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      05-20-2013, 02:50 PM   #1
Koer
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DIY: Velcro the rattles away.

Hi guys,

If you're like me, then you absolutely hate rattles, why?
Simple, it makes your car sound old... old as your grandfather's F150 pickup truck, which to your disgust rattles less than your brand new BMW.

Now lets be clear on something, this is not a miracle guide, this is not professional work. This is what you can do today instead of browsing hot Asian chicks or whatever you folks do these days.

And to finish up my introduction, never ever never go to the dealer for these issues, they don't have the time nor dedication to fix the exact rattles that your car has, they don't know where they come from... but you probably do, don't you?

Okay first step!
Get the velcro! you will only use the soft part, make sure its thin, not too thin.. but you know, thin. You can also get white and black velcro.. depends how pro you wanna go.





Cut the Velcro in small bits.





Without looking too much at my disgusting fingers, wear down the adhesive a bit so it slides down more easily (if you know what i mean).




This next picture shows my capable hands sliding the velcro in between the door panel and the door with a Thai hotel card i stole some time ago... ohhh the memories.




The result should look like this, don't slide it in too much because the door panel border is only about 5mm thick.




I strongly recommend you apply the velcro to these areas, same goes for the back doors.




Next lets go through some parts that i've found can cause lots of rattles, the first culprit is this motherf***er:




--It actually had dug into the other piece of plastic because of all the movement down there.. WTF BMW??!! ( Pardon my french )
You can find it in the footwell-passenger side.--



Same place, same story... freaking plastic loves to rub together
The three points are where i found the noise comes from, try to stuff some in and watch for results by poking both pieces with your finger.


Now to the grand finale, the Motherubbing piece of trash beneath your AC panel.. who designs these things??!




--As to how you can pry that thing off, put your lady fingernails in the top side of the cover, don't use any metal tools! Its comes off pretty easily. Start from the top then the bottom slides out, paste velcro on the tabs that hold the cover against the front of the panel.--

Finally some other places where you could potentially eliminate a rattle:




The side skirts are another story, this can be either done by your dealer, which will require some time as the skirt clamps break when you remove them, they have to order new ones but it should be done under warranty.
OR! just slide some velcro and see if that works.



And you sir.. Are done!

Now remember this will only fix 50% of the rattles, the rest is up to road conditions, tire pressure and profile, how much you slam your doors ( ladies are experts at soldering my passenger door when they get in... and noo i wont unbuckle, pull handbrake, press P, open door and go around the car just to close it for you.).

In any case, it wont require any disassembly and its a quick fix that will last. If any of you are worried about putting extra pressure on the door panels, remember the doors are assembled tightly... that pressure is lost with time and movement.

Last edited by Koer; 07-15-2014 at 04:20 PM..
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      05-20-2013, 03:55 PM   #2
mikew2069
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Man, my driver's side headliner just to the left of the visor and left of the microphone rattle like a biotch. Do you have that rattle?
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      05-20-2013, 04:23 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikew2069
Man, my driver's side headliner just to the left of the visor and left of the microphone rattle like a biotch. Do you have that rattle?
Damn! I have never had such a thing, maybe its the plastic frame around your window, or the sunroof cover. In any case i would have no idea how to fix it
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      05-20-2013, 05:02 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Koer View Post
Damn! I have never had such a thing, maybe its the plastic frame around your window, or the sunroof cover. In any case i would have no idea how to fix it
Cool, thanks. I'll eventually take it in, I just don't want to be without my car for a day. When it rattles bad, you can just apply pressure to the headliner and it goes away but who wants to drive while pressing the headliner, lol
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      05-21-2013, 04:26 AM   #5
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I'll have to try this since BMW NA is incompetent and don't know how to fix rattles. Maybe you should send them this.
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      05-21-2013, 10:25 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crow
I'll have to try this since BMW NA is incompetent and don't know how to fix rattles. Maybe you should send them this.
You are totally right, i actually complained at first and brought it to the dealer, you know what they did?

They removed the loose parts and put them on again.. Without putting in any insulation, this meant my car rattled even more because parts loosen up every time you remove them!

Glad it helped
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      05-21-2013, 05:26 PM   #7
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OMG, is BMW NA reading this forum?!?!?
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      05-21-2013, 10:30 PM   #8
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Entertaining read. Thanks Seriously, for a $40-$50k vehicle, this type of rattle problem is not acceptable. Why haven't BMW thought of putting some kind of thin foam inserts serving the same purpose as the velcro? Crazy.
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      05-22-2013, 12:11 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by npgatech
Entertaining read. Thanks Seriously, for a $40-$50k vehicle, this type of rattle problem is not acceptable. Why haven't BMW thought of putting some kind of thin foam inserts serving the same purpose as the velcro? Crazy.
I know, unfortunately for us.. New assembly methods follow the same "perfect until you drive it out of the dealer" method. Cars are simply not made to last anymore.
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      05-22-2013, 12:40 PM   #10
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Is there a model year or something for this rattle? I have a 12' 328i and I have absolutely NO rattle at all.
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      05-22-2013, 02:56 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by e92ben
Is there a model year or something for this rattle? I have a 12' 328i and I have absolutely NO rattle at all.
Not the model, more like road conditions.

Mexico's roads are the worst, worse than any other third world country i've seen, so my car rattles like crazy. (2012 build 335)

Maybe you just got lucky, or maybe your roads are stupidly smooth!
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      05-22-2013, 09:23 PM   #12
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Great post. Thanks!

I have an annoying rattle that seems to come from the steering column. Has anyone dealt with this one and managed to find a fix? It's a 8/2012 build 335i.
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      05-23-2013, 10:42 AM   #13
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Excelente write up!!!! Let's do it
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      05-23-2013, 02:31 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ewill858
Great post. Thanks!

I have an annoying rattle that seems to come from the steering column. Has anyone dealt with this one and managed to find a fix? It's a 8/2012 build 335i.
I have that one aswell, is it always there or when you turn the wheel?
Chances are its the foamy column underside cover, put some paper between it and the column's plastic and see if there is any change.

Other solution is to try different column positions. Up down or towards you.
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      05-23-2013, 02:32 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cesaroctavio_80
Excelente write up!!!! Let's do it
How is your suspension coping with the daily rape of driving this city's streets??
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      12-15-2013, 10:01 PM   #16
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fun read! wish I read this 7 years ago...I could've helped my buddy out with his 330 e46 zhp ... it rattled like it was born to rattle
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      02-08-2014, 12:57 AM   #17
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Great Post. Definitely helped stopped the rattle.
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      07-14-2014, 10:49 AM   #18
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Any way we can get the pics from the OP? I would love to see what was addressed in this post.
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      07-14-2014, 11:57 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jdem2
Any way we can get the pics from the OP? I would love to see what was addressed in this post.
Hi! Sure thing, let me see what i can do to re-upload them
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      07-15-2014, 04:25 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jdem2 View Post
Any way we can get the pics from the OP? I would love to see what was addressed in this post.
There you go...
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      07-18-2014, 08:34 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Koer View Post
There you go...
You are the man for doing this, Koer!

Thanks so much!!
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      07-18-2014, 09:26 AM   #22
Koer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jdem2
Quote:
Originally Posted by Koer View Post
There you go...
You are the man for doing this, Koer!

Thanks so much!!
I could post part two, which involves the iDrive strip, and disassembly of both footwells. It can be done in 30 minutes tops and eliminates 90% of the noise coming from the front.

Just need some time and encouragement. 😁
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