in the video, one (or both) of these braces is specifically manufactured at the install shop. Therefore, I guess these may be custom braces that replace the original #7s? Or one of them is stock (i.e. its #18 and #21), and the other is custom made.

2. Both braces #14 are clearly visibile as well. I will have to look under my car to see whether I have them.