Anyone have any idea what this transmission whine is?

[WWONG]

Hello all,

So I have a 2012 X5 xDrive35d that I custom ordered and purchased brand new four years ago. Warranty's gone and it is almost at 46k on the odo.

As luck would have it, two months after warranty, I start hearing this whining as I'm accelerating and I believe it is coming from the transmission. The sound increases and decreases as the RPMs go up and shifts. No noticeable decrease in vehicle performance and no lights on the dash.

The whine sounds like an electric golf cart or sometimes like a crying cat. It's most noticeable between gears 1-3. It happens when the vehicle is both cold and hot. The sound also happens if I lay off the gas approaching a red light and let it coast.

Does anyone have any idea what the heck this sound is? I'm hoping it's something simple (low ATF fluid?) that perhaps a transmission fluid change may fix. I've looked around on the underside of the car and my garage floor and have not found any indications of leaks.

Below is my video of the noise. I manually shifted so that the RPMs can go higher and it can be heard easier but it does it normally on D as well.

UPDATE: It was a bad idler pulley. See my post on Pg 3.

[ard]

How far out of warranty??? BMW has some leeway.

Do you have a good relationship with your SA?

Let us know when the warrant ended...

[WWONG]

Warranty ended April 30th, 2016. I have no relationship with any SAs as I have only been in the shop for scheduled maintenance, recalls, and two CELs in the past 4 years. I also go to one of three different dealers depending on their convenience to my location.

[LeiZ]

Does the whine increase/decrease with RPM? Sounds Transfer Case to me, but I'm just shooting from the hip.


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[WWONG]

It does increase with RPM and decreases again as it shifts to a lower RPM on the next gear

[ard]

Originally Posted by WWONG

Warranty ended April 30th, 2016. I have no relationship with any SAs as I have only been in the shop for scheduled maintenance, recalls, and two CELs in the past 4 years. I also go to one of three different dealers depending on their convenience to my location.

This is old, I thought I had something newer:

BMW Center Administered Customer Assistance Program
Program:
Upon enrollment in this program by your Area Team, BMW centers may assist BMW clients on a case by case basis, when necessary, by self-authorizing goodwill repair costs for eligible repairs. Eligible repairs are repairs which would have been covered under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty for cars or the New SAV Warranty for SAVs if the warranty had not expired and the goodwill repair would maintain client confidence in BMW and its products.
This program includes three different types of Self Authorization:
• Repair Related Goodwill
• Rental Car Goodwill
• Non-Repair Related Special Goodwill
When determining the client’s eligibility for goodwill participation, several factors are important including:the cost of the repair, how long ago the warranty expired, has the vehicle been fully maintained, is this a multi-BMW owner, condition of the vehicle, has the client endured unusual hardship, and will investing in the client benefit the BMW brand.
Goodwill client assistance is discretionary and not an obligation. The decision to participate requires good judgment by an experienced and professional manager.
Center participation in the Center Administered Self Authorization Program is at the sole discretion of the BMW Area Team. They will review those decisions that you have made whether it be repair related goodwill, rentals, or non-repair special goodwill. It is the center's responsibility to follow any recommendations provided by the Area Team when making future decisions.
Your BMW Area Team or the Warranties department will remove centers from the BMW Center Administered Customer Assistance Program if recommendations or action plans are not followed, the provisions of the program are violated, or good judgment is not observed.
Reason for Program:
1. Build the client’s confidence by meeting or exceeding their expectations to ensure client satisfaction, product loyalty, and repeat sales.
2. Allow BMW centers to provide goodwill assistance to clients and communicate the decision promptly on a case by case basis for unusual situations.

Here:https://batxcr1.bmwcenternet.com/lib...ce_program.htm


Too bad you didnt develop a relationship with one SA/one dealer. As Ive often said, screw the salesmen- its the SA that can make or break your ownership experience.


Id bring it in front of a dealer. I guess pick any. Understand the criteria they are supposed to use in the policy, see if you can hit those buttons.



We can try and diagnose, blah blah- but if there is any chance you could get it covered it might be worth a few $ to let them snoop around....

[LeiZ]

Does it happen when you put it in Park and rev the engine?

If not, I would suggest a tranny fluid and Transfer Case fluid change, and see if disappears.

If yes, I'd say the pulleys.

Good Luck!

[Price]

Do you have adaptive drive?

[WWONG]

Originally Posted by LeiZ

Does it happen when you put it in Park and rev the engine?

If not, I would suggest a tranny fluid and Transfer Case fluid change, and see if disappears.

If yes, I'd say the pulleys.

Good Luck!

I just drove around to warm up the car, stopped at a parking lot, and revved the engine on P. Yes, it still makes the noise.

I took a visual inspection of the pulleys that I could see from opening the hood. I have very little auto mechanic experience so I don't quite know what I'm looking at. I took a few pictures, all seem to be fine. The third picture is of a belt that looks like it might be off center but that might just be parallax. First pic is of it zoomed it. (sorry, don't know how to arrange uploaded photos here)

Only work I've had done that's pulley-related would be some sort of recall on a pullley bolt a long while back.

Originally Posted by Price

Do you have adaptive drive?

Negative. I wanted the option but passed on it because I knew I would keep this car a while and I had already read all the horror stories about the air bags developing leaks. Maybe after this vehicle dies and I decide to lease.

[Ozer]

I say April isnt too far out. Try all 3 of them if you gont get it covered under goodwill warranty. If its something dealer could make money on they may just work it into the expired warranty. Cant hurt to try.. all 3