fantastic car but...
 

First Post. Excellent forum which helped persuade me to get car.

Just got a 2007 X5 3.0D. Fantastic car had to drive 480 miles of mixed country / highway roads today and what with sat nav, HUD, and general car capabilities not even stiff or tired.

Have noticed an annoying rattle which seems to be coming from suspension or possibly engine. Evident at low speeds, not changed by braking or moving steering, cant hear when going faster. Initially thought it might be the brake drying system going on and off as started while raining, but it persists in dry.

Anyone else had this sort problem?

The only rattle I have ever heard came from my stock audio drivers - so I have got them replaced :)

give it a couple more miles, if you hit 1000 and it is still there, take it to the dealer.

Mine has been at the dealer for 4 out of the last 5 weeks to diagnose about a dozen items. One of them is a metalic rattle. Another member in a thread I started has the same issue. They have since replaced a part of the suspension with no luck. The latest diagnosis is a bad strut. The part gets in tomorrow and I can hopefully get my E70 back sometime next week.

Keep in mind it is VERY hard to diagnose a rattle. Anyone who has turned a wrench will tell you that. It is one of the hardest diagnostics possible.

:iagree: I found a few rattles in the past by driving down an alley with buildings on both sides. It amplified the sound. Then i drove with the drivers side door open back and forth till i found out what was making the noise. Pain staking for sure but i finally found out HOW to find it. Sound is crazy. You think it's coming from one place but then when you nail it down you find it's coming from somewhere else.....:rofl:

The metallic ones are toughest because they travel through components.

A stethoscope and rubber mallet help.

some have mentioned a loose or broken muffler support bracket, and i think one other mentioned a loose speaker assembly...

my last beemer i had a loose alarm system module under the dash which kept banging against the side... drove me crazy till i forced my way under to take a peak!!

and all the time i kept thinking it was under the car!

as mentioned earlier they are very difficult to diagnose.. but take a few minutes to look around closely... you never know!

I have some aqueak from right-rear area, probably around the right-back door and the back seat. Sometimes it's there but sometimes it's not.

It is annoying, but I never pin point where it is and don't know what to do.

Do you hear the rattle also when the car is not moving but the gear is on "Drive" ? Does it change or disappear when you shift to "Neutral" ?
I had a problem like that and it was a problem on the exhaust / muffler side... a loose bracket or so... might be a diesel special

Best wishes to get rid of that rattle

So long

Christian

Peterjaw, yea, there is one from the rear seat latch. The striker plate and catch seem to rub/hit each other. A rubber mallet is needed, and some patience. Mine was particularly evident when in reverse or up the driveway. Eventually it was replaced.

seems to be getting worse
 

Now rattle seems to be much worse and particularly bad when you select reverse. Its going in to the dealer tomorrow. I will let you know the outcome.

Yeah, don't listen to any of these (oh just wait and see) people. Take that right to the dealer. The waiting can happen then and there anyway.. ;)

Fixed it.

pipe from air conditioning knocking against what looks like intercooler pipe. Tie wrap did trick. Will take it in to dealer anyway to show him, and make sure pipe is not damaged.

Interesting how worse in reverse gear - must angle engine slightly differently with torque. I could have sworn it was to do with a suspension component.

Anyway on a lighter note, anyone got any links to off road capabilities?

when I got to the garage they found that the whole airconditioning compressor had sheared off the engine and was lying on the undertray. It looks like the aircon had never worked (comparing it to the X5 loan car), so at least when I get it back it will hopefully have no rattle and be cooler!.

Glad I took it in!