What a cool coincidence; I was driving somewhere last night & trying to get my 14 year old son to pinpoint where the knocking in the back of the X5 was coming from. I'd bet $$ this is it. Not sure if I'm ready to cough up $70 for the fix though...

Anybody have pics of the offending part and the new & improved part, installed?

Is this the new part?

http://c1552172.r72.cf0.rackcdn.com/76518_x800.jpg

Home Page Search SiteSearch 51247171557 ES#92173 STOPPER - 51247171557

stoppers didn't help me. the noise comes from the latch. i put some foam tape in the latch area. worked wonders.

Hmmm... I was ordering some other stuff and pulled the trigger on these as well. I'll see how they work out, and will take a look at the latch while I'm in there. Thanks for the tip!

Buy them!
 

@ Davintosh

Yes, that's the updated part. Buy them!! It will do wonders for your hatch.

sorry guys, I just stuck on felt furniture pads on mine. less than 2 bucks (& spares!) No squeaks.

before you buy new stoppers, take the old ones. compare to the new. see if they even look worn out at all.

i'm tellin' ya, the noise is in the latch. Granted, the stoppers (if and when adjusted to a certain extent) CAN possibly help alleviate the noise, but it is usually temporary. felt, sticky foam, gaffer's tape or anything you can put around the little round catch bar inside the tailgate will stop the latch from rattling...usually for good. i was a little hesitant to go with such a redneck solution but it works.

my dad leased this car for 3 yrs then bought it off lease and kept it 4 more yrs. then he sold it to me. while he owned it, it was dealer maintained for 7 years. he brought it in no fewer than 10 times to address the rattling tailgate. they changed the stoppers 3 or 4 times. never did figure it out. he loved the car but ultimately this was one of the primary reasons he got rid of it!

i couldn't figure it out for a year and just tuned it out. one day i got a bee in my bonnet and replaced my stoppers, hoping to kill it. helped a little. very little. i finally had somebody drive it and i rode in the tailgate and was able to figure it out.

not saying all of the X's are the same, but see what happens when you stuff a cotton ball or a piece of paper or something in the tailgate latch. it needs to insulate the round catch bar from the little hook that comes down from the hatch lid. if that helps, then find a better, more permanent solution i used 1/8 inch closed cell foam with sticky backing on one side. i wrapped a piece around the catch bar and you kinda have to slam it shut the first time to break it in. then you can feel how it is nice and tight. and SILENT.

i have to re-do the sticky foam if i use the hatch a lot. maybe once a year. takes 2 minutes.


http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...il-gate-3.html

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...le-back-8.html

Are you guys aware the latch post plate in the lower tailgate is adjustable? You have to pop the reflectors and 2 plastic caps off to get at the screws that hold the plastic piece on the top of the lower tailgate. I backed off the 2 screws and moved the post plate down/foward about .07" then tightened, this stopped the rattle.

Good call on the latch, I may check mine out to see if I can alleviate some noises back there. I put 2 of those felt circular "feet" that you put under legs of furniture on the face of the stoppers, definitely alleviated some rattles back there.

I'd also like to put a couple wraps of electrical tape around the catch of the latch to keep it a bit tighter (the center latch on the lower hatch) when closed.

I mean I'd love to get the "updated part" stoppers just for piece of mind knowing its an updated part but 70 bucks for hatch rattle stoppers is a bit much if you ask me

did NOT know that. i will do some exploratory probing. that would accomplish something similar by shoring up the slack space between the metal parts for a nice, tight fit. that's preferable to tape and foam it if works for me too.