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      08-30-2014, 04:39 PM   #1
aksi
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[UPDATE 11/17/2016] *SQUEAK* and the 'Teflon' tape deal explained with pictures.

[UPDATE 11/17/2016] This is an update since I had it reapplied last year 08/27/2015. Still no squeak has returned. Confirm this is the best long-term fix in my opinion. It has been almost 15 months since.


[UPDATE] After a year (almost exactly), the passenger side started to squeak again while turning onto uneven driveway, and slow turns and bumps. Driver side was still solid. Went back to the same dealer with my service report from back then. They were very helpful with me and ended up re-applying the teflon tape on both sides. Of course the car feels good again.
I don't care if I have to go every year to get this done. This is by far the best method that has been done and it does make the car feel so much different (if you had the same squeak problem). Lasted a year. It is way better than keep having to clean to keep the squeak out for a few weeks or even a few days. So I still strongly recommend the teflon tape method.
08/27/2015

Hello forum!!

First of all, I KNOW there are threads already on the infamous squeaks.
It has been addressed here and other BMW model forums.
Seems like there are alot of us who have this issue and tried Gummi Pflege, wax, no wax, no silicon, yes silicon, don't wash, do wash, etc methods have been gone over. Yes, there is a mention about the Teflon tape here also with service bulletin on it, but it is just a part of a thread that can be missed by people.
So here, what I wanted to do was to make a thread on the Teflon tape alone, with what my dealer wrote on the worksheet along with pictures of the work they did on my car. There were some members who wanted actual pictures of the work done. So I decided to take some pictures, try to connect this damn phone on my computer to transfer files. Here we go:

Here is what dealer wrote on the worksheet after I picked up my car.
I went to dealership three times for this. The first time was a different dealership and they could not find out what the squeak was for at all. At that time, it was before I looked at this forum for it, so I didn't know either the squeak was coming from door seal. I thought it was suspension that was doing it.

Second time, I tried a different dealer, and they sorted out the squeak was from door seal. But they didn't apply teflon tape. Here is what they wrote on the worksheet: (**** replaced mechanic's name for privacy)

"A client states there is a squeaking type noise heard from the rear of the vehicle - see **** // verified on road test
1 Found noise to be coming from the door seal /
cleaned affected area and reinspected - all checks ok after road test
,,,, **** verified rear door seals were causing a creeking noise. Cleaned rear door seals and re-test drove vehicle. No creeking noises were heard after."

Ok, so I did not hear the noise when I picked up the car and I was happy. But the following weekend (not even a week), I was driving on some bumpy road around @ 25mph and the noise came back somewhat. It was not as bad, but it did. Then I gave it a car wash and wiped all door seal, etc areas with water, and it did get rid of the noise for short period of time. I almost had to clean the area every few days to do something with the noise that was keep coming back.
I wanted to try the dealer one more time.

So, the third time at the same dealer, I addressed that the squeak came back. I got the car back after 3 days, and the worksheet this time, I clearly saw they used teflon tape. Here is what the worksheet says:

"Client states there is a creaking type noise heard from the door seals while driving over uneven drive ways
Cause: Teflon Tape
5116345 Applied teflon tap(e)
238 WC
1 83-19-9-407-798 Film tape: 832518

3799 Door seal making contact with roof, dirt and silicone causing noise. Verified noise coming from door seals. As a reference of SIB 51 28 10.
Applied silicone remover to both rain gutters and applied transparent teflon tape. Noise is now gone."

When I picked up the car and drove around, I could feel that the car didn't feel the same. I mean, I could somehow feel that the car felt more 'rigid' and felt like this time, the squeak might be really gone at least for a very while. It has been only less than a week so far, the car is dead quiet from squeak, and I do feel difference somehow while going over bumps at slow speed, or going up the drive way (when the car goes up diagonally it used to squeak like crazy, like the car was going to twist).
So here it is. Pictures, I tried to resize for you guys. Hopefully everything works here. I drew some lines on the pictures to show you little better of what they have done. The tape is not visible at all once the doors are shut.
The ends had little voids, but I tried to smooth it down with my nails.
Anyways, hope this helps any of you guys looking to get your car in for service to get this fixed.
Good luck to you all

**Edit** sept 02, 2014
Here are 2 links which might help those who want to try a little different method if all fails.
One is for the material, and the other one is how to apply.

