[Gaffer]

I noticed an annoying rattle around the centre speaker area at roughly the same time the AC got fixed (turns out I needed a new condensor).

Anyway, initially I thought it was the fan but with the fans turned off it was still there. Then I thought it was the speaker but with the radio off it was still there.
Long story short, I took the grill off and voila - no noise.
So I wrapped cloth tape around the lugs like this to see if I could fix it:



Rattle still there so I added some cheap foam tape to the metal tabs from the grill part:



Rattle still there so I went the whole hog and foam taped the lot:



Rattle improved but I still have a rattle that appears to now be coming from the glove box area.....but it's still this bloody grill (evidenced by the fact that if I remove the grill cover completely, no rattles. Grill cover in place and it appears the "throw" the sound to the left but the rattle reappears).

Worse than that, but the tape lifts the whole cover up 1/2mm or so - just enough to notice if you look carefully at it.

Anyway, it doesn't work - I can't seem to get this grill cover to stop rattling. I'm planning to remove all the tape and start again but is there any specific (smaller) area I could cover/tape to get it to stop?
Anyone else have this problem or is it just my car ?

I'm getting to the point I'm considering driving around with no cover in place at all now

[M33DLO]

You can get some really thin sticky fabric tape, I used that on my 1 series to stop some plastic rubbing together, it worked a treat.

[bubz00]

Ahhhh I've got the same f*#*%ng rattle on my f31. Planning to investigate this weekend early next as have a few days off.

Good luck man

[evdok]

Maybe save time and anger and get a new one.

[SW6Steve]

Originally Posted by evdok

Maybe save time and anger and get a new one.

I believe they are around the £50 mark!

[t5pilot]

I'm gonna guess it's the actual mesh itself, slightly loose fitting in the cover. I'd try lifting all the tabs up & remove the mesh from the plastic cover.
Refit the cover minus the mesh & see if the rattle's gone. If it has, then just concentrate your efforts on refitting the mesh very tightly.

[Russbmw]

Sounds daft, but assume it's not something rattling round the under-seat vents? Had similar on my e92 and i near tore the dash apart trying to find out - only to discover it was a coin in the vent under the drivers seat, and the sound travelled through the duct system and sounded like it was the dash.

You could also take the centre speak out if you're sure it's coming form there, and make sure the plastic connector for the speaker isn't clattering on the speaker chassis. The wiring should clip into various cut out slots underneath the speaker.

Only other thing it could be is a broken fixing clip on the dash itself (had this on my F06) where BMW had obviously broken one when they'd fixed something or other (dealer did tell me at the time what had been replaced) and had to get a lot of the dash bits and bobs out, but that's a proper dash out job to fix. Try pushing down in various areas on the dash when you're driving and it's making it's noise. Mine would shut up when I pushed right near where it meets the windscreen by the centre speaker.

[Stunt.Monkey]

Originally Posted by bubz00

Ahhhh I've got the same f*#*%ng rattle on my f31. Planning to investigate this weekend early next as have a few days off.

Good luck man

Me too - seems to come from the left of the glovebox - driving me nuts. My previous X1 also had a dash rattle which came from around the climate control panel.

I reminded the dealer that if I wanted rattles I would have bought a Peugeot - they still couldn't fix it.

[Gaffer]

Thanks everyone - good to know it's not just my bad luck then.

OK, so I don't want to buy a new one and find that it's the same grill, same rattle - surely fixing this one would be easier?
This one doesn't appear bent or broken in any way - the rattle has just appeared over time.
My goal is to find the source (I'm guessing it's one of the "prongs" that secures the grill to the dash) and cushion that alone to fix it.

Anyway, I started again and pretty much ended up in the same place -> foam tape all round the perimeter and cloth tape on the prongs and still a rattle on the extreme left (sounds like from the glove box). Doesn't cost much (foam tape is pennies) so am happy to keep trying

It occurs to me that it might actually be the glove box and the grill rattle obscured it maybe. I'm going to empty it and see what happens on the drive to work. I suspect it's still the grill so next plan will be to add better foam/gel pads (i'll see what's available in hobbycraft) to provide a better cushion.

I'll keep this thread updated.

[Gaffer]

Sorry for the delay but I thought i'd update this issue.

I think my car is gaslighting me

So after padding the centre grill the rattle moved to the glove box area.
I then did as I said and removed everything from the glovebox and the rattle had moved again - this time to the passenger door card (i.e. further left).

With a sigh, thinking I'd have to dismantle the inner door now, I put stuff back in the glovebox and the door card went silent again....but rattle reappeared around the glovebox-window area.

My car is trying to drive me insane

[djcowlin]

I had this too on my 340i at about 2.5 years from new. Didn't do anything about it though, as I ended up changing the car a few months later. You might find this solution too extreme, but it was a total success.

[SW6Steve]

Originally Posted by Gaffer

Sorry for the delay but I thought i'd update this issue.

I think my car is gaslighting me

So after padding the centre grill the rattle moved to the glove box area.
I then did as I said and removed everything from the glovebox and the rattle had moved again - this time to the passenger door card (i.e. further left).

With a sigh, thinking I'd have to dismantle the inner door now, I put stuff back in the glovebox and the door card went silent again....but rattle reappeared around the glovebox-window area.

My car is trying to drive me insane

I think these cars are haunted😂
Had a rattle in the centre console, fixed that. Then a rattle started around the idrive screen. Fixed that, and now have a rattle deep in the dash behind centre dash vents.
One, I can kind of tolerate, two , thought oh well, turned out to be the back loose on the idrive screen, but three in a row is just maddening!

[HarryTee]

Originally Posted by evdok

Maybe save time and anger and get a new one.

Agreed! A new car would solve the problem!

[KRS_SN]

when I spoke about rattles in my f series 335d the bmw foreman just told me we can keep replacing things under warranty but it is in the nature of this car to give new rattles.
Looking back it was good advice. After 2 years of annoying ownership, (only thing wrong with the fully reliable car was the rattles) had to change.

[evdok]

Tbh the only thing that fucks me off is the creaking steering column surround when turning the steering wheel, just cant be arsed to look into it