My "new" 2005 X5, How I solved Squeaks & Rattles

[bcb1]

My "new used" X5 was quiet....for about 150 miles, until I got about halfway home from the dealership (yeah, I bought it at a dealer 300 miles away). What can I say, it was Imola Red and they are hard to find.

In any case, squeaks and squeals and rattles drive me insane. Here is a list of what I did to silence mine:

1. Put 3/4" felt self-adhesive pads on the rear hatch "bumpers". Easy fix, simply peel and stick. I'm pretty sure that helped (but did not cure) some of the rattling.

2. Took a can of silicone spray and lubed everywhere I could make "plastic on plastic" trim noise. I would push on the trim, if it make a creaking noise, I'd spray silicone where the seams of the plastic came together. Not sure if it helped; but what the heck. It didn't hurt.

3. Door seals, both rear doors: First I went over them with silicone spray (sprayed into a cloth), and rubbed into the gasket. Then I went over them a second time with Armor All and/or STP protectant. Haven't bought the high-dollar Wurth rubber treatment yet.

4. WAXED (yes, waxed) the top of the glass on both rear windows. I use Zaino products to wax my cars, so I took some Z-2 (any car wax would do probably), and waxed the top 3-4 inches of the glass, both inside and outside. Why? Cause I'm thinking the glass might rub on the trim, causing squeaks. Slippery glass = no rubbing/squeaking.

5. Treated the leather seats with Armor All leather protectant, particularly where they rub together at the joints. Again, slippery seats = less chance for rubbing/squeaking.

6. I haven't treated the rubber seals on the sunroof yet. It may (or may not) be a source of squeaks. For now everything is pretty quiet. The next time I pop up the sunroof, I'll probably take some ARmor All and rub the gaskets real good.

That's all for now. I didn't have any real serious squeaks or rattles, just the minor (but very annoying) one that seemed like it was coming from the tailgate or rear passenger seat area. Hard to pin down, ya know? That's why I took the shotgun approach and treated everything I could think of, hoping that one or more of my methods do the trick.

So far, so good.

[EKS PYB]

Welcome and Congratulations on a great buy! Wow, 300 miles huh...if that was me, I would be willing to drive at least 100...but that's me.

By the way, i'm sure others will chime in on this pretty soon...so I might as well do the first one...

[wild-one]

Thanks for this post! Before I read it, I thought I was anal!

Good luck with the '05 - I also have one and I LOVE mine...

[bcb1]

Believe me, if I wanted a white or silver X5, I would have bought one in the DC/Balt area. There's a ton of them. But I've always liked bright red cars, and the X5's are very hard to find in that color.

We live about 75 miles from Baltimore, so we drove to BWI airport and took the Amtrak train from there to Connecticut and then drove home. What a heck of a drive! I've driven south on I-95 through Virginia, NC, SC, GA many times....but I've never been up north before. Not nearly as nice of a drive.

And expensive too! I think it cost me about $15 in tolls to drive from New York to Baltimore. I'm sure there had to be a better way, but I knew if I stayed on I-95, I'd get back to Baltimore.

So now...I join the ranks of you BMW owners

My current ride (beside the X5)...a 2000 GMC Yukon, 2WD, 5.3 engine, that has 161,000 miles on it. Not a squeak. Not a rattle. Still looks new! I'm still on the original brake pads! (yes, I'm not kidding. I bought it new, and it still has original brakes. 30% left on the front, 50% left on the rear. I don't blame you if you don't believe me, because I wouldn't believe it either unless I owned the vehicle).

So the X5 is going to have some tough shoes to fill to equal the kind of trouble free service that my Yukon has given me. In fact, I'll probably still drive it a couple days a week to keep the miles off my X5.

[mrkbbd]

which motor did you buy?

[beekbmwm3]

Great choice and congrats! I got a 2006 Imola Red/Black w/ Titanium trim, it was the only one I could find and it was a long way away.

I flew to Philly, PA from St. Louis and drove the 922 miles home, it was an adventure!

[bcb1]

Mrkbbd: I got one with the 3.0 engine. I know the 4.4 would have given me a little more "oomph", but the 3.0 is plenty for me, especially since I'm used to driving a big clunky Yukon.

beekbmwm3: Wow, I'm not the only nut that wanted an Imola Red one, that makes me feel a little better I think the Red is a great color for the X5, I have no idea why BMW doesn't offer it as a regular stock color?

Actually same goes for the Tahoes and Yukons. Beautiful in bright red, but they only made them for the 2000-2002 model years. You can still buy them, but it's a special order fleet color, and most Chevy dealers don't even know that you can get them in that color. It took a phone call from a dealer in Dallas, TX to my local Chevy dealer for them to walk them through the process of choosing that color in the GM Dealerworld ordering system.

