2012 Sudden Dash Creaking / Popping Noise

[kaleb]

Hey there, I have a 2012 X5d with leather dash and HUD and 156,000 miles. Suddenly in the last week or so, I'm getting a creaking and popping sound in the dashboard/cowl area any time the chassis does any sort of flexing. Could be turning into a driveway with a small curb, turning the wheel slightly, an uneven bump while driving straight, and I even heard it POP while sitting still with the engine off!

I am wondering what I should check. The first thing I checked is a visual inspection of my upper strut foam spacers, since that commonly causes noise, but I replaced those (no noise at the time) at 131k miles and they look fine from the top.

What should I check next? Sway bar bushings? So odd. This year I have done a bit of light off-roading (driving through a field) but nothing crazy like WhistlinDiesel. I just have some land and I drive through the field.

[ard]

early on in the E70's life, there were a few reports of faulty spot welds in the body causing this type of complaint. Total BEAR to confirm, as you might surmise....

[kaleb]

Originally Posted by ard

early on in the E70's life, there were a few reports of faulty spot welds in the body causing this type of complaint. Total BEAR to confirm, as you might surmise....

Yeah I came across those threads as well, I did NOT want to imagine that being the case...

[andrewwynn]

With any luck it's just a loose fixture point on the dash. Have somebody else drive over some ditch witch situations and use your hand to feel for the source of the sound.

Sound travels much faster in plastic (dash) and even faster in metal (frame) so the source can be very hard to find when you are confused by the sound arriving much slower though the air.

If you track it to inisde the cabin/dash, try using shims to bind the dash so it won't move enough to pop. If you can do that you will determine it's a loose fixture. Might mean you have to remove the dash to actually fix it but that's much better than some options.

Also: even if it's worst case situation like the spot weld horror, there are ways to resolve if you can find that as well .

[kaleb]

UPDATE: I am dumb and I forgot that I had to quickly put my cowl covers back on after some engine maintenance, and I didn't bolt down the lower hard plastic trays (the ones below the upper trays). This allowed them to shift around and cause the noise! I bolted them down and all is well again!

[ard]

Yeah. Thats the other cause....