How to apply: http://www.540i6.com/doorseals.html

Material: http://www.tintprotector.com/strips/index.htm
Attached Images
   

Last edited by aksi; 11-17-2016 at 11:46 AM.. Reason: To update the report
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      08-30-2014, 08:18 PM   #2
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Haha. The irony of this is that I just did this fix myself today. Although I applied felt tape instead Teflon. My car it's barely 2 months old and the issue started 3 days ago and it was disappointing to hear such sound. From the inside of the car it sounded like rattles but it was just muffled squeaks. On my 2014 there is a felt tape already applied on top of the seal on the door. I originally thought that's how bmw fixed the squeaks but apparently not. In my case the felt tape was making the squeak when against the black shadow trim. As with every new car I get the wash the car syndrome so washing the car 2 a week must have dried up the felt. I had someone press on the door from outside while I was inside the car listening and it was the same sound. I used masking tape to outline the end of the door over the black trim and then applied the felt tape and I'm squeaks are gone at least the ones in the back are gone. Ones in a while I will hear a squeak from the front driver door but for now I won't apply any felt tape. I want too see how long the felt tape holds. Btw thanks for the pics I'm sure it will help a lot of other people.
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      08-30-2014, 08:32 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by f30GTR View Post
Haha. The irony of this is that I just did this fix myself today. Although I applied felt tape instead Teflon. My car it's barely 2 months old and the issue started 3 days ago and it was disappointing to hear such sound. From the inside of the car it sounded like rattles but it was just muffled squeaks. On my 2014 there is a felt tape already applied on top of the seal on the door. I originally thought that's how bmw fixed the squeaks but apparently not. In my case the felt tape was making the squeak when against the black shadow trim. As with every new car I get the wash the car syndrome so washing the car 2 a week must have dried up the felt. I had someone press on the door from outside while I was inside the car listening and it was the same sound. I used masking tape to outline the end of the door over the black trim and then applied the felt tape and I'm squeaks are gone at least the ones in the back are gone. Ones in a while I will hear a squeak from the front driver door but for now I won't apply any felt tape. I want too see how long the felt tape holds. Btw thanks for the pics I'm sure it will help a lot of other people.
I hope it helps those who are trying to resolve this issue.
My noise was almost like that squeak you hear when walking on old wood flooring.
Mine is also 2014 and i got my car in April this year. So we are pretty close.
Good luck on your squeak!!
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      08-31-2014, 08:52 AM   #4
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This was a known issue with the e90s and the gloss black trim
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      08-31-2014, 11:10 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSTDR1V View Post
This was a known issue with the e90s and the gloss black trim
Yup, like i said, it has been addressed in other bmw model forums.
This thread is for the f30 owners who will be searching for possible solutions on the f30 forum.
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      08-31-2014, 12:15 PM   #6
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Cool, thanks for this.

I have this problem in a BIG way! My car sounds like rusty mattress spring!
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      08-31-2014, 10:19 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Apl335d View Post
Cool, thanks for this.

I have this problem in a BIG way! My car sounds like rusty mattress spring!

Lol mattress spring is a good way of describing it.
Good luck! Hope it gets sorted out. Feedback please!
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      09-01-2014, 01:05 AM   #8
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thanks for the note, i had experienced that squeaky annoying noise on bumpy road in normal suburban road in Australia in normal speed (40-70kph), the noise is definitely gone when the road is smooth. Took my car to dealer during the first service, didn't identify anything (which i couldn't get it coz the road to the dealer is not smooth, and i did enjoy the squeaky noise), so will bring up this thread to the dealer and ask to check the tape!

I do have the M sport package with the glossy swirl easily trim...
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      09-01-2014, 01:32 PM   #9
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Thanks for the pics. I do have the squeak and my fix so far was to apply sealant, but it doesn't last. I was thinking of actually just installing the tape myself. Looking at your pics I feel that I could do a better job than the dealer since it doesn't look straight at all. Hopefully this is not an expensive tape.
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      09-01-2014, 02:17 PM   #10
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Keeping the black gloss trim clean and waxed has been enough for me. The squeak is actually your car telling you to wash it

Its a feature not a bug
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      09-01-2014, 06:16 PM   #11
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interesting. Thanks for posting such detailed info!

BTW - using that part number at Tischer's site yields a $230 price tag!! ouch.
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      09-01-2014, 09:52 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KT_F31_EBII View Post
thanks for the note, i had experienced that squeaky annoying noise on bumpy road in normal suburban road in Australia in normal speed (40-70kph), the noise is definitely gone when the road is smooth. Took my car to dealer during the first service, didn't identify anything (which i couldn't get it coz the road to the dealer is not smooth, and i did enjoy the squeaky noise), so will bring up this thread to the dealer and ask to check the tape!

