[bri1042]

My car developed a rattle (or a bit of a buzz...disappointing because my 340 has been overall rattle-free) that I've had a difficult time locating. I thought it was the passenger-side b-pillar, which I dealt with before but nope. Maybe the doors? Nope. I realized that the buzz isn't there when my SO is riding shotgun yesterday, put my hand on the passenger seat cushion and it went away. Took my hand off, it stayed gone for a few minutes and then came back. Pushed down a bit on the seat, gone. Anyone ever dealt with a buzz/rattle/annoying sound coming from the passenger seat? I'd appreciate any thoughts on how to go about attacking this one...

[Billfitz]

There are sensors under the seat, where there are sensors there are fasteners to hold them and their wiring in place. Fasteners can loosen. You probably have to pull the seat to find what's loose. That requires specific procedures so that you don't get air bag warnings. It would be best for the dealer to do it under warranty, but this is the type of issue that dealers hate dealing with and tend to avoid with excuses.

[bri1042]

I've played with the seats in these cars before (under-seat sub stuff), so I'm not worried about annoying the airbags. Mostly hoping I'd get lucky and someone else had already dealt with it for issue-targeting purposes. I'll probably end up foam-taping anything that could possibly be doing it.

[Blubaron79]

So I've had mine for only 2 weeks, and when I am in lower RPMs under load there is also a rattle or a buzz in mine near the passenger seat. At first I thought it might be under the car or the M Side Sill or somewhere in that area.

Does this sound similar to yours?

[bri1042]

Could be. My last F30 was very rattle-prone, so I was ready with this one to track down and deal with them again but I got lucky, until this one. If you can place your hand on the center of the passenger seat and stop the buzz, it's the same rattle/buzz/thing.

[BrettKA7]

I had this issue too. I could *not* believe how loud and annoying it was. There is a plastic rounded clip/hook that is very flexible under the seat. Bend it outward and take all surrounding wires and tuck them under that clip. That fixed my rattle permanently in about 20 seconds, after dealing with the rattle for months.

[bri1042]

Thanks for the info, I'll look for the hook this weekend.

[NormanConquest]

Originally Posted by bri1042

My car developed a rattle (or a bit of a buzz...disappointing because my 340 has been overall rattle-free) that I've had a difficult time locating. I thought it was the passenger-side b-pillar, which I dealt with before but nope. Maybe the doors? Nope. I realized that the buzz isn't there when my SO is riding shotgun yesterday, put my hand on the passenger seat cushion and it went away. Took my hand off, it stayed gone for a few minutes and then came back. Pushed down a bit on the seat, gone. Anyone ever dealt with a buzz/rattle/annoying sound coming from the passenger seat? I'd appreciate any thoughts on how to go about attacking this one...

I had a creaking sound when entering and exiting the vehical bmw replace the seat rail but it still occurs : (

[SpenceRx]

Odd location. Maybe with use it'll go away?

[bri1042]

The car is almost 2 years old. Use caused the rattle. I think I got it (haven't driven to test it). It was easy to find the one loose wire hanging down and resting against metal under the seat just by sticking my hand under the seat. I also found the plastic clip and got the wire back into it without pulling the seat up or anything. I'll find out when I drive somewhere today.

[sspade]

I have this exact same noise. Been happening for few weeks. Super annoying. Cant wait for the sun to rise here in Cali so I can go look for an errant wire or clip as you guys have suggested...

Mine sounds like a metallic tinging / vibration noise.

[bri1042]

The only driving I did today was with my SO in the passenger seat (which always stopped the noise, anyway) so I won't know until the drive to work tomorrow if I really got it.

[bri1042]

So...yep, gone. 2+ months of annoyance, 3 minutes to fix it. Sigh.

[breathe3asy]

Seems I have this exact same vibration rattle that you guys describe. Only appears when passenger seat is empty! I'm still trying to track the little bastard down

[kingmonkey8]

Originally Posted by Blubaron79

So I've had mine for only 2 weeks, and when I am in lower RPMs under load there is also a rattle or a buzz in mine near the passenger seat. At first I thought it might be under the car or the M Side Sill or somewhere in that area.

Does this sound similar to yours?

I had a rattle when the car was stationary and in drive, or setting off from a standstill in the low rpm.
Found out it was coming from under the car.
Under the car on the passenger side there is a plastic undertray, behind this there are some plastic pipes, these were vibrating against the undertray. I loosely zip tied them together and the rattle was gone.

[seb835]

Seems like I have a similar problem. Passenger seat has a rattle and a buzz - two separate sounds.

If I have a passenger, the sounds go away. Otherwise, especially on UK roads, the sound is infuriatingly constant

The rattle goes away if I place my hand on the back of the seat. The buzz goes away if I lower the seat fully.

Anyway, its been at the dealer for over 24 hours now with this issue. Hoping they fix it, and the car is still just under warranty, so I'll let you know how that part goes!

[bobiam]

How about the door lock buttons? if that is it you can pry it out of the hole and put some material inside the plastic doohickey to quiet it.

[MHF30]

For me it was the thigh support extensions on the sportline seats when they were pulled out, introduced a rattle. It seems to have since gone away on its own, but took a while to figure out where the noise was coming from.

My current issue is the trim around the gear selector, tends to rattle.

[homeryen88]

I think I encountered this as well. It was like an almost-imperceptible rumble. I thought that maybe the headliner was loose or maybe somebody dropped a coin or a bolt near the sunroof and it was bouncing around ever so slightly. I would hear it sometimes and sometimes not and it was a head-scratcher.

I discovered that it was the seat belt. The part that's a little bit thicker that encases that metallic buckle kind of "vibrates" against the bottom of the B-pillar.

So, I decided to just insert that into the clasp (I don't know the technical terms, but basically I just pretended that I had a passenger in the front seat and I was telling him/her to "buckle up").