I took my X5 to dealer for a number of noise related problems, one of which just couldn't be reproduced while I drove around town with a mechanic in the passenger seat for more than half an hour.

And that was the knocking noise that sounds like stone chips are being thrown at the vehicle's fender and windshield. Without actually listening to the noise as it happens, the mechanic said it's hard to locate the problem and what it might be related to.

But he said he'll look closely into it and promised a software update as well.

For those having problems, all of you should go to dealers and complain so they may be able to find what's causing all this.

My other noises include the electronic beeping sound coming from the back of the vehicle every 10 second or so (even the mechanic found this noise peculiar), and a mechanical noise supposedly coming from the suspension when turning or going over bumps.

Did you say "tint the front windows"? Is this legal in Louisiana?

Oh and they took a 20 miles of joy drive before me and the mechanic went test driving. 20 miles just to say they couldn't reproduce the problem. Don't wanna think how rough he might've been to the vehicle. Not very happy...

Yup. to a certain level. I don't have any pics on hand, but my truck's front windows in This Vid is just 1 shade too dark. I told the tinter to match the factory tint on the back windows/backglass, without thinking about the front windows' legalities... I had a hard time getting an inspection sticker, until I figured out to just roll down the front windows when I go to get an inspection... Ever since, never think to check.

Judging by just looking at the factory rear tint on the X5, I should be legal for the front doors.

I had a low level thud in the left front wheel area when I moved the steering wheel as if something in the frontend was taking up the slack.

They finally found it, the front electronic swaybar from the adative drive had play in it. Waited for 4 weeks for a new one from Germany to arrive as there has been an update. They must have found a flaw in the old ones!

What do you suggest the rest of us do when the dealer can't reproduce the sound/problem ?? Can you describe how they found the problem.

Hi,

I get on pretty well with my dealer and have a fairly good knowledge of mech and car setup.

Firstly, this was only related to X5's that had the adative drive system with the electronic swaybar.

If you drive your X5 in a straight line at around 40kph and prentend you are entering a roundabout (RHD X5) so you pull your steering wheel down to the left then quickly back to centre, it shows up the slack in the sway bar because it is reacting to your sudden steering movement. So a quick pull down to the left (quarter turn) then back to center, do not go passed center as this makes a further movement of the swaybar and will hide the problem.

The passenger in the front left may feel the thud in the firewall/footwell through his feet. It only happens under those conditions, hence it is hard to replicate and you need to make sure your radio is turned off and you drive on a smooth road surface.

It does not show up as a suspension play or balljoint problem, so grabbing the front wheel to see if there is freeplay in that area will not pick up the problem. The swaybar cover must be removed the swaybar inspected.

It took 4 weeks for a updated swaybar to come, it is not a dangerous problem but more a annoying glitch. After 4 weeks the noise only came a little more pronounced but the swaybar still worked fine.

Hi Watrob,
Thank you very much for the detail.

Do you mean pull the steering wheel 1/4 turn and push back to center quickly? At about 40k/hr speed?

I guess if I can reproduce the noise at will, it should not be matter left or right turn, right?

I will try your way later today and come back to tell you guys here what I will find.

The reason why I said pull down left is because the noise was coming from my lefthand side front. If you feel it is the righthand side try pulling down on the right side of the steering wheel. Don't forget its pull down return, pull down return, quickly, jerky movement.

The dealer readjusted the placement of shock absorber. I don't have the adaptive drive.

Anyway I'll observe what I notice.