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I bought my X3 from germany, and it was quiet there. But when I got back to Finland, the weather did something. It was very quiet at the start, but got noisier all the time.

I took it to service, and they told me that this is normal thing with bmw:s. They put some blue tape between different noisy places. So that rubber does not contact rubber there where is can move. After this, its been quiet almost a year now.

knock on wood - i haven't had any squeaking or other noise problems with my X3. now at 8,000 miles (i've been driving it a lot since i got it in april - i need to tone that down) the only problem has been the anti-trap mechanism on one of the rear windows...

Couple of comments and maybe even some useful tips :thumbup:

My car is certified pre-owned X3 (06/2004) and it was located in hot Arizona area before I bought it. So, basically it had this well-known creaking problem, moonroof noise problem etc.

The main problem in my car was the window frames, not only the door seals. After all door seals were lubricated the noise was still available. In my case, the noise was gone if you just opened a window/s, so I thought it has to be related to window structure, not so much to door seals.

So here it comes, my eliminating procedure for my creaking and other noise problems of X3:

1. Cleaning of all the door seals => Carbaflo treatment (*)
2. Cleaning window frames and seals => Carbaflo treatment, for frames only!!!
3. Dealer installed new and modified door seals to X3
4. Cleaning of all the moonroof seals => Carbaflo treatment
(5. If some noises are still coming, try some taping (see Mane's comment))

(*) You can find this stuff from your local BMWNA dealer. BMWNA uses this lubricant officially to lubricate BMW car seals. However, the price is pretty high, the tiny (50g) tube will cost almost 45 USD but I would say it is a good stuff. My car has been silent for 7 months, and I have done only one treatment. If you kindly ask it, you may get it even free (like I did). The BMW part number is 83 23 0 309 627.

Some background info from Carbaflo products:

http://www.carbaflo.com/fs.htm

And some additional tips:

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=53790

Good Luck!

Br,

Jukka

ps. Do not put Carbaflo to window seals, if you do not want to get your windows "dirty". I made this treatment for frames only!

woohoo.. the dealer fix my creaky noise by replacing the molding and window motor. but everything is better now.. even in the 100+ Houston Heat..

New design seals installed all around this week under waranty and so far quiet as a BMW should be. :thumbup:

Cheers

Wow... looks like this is stILL one of the most annoying problem on the X3.

I thought I'd post my lastest update on this episode here... but just noticed it's on other thread instead.

Anyway... here (post #4) the latest fix I did... it's been 3 months and so far so good.

Hope this helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bavm3chick

i had an x3 loaner as well, which i might add was a 3.0... that car is the biggest piece of crap that bmw has ever put out along with the old school ti models. it drives subpar to the 3 series and doesn't have any similar characteristics of the x5. it's cheezy inside with its nasty interior and is basically... waste of time and money for bmw and makes me cringe when i see it.

A piece of Crap..I don't think so. And how you can compare an X3 to a Ti series 3er is beyond me. I almost bought an X5 until my wife made a very good point. The money I would save by buying an X3 could be used to buy me a new Harely Davidson. The choice was simple at that point.