E89 Roof Rattles - any cure?

[fatharry]

I have an E89 Z4 sDrive23i which is nearly a year old in the last couple of months there has been an increase in noise from the rear of the car I am fairly certain it is the roof mechanism but it all seems very solid when I have checked in the boot area. The car has a wind deflector fitted and taking this on and off makes no difference to the noise. Has anybody else experienced this problem? If so does anyone know of a cure? Thanks.

[m999psw]

I had the same and the dealer adjusted the roof and felted all the parts. It is much better unless I go over some realy bad roads. Lubricating the rear roof seal seems to improve things alot as well. I have had a few soft tops now and maybe was expecting the tin top to be silent!

Paul

[fatharry]

Dear Paul, thanks for your quick repl. I'll have a word with the dealer and see what happens. This is my third Z4 after an E85 soft-top and E85 coupe so I think you are right I was expecting silence from the folding hard-top. Maybe when I'm in my 70s I'll get a Mercedes SL and get the silence I've looked for. Until then I will enjoy the BMW driving experience.

[BlueZ4AZ]

Originally Posted by fatharry

Dear Paul, thanks for your quick repl. I'll have a word with the dealer and see what happens. This is my third Z4 after an E85 soft-top and E85 coupe so I think you are right I was expecting silence from the folding hard-top. Maybe when I'm in my 70s I'll get a Mercedes SL and get the silence I've looked for. Until then I will enjoy the BMW driving experience.

It's funny how mankind has the technology to send a man to the moon, and even build a spaceship that can travel to Saturn and take a photo, yet somehow it's a challenge to engineer a hard top for an automibile that does not make any noise when operating. Amazing!!

Gee, I bet MONEY has something to do with it. I guess BMW just ran out of R & D dollars, so they figured, ahhh what the F%^%, lets just build it this way. Screw the consumer, they'll just have to deal with it.

[Dr Stig 2]

Originally Posted by BlueZ4AZ

It's funny how mankind has the technology to send a man to the moon, and even build a spaceship that can travel to Saturn and take a photo, yet somehow it's a challenge to engineer a hard top for an automibile that does not make any noise when operating. Amazing!!

Gee, I bet MONEY has something to do with it. I guess BMW just ran out of R & D dollars, so they figured, ahhh what the F%^%, lets just build it this way. Screw the consumer, they'll just have to deal with it.

Remember, the first two Mars modules crashed....
NOt everything built by a human survives as well as it should.

[cdeslandes]

Originally Posted by Dr Stig 2

Remember, the first two Mars modules crashed....
NOt everything built by a human survives as well as it should.

I'll be impressed when we humans can invent a copy machine that doesn't jam...

[Torn]

C/S: Creak in roof behind Driver Side over bumps. Most Likely Drivers Side B Shell Latch incorrectly positioned. "Road Test Vehicle" Found Rattle/Creak Noise from Roof. Removed Headliner on A and B roof Shells. Road tested vehicle once more. Found noise from drivers Latch Area. Lubricated Latch and road tested vehicle again. Noise Still Present. Performed adjustment at position rod to latch. Adjustment at rod. Noise gone. Reinstalled Headliner trims and road tested again. No noise heard after Repair. Work time used for adjusting rod Twice.

That's what was listed on my invoice...Hope it helps!

[Dr Stig 2]

Originally Posted by Torn

C/S: Creak in roof behind Driver Side over bumps. Most Likely Drivers Side B Shell Latch incorrectly positioned. "Road Test Vehicle" Found Rattle/Creak Noise from Roof. Removed Headliner on A and B roof Shells. Road tested vehicle once more. Found noise from drivers Latch Area. Lubricated Latch and road tested vehicle again. Noise Still Present. Performed adjustment at position rod to latch. Adjustment at rod. Noise gone. Reinstalled Headliner trims and road tested again. No noise heard after Repair. Work time used for adjusting rod Twice.

That's what was listed on my invoice...Hope it helps!

So Torn, does this mean you get no noises whatsoever from the top when it is closed?
I hear a few creaks over rough roads but I assume it is impossible to make something rigid enough to never make a creak or squeak...
Am I wrong?

[Roadstergal]

I have yet to hear a creak or squeak in my car with the top up. Either I am very lucky or have yet to drive on rough pavement or as imperfect roads as some of you.

[Rubber Ducky]

If it rattles or squeaks, take it to the dealer. And ditto: no problems with 8500 miles.

[Torn]

I no longer get any squeaks/creaks. They have fixed my problem by doing what I posted above. I go through alot of rough roads since I do alot of NYC/Jersey driving. Now the car is good as new!

[siscobmw]

look here also for noises/rattles/eventual.....
http://e89.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290856
SiSco from Italy

[sweeneyclash]

the bottom back section of the roof containing the glass needs to be padded with something like strips of vinyl flooring which is hard yet flexible , build up to a thickness of 12mm or more you will need to stick this down and use a colour that will blend in , it braces the roof section and hey presto no noise !

[rmorin49]

Originally Posted by sweeneyclash

the bottom back section of the roof containing the glass needs to be padded with something like strips of vinyl flooring which is hard yet flexible , build up to a thickness of 12mm or more you will need to stick this down and use a colour that will blend in , it braces the roof section and hey presto no noise !

This type of fix should not be necessary on a well designed $60K car.

[javol]

Originally Posted by fatharry

I have an E89 Z4 sDrive23i which is nearly a year old in the last couple of months there has been an increase in noise from the rear of the car I am fairly certain it is the roof mechanism but it all seems very solid when I have checked in the boot area. The car has a wind deflector fitted and taking this on and off makes no difference to the noise. Has anybody else experienced this problem? If so does anyone know of a cure? Thanks.

I had noises when the top was up. More squeeks than rattles.

I fixed the issue by a small amount of automotive grease on all the roof gaskets of the car.

[Torn]

Well my rattles and creeks are back and louder than ever. I have to bring in my car for service anyways soon. I just hope they dont blame my coilovers :|

[igniteED]

SOLVED

I had a rattle/tapping sound coming from the roof behind the passenger. It had gradually got worse over the course of a year.

During that time, I'd tried many of the fixes outlined on these forums. These included padding/felting contact points, wire looms, roof lining, boot lock housing, roll hoop covers. I removed the roof lining, the wind break, the roll hoop covers, lubricated the locking hooks, adjusted the tightness of the locking hooks, bent clips to be tighter, tightened rear deck via nuts under boot lid, tightened window trim screws and applied rubber care (gummi pflege) to all rubber trim. None of this fixed the rattle, though I'm sure they've helped prevent many other noises.

Since my car is still in it's warranty, I took it into a dealership. (Yes I probably should have taken it in first, but I don't live in the same part of the country as where I bought it, and I was disenfranchised with my local dealership from previous issues with a different car). Either way, the following is the report.

"Checked for rattle from roof, confirmed noise with customer, traced fault to be caused by coupling with tailgate and NSR shock absorber top mount, replaced both and tested ok."

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to speak to the technician. However what I've noticed that is different from before, is that the shock absorber top mounts, (the 4 adjustable rubber bumpers that locate into a metal "V" when the roof is up), now have thin felt tape applied to the rubber parts. Also, there was some play with a passenger side hinge where the trim cover in the boot pulls down. (See number 5 on https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=54_0495 )

Whether they actually replaced the coupling part or just tightened a screw, I'm not sure. But there was no play on the driver's side where there was 1-2mm play on the the passenger side, and now both sides have no play at all, and that particular hinge is connected to what could fit the description of a "coupling with tailgate".

Of course I'll let you know if the rattle comes back, but for now, it is gone. I hope this helps anyone with the same issue.

[paris1]

"Checked for rattle from roof, confirmed noise with customer, traced fault to be caused by coupling with tailgate and NSR shock absorber top mount..."

What would qualify as a "tailgate" on a Z4 in UK English?

[igniteED]

I'm in Newcastle, England. So I was surprised to hear "tailgate". Generally speaking, I'd take it to mean the boot/trunk lid. They probably use that terminology because this convertable has the lid hinged underneath so it can open backwards (like when the roof is dropped), rather than many saloons that are hinged at the usual place and only open in one direction.

[igniteED]

I also found a little tapping with the large hinge on the "rear mechanism" (number 1 on https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=54_0398 ) where the boot/trunk lifts up when storing the roof. Pushing the large black bar would create a tapping/creaking noise at the hinge. I'd applied some WD40,
which minimised the tapping while jimmying the bar, but had no effect on the "roof rattle". Note that part number 2 on the link above is a "coupling lock".

[bigendbob]

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewto...p?f=46&t=89966

Post I made on that forum.

[igniteED]

A huge thanks for your images in that post. Even though none of them directly fixed the issue for me, they were still invaluable and perfectly illustrate some of the areas of concern. Well worth following.