[Callaway]

Hi,
I´m experiencing some low whining/whistling/humming (resonance) noise from somewhere in the front of the car, i think its from the right side but it´s not that loud.

BMW X3 -12 with barely 70000 km on the meter.

The noise is not loud and is most easy to hear when the car is rolling with gear. When the car roll in neutral the sound disappear and as soon as i press down the clutch the sound starts again....

Any thoughts?

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by Callaway

Hi,
I´m experiencing some low whining/whistling/humming (resonance) noise from somewhere in the front of the car, i think its from the right side but it´s not that loud.

BMW X3 -12 with barely 70000 km on the meter.

The noise is not loud and is most easy to hear when the car is rolling with gear. When the car roll in neutral the sound disappear and as soon as i press down the clutch the sound starts again....

Any thoughts?

Very very difficult doing fault diagnosis on a forum especially for a whining noise that some people might say is normal transmission noise.

Eventually one of the guesses posed by forum posters will be correct.

The best and most sensible suggestion is go to your local dealer. If it is still under warranty then you might get a satisfactory solution.

[Callaway]

Thanks for replying!
Yes, I know. But in my experience it´s good to have some input before you let the mechanics start searching for faults with the taxometer on, and I´m just outside the warranty....

Perhaps it´s just normal transmission sounds and I´m a bit to sensitive to sounds from the car. Had two warning texts with overheated clutch this summer when on a roadtrip in Italy in steep roads and massive queues...

But I still thinks it´s to loud not to have