Maybe there are only a couple of us that still like bright red cars? I dunno.

[Driver8]

Welcome bcb1...it's always good to have another member from the Mountain State in our midst.

A couple thoughts/comments about your regimen.

First, using silicone or silicone spray on rubber (including tires) will accelerate its demise. The prior Armor All formulation used to have copious amounts of silicone, but it is supposed to be silicone-free now. It would probably be a better choice on your seals, gaskets and rubber than pure silicone. I have used another German-made product for years on my BMWs, a gasket treatment called "Gummi-Pflege," that works well on noisy rubber. It went out of production a few years ago, but I think it's back on the market now. Here's a link to more info ---> "http://www.pakshak.com/1z-rubber-protection-gummi-pflege-100ml.html"

Second, using Armor All on your leather seats is akin to putting ketchup on your Kobe beef; BMW leather will not respond well to protectant. Armor All can clog the pores of the leather and will eventually make your seats shiny, hard and brittle, which will leads to cracking and poor wear, not to mention slippery and greasy. This is why it's not well-suited for leather care. Clean your leather with any commercially-available leather cleaners (Lexol comes to mind, but I know Zaino makes a nice product too) to remove the Armor All, using a sponge and warm water to gently clean the surface of the leather. Dry completely with clean cotton towels. Then once everything is dry, condition the leather with Lexol or other quality leather conditioner. You shouldn't have to do this more than once or twice a year, and when you're done, your leather will have a nice "like-new" buff appearance and smell wonderful.

Good luck with the new X!

[beekbmwm3]

Originally Posted by bcb1

Mrkbbd: I got one with the 3.0 engine. I know the 4.4 would have given me a little more "oomph", but the 3.0 is plenty for me, especially since I'm used to driving a big clunky Yukon.

beekbmwm3: Wow, I'm not the only nut that wanted an Imola Red one, that makes me feel a little better I think the Red is a great color for the X5, I have no idea why BMW doesn't offer it as a regular stock color?

Actually same goes for the Tahoes and Yukons. Beautiful in bright red, but they only made them for the 2000-2002 model years. You can still buy them, but it's a special order fleet color, and most Chevy dealers don't even know that you can get them in that color. It took a phone call from a dealer in Dallas, TX to my local Chevy dealer for them to walk them through the process of choosing that color in the GM Dealerworld ordering system.

Maybe there are only a couple of us that still like bright red cars? I dunno.

You're definately not the only nut out there, I'm sure there are plenty more on this board

Imola Red is an amazing color, especially for the X5. It stands out in a crowd and shows the lines of the X5 really well. I want a different color than the rest, there are way too many silver, black, and white BMW's...Imola Red is extremely rare and different (not to mention beautiful), that's why I love it. I guess you can say I have a serious love for Imola Red, as I have an Imola Red M3 as well and I'm looking to special order the E92 M3 in Imola Red

Again, Congrats on the car and welcome!

[realchef]

Originally Posted by Driver8

Welcome bcb1...it's always good to have another member from the Mountain State in our midst.

A couple thoughts/comments about your regimen.

First, using silicone or silicone spray on rubber (including tires) will accelerate its demise. The prior Armor All formulation used to have copious amounts of silicone, but it is supposed to be silicone-free now. It would probably be a better choice on your seals, gaskets and rubber than pure silicone. I have used another German-made product for years on my BMWs, a gasket treatment called "Gummi-Pflege," that works well on noisy rubber. It went out of production a few years ago, but I think it's back on the market now. Here's a link to more info ---> "http://www.pakshak.com/1z-rubber-protection-gummi-pflege-100ml.html"

Second, using Armor All on your leather seats is akin to putting ketchup on your Kobe beef; BMW leather will not respond well to protectant. Armor All can clog the pores of the leather and will eventually make your seats shiny, hard and brittle, which will leads to cracking and poor wear, not to mention slippery and greasy. This is why it's not well-suited for leather care. Clean your leather with any commercially-available leather cleaners (Lexol comes to mind, but I know Zaino makes a nice product too) to remove the Armor All, using a sponge and warm water to gently clean the surface of the leather. Dry completely with clean cotton towels. Then once everything is dry, condition the leather with Lexol or other quality leather conditioner. You shouldn't have to do this more than once or twice a year, and when you're done, your leather will have a nice "like-new" buff appearance and smell wonderful.

Good luck with the new X!

Took a detailing class in Denver and it was immensely helpful. Check the forum here for paint help. Great info on Clays etc.... I haven't seen a pic yet that did not impress. These guys know their stuff.

Nice color choice btw.