I do have the M sport package with the glossy swirl easily trim...
good luck! Hope this helps!


Quote:
Originally Posted by ft1330 View Post
Thanks for the pics. I do have the squeak and my fix so far was to apply sealant, but it doesn't last. I was thinking of actually just installing the tape myself. Looking at your pics I feel that I could do a better job than the dealer since it doesn't look straight at all. Hopefully this is not an expensive tape.
Actualy other than little voids at each ends i described, they did a prettt good job on it.
This is such a long area that has to be covered, that itself would make it tough to apply right.
I thought it was 3m scotch tape they applied because it does look awfully similar by looks lol.
Good luck!

Quote:
Originally Posted by MickAv8r View Post
Keeping the black gloss trim clean and waxed has been enough for me. The squeak is actually your car telling you to wash it

Its a feature not a bug
Yeah i had to wash way too often for my squeak. But also some people say keeping it way too much would make it squeak worse. I have been to so many different model forums regarding squeak and "possible solutions" are all over the place. I personally felt the squeak problem met whole lot of treatment after the teflon was applied, which made me decide to write this up. Yes, it is feature for our cars

Quote:
Originally Posted by therealm3 View Post
interesting. Thanks for posting such detailed info!

BTW - using that part number at Tischer's site yields a $230 price tag!! ouch.
Wow that is expensive! I found a thread somewhere outside of f30 that someone posted a website of where to get this kind of teflon tape. When i get to my pc(i am on my phone right now) i will try to find it and edit my original post and mention on it.
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      09-02-2014, 07:36 AM   #13
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Weird that I've not experienced this problem in the 18 months I've owned my 2013 F30...but glad to see someone finally discovered the fix!
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      09-02-2014, 11:51 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roundel335 View Post
Weird that I've not experienced this problem in the 18 months I've owned my 2013 F30...but glad to see someone finally discovered the fix!
Mine is in the "experimental" phase, since i haven't taken enough time to determine how it does in the long term, but definitely a big difference than all the other stuff I have tried. The whole chassis feels different. Like it got stiffer or something. Surprising what a piece of tape can make a difference.
Knock on every piece of wood there is around you and hope you do not get it.
You do not want to find out about it
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      09-04-2014, 06:12 AM   #15
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I wiped the inside door seals with WD-40 a month ago and my squeaking stopped and hasn't come back. Just sayin'
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      09-04-2014, 10:07 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredmarine View Post
I wiped the inside door seals with WD-40 a month ago and my squeaking stopped and hasn't come back. Just sayin'
Yup, one of the many ways that has been mentioned before.
Good to hear it hasnt come back for a month.
I used to wipe with just water but it came back too soon lol
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      05-13-2015, 07:46 AM   #17
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I had my 4gc for a month and now I hear a squeak everytime over bumps...its around the passenger rear

Is this it??
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      07-27-2015, 08:51 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ska///235i View Post
I had my 4gc for a month and now I hear a squeak everytime over bumps...its around the passenger rear

Is this it??
Yes most likely.
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      07-28-2015, 09:19 PM   #19
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I wish teflon and scotch tape were the same since scotch tape is $2 a roll and teflon tape is $200.

Teflon tape has industrial uses including using on rollers to create a near frictionless surface. I've seen it as low as $75 a roll but that was a 'smoke' colour. Anyone find a good supplier for this application?

I don't know why BMW doesn't do it at the factory. It would be a lot easier to apply a teflon coating on an industrial scale
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      07-31-2015, 10:12 AM   #20
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Got my car back yesterday with this and some "grease" done by the dealer - NO squeaks... Also fixed the steering column rattle and the door lock pin rattle myself last night. My car is now a JOY again!!
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      07-31-2015, 10:23 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aksi View Post


When I picked up the car and drove around, I could feel that the car didn't feel the same. I mean, I could somehow feel that the car felt more 'rigid'.........
Did you really just say the car felt more "rigid" from the application of teflon tape on some seals?



And I'm the only one to make the smartass comment? LOL
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      07-31-2015, 10:25 AM   #22
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I can vouch for that - it does "feel" more rigid because there's no noise... So your brain fails to associate the "noise" with something moving...
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