Well, I had to take my M in for some work about a week ago. Seems the trunk latch would intermittently not lock/unlock with the remote key or the button inside the cockpit. It was a hit and miss. When it did not work the only way into the trunk was to unlock both doors and use the button on the boot deck lid.
I took it in and they had to replace the trunk actuator switch. This seemed to fix the problem, but the next day it began to do it again, but not as bad so in it went yesterday. The mechanic found that the rubber grommets (stoppers) were misaligned (one was screwed all the way in, while the other was all the way out). He also moved the trunk latch up a little. It seems to be working great now.
While I was there I mentioned (again) that I keep hearing this metal rattling noise coming from my rear driver side wheel area. It has been this way for almost a year (most can't hear what I am talking about, but very annoying to me). It sounds like a metal bracket rattling or metal to metal contact. This only happens when I hit a pothole or a manhole cover. It has to be a big jolt to make this sound happen. I have taken the car in and mention this to the dealer at least 3 times and they never seem to get it fixed. They did change the brake backing plate and it seemed to help at the time, but the problem persisted and BMW had a hard time replicating the problem. I told them to just drive it over a partially exposed manhole cover (not a huge one as to not bend my rim) and you'll see what I mean. Still no solution or fix….
Well, this time I mentioned it again and I actually took the mechanic on a test drive with the windows down so he could hear the sound I was talking about. Off we go and low and behold I couldn't find a pothole, manhole cover, or anything else to jar the car. In downtown Seattle! This is unheard of! He stated he believed me and would look diligently and tighten everything down in the rear-end.
Later in the day BMW called and stated they finally found the rattling problem. Seems the left side (driver’s) parking break was installed incorrectly at one time and the parking break shoe had broken in half, causing the sound I was hearing. They fixed it under warranty. I told them that this actually made sense, because my parking break never worked really well. I have a small hill on my driveway and the car would partially roll when I parked it out of the garage. I had to really crank the parking break handle to keep it from rolling and place it into gear. The car would also, when forgetting to release the parking break, rise up on one side. Really weird feeling, but I didn't think much about it. The BMW mechanic also stated the car should break much better too....
The car is so nice to drive now and not hear the noise. After drive the car with it fixed I seemed to notice it being quieter overall. I realized the sound didn't just happen when the car was jolted, but rattled a lot of the time just not to the degree when jolted. I am a happy camper now and thanked the BMW mechanic for his persistence in finding the root cause of the problem. He was great.....
I took it in and they had to replace the trunk actuator switch. This seemed to fix the problem, but the next day it began to do it again, but not as bad so in it went yesterday. The mechanic found that the rubber grommets (stoppers) were misaligned (one was screwed all the way in, while the other was all the way out). He also moved the trunk latch up a little. It seems to be working great now.
While I was there I mentioned (again) that I keep hearing this metal rattling noise coming from my rear driver side wheel area. It has been this way for almost a year (most can't hear what I am talking about, but very annoying to me). It sounds like a metal bracket rattling or metal to metal contact. This only happens when I hit a pothole or a manhole cover. It has to be a big jolt to make this sound happen. I have taken the car in and mention this to the dealer at least 3 times and they never seem to get it fixed. They did change the brake backing plate and it seemed to help at the time, but the problem persisted and BMW had a hard time replicating the problem. I told them to just drive it over a partially exposed manhole cover (not a huge one as to not bend my rim) and you'll see what I mean. Still no solution or fix….
Well, this time I mentioned it again and I actually took the mechanic on a test drive with the windows down so he could hear the sound I was talking about. Off we go and low and behold I couldn't find a pothole, manhole cover, or anything else to jar the car. In downtown Seattle! This is unheard of! He stated he believed me and would look diligently and tighten everything down in the rear-end.
Later in the day BMW called and stated they finally found the rattling problem. Seems the left side (driver’s) parking break was installed incorrectly at one time and the parking break shoe had broken in half, causing the sound I was hearing. They fixed it under warranty. I told them that this actually made sense, because my parking break never worked really well. I have a small hill on my driveway and the car would partially roll when I parked it out of the garage. I had to really crank the parking break handle to keep it from rolling and place it into gear. The car would also, when forgetting to release the parking break, rise up on one side. Really weird feeling, but I didn't think much about it. The BMW mechanic also stated the car should break much better too....
The car is so nice to drive now and not hear the noise. After drive the car with it fixed I seemed to notice it being quieter overall. I realized the sound didn't just happen when the car was jolted, but rattled a lot of the time just not to the degree when jolted. I am a happy camper now and thanked the BMW mechanic for his persistence in finding the root cause of the problem. He was great.....
![[rofl]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_rofl.gif "ROFL [rofl]"){kind=icon}
![[:p]](/images/smilies/tongue.png "Stick Out Tongue [:p]")
![[cheers]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_cheers.gif "Cheers [cheers]"){kind=icon}
It is so great when something gets fixed, that you know is wrong (but have not been able to find it). It's even better when a mechanic actually believes you, and takes the time to locate and solve the problem.![[hihi]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_hihi.gif "Hi Hi [hihi]"){kind=icon}