[AtlantaDan]

2016 F30. Dash rattled over semi-rough surfaces and it was literally going to make me sell the car. I traced it down to first the external LCD display, then I thought it was the speaker. Removed them both and lined things with felt tape to no avail. Finally discovered that the rattle was coming from under the dash - between the LCD and the speaker. Further digging through the dash and through diagrams on RealOEM led me to think that I didn't want to tackle full removal of the dash to get it sorted.

Get a wire coat hanger. Put the hook in one hand and pull outwards on the bottom of the hanger - making it pretty much straight. On the non-hook end, put a slight bend in it upwards. Maybe 10 degrees. Grab ahold of the center decorative cover/vent below the screen and give it a tug. It will pop off. Slowly and carefully work it off to the passenger door. You can let it hang or prop it somewhere out of the way. You don't need to disconnect the wires going to the center part. This should take you about 10 seconds total.

Grab a roll of paper towels and your flattened hanger. Lean forward and give the dash a slight knock with the side of your fist, right on the top of the pass side, and you should hear the rattle behind the LCD clear as day. Looking at the diagram, there is nothing under there but the HVAC runners and some other plastic bits/shielding. I suspect that something in that space has warped or come lose over time and this is what we're going to fix.

Take 2 paper towels (-ish) in one section and start folding them. Half, then half, then half, then again. Keep the width - you're going for a wad that is as wide as the towel on the roll, about 6" deep, and about 1/4 thick. Now take that wad and bend it in half again and slide it into the space above the center AC vents. Don't go nuts - just get it snug.

Get your hanger, and using the non hooked end, wedge it between the folds of the most recent folding, and slowly start pushing the paper towels into the space above the vents and underneath and behind the LCD. There is a small cavity in there and that's what you are filling. Eyeball the length of the hanger you've pushed in to determine if you've hit the spot. Concurrently, keep knocking the dash with your fist and when you hit the right area, you will hear the rattle stop - or get lighter. On mine, I had to do this twice to get it to completely stop rattling. At no point should you feel any significant resistance - if you do - STOP. Also, you will not need to pack that stuff in there. You only need to put enough in to put some pressure on what is rattling and moving around.

Installation is the reverse of the process. Just be careful when knocking the center vents back into position. Otherwise, you can't really screw it up. I did mine a few months ago and have had zero issues since. And no rattles.

As with everything online - YMMV.

Hope this helps someone.

[Gertsee]

This has been a very common and annoying issue which has also plagued my F36 thank you for posting this I will be trying this in the near future!

[amancuso]

On mine I get the rattle once in a while. Always thought it was coming from the rear-view mirror area. I supposed you could also use soft foam strips instead of paper towels.

[emfollin]

My entire center dash made noise from all the plastic trim used. I removed all trim pieces from the center, HVAC/radio, trim that goes from steering to passenger side, plastic piece with light in it below HVAC controls and the nav screen. I put electrical tape around all corners of everything. You have to pop the HVAC vents, HVAC controls and radio controls out of their surrounds. For the nav screen, I popped the plastic cover off the back after removing the two screws holding it and covered the back with electrical tape. Basically electrical tape everything. I also noticed the plastic covering the steering column squawked awfully when pushed. Removed it by prying the seam in the middle of both sides, taped the edges and the middle top where the plastic was rubbing a raised part of the steering column. I’d say I eliminated at least 90% of squeaks in dash. With all the plastic, not sure I could ever get to 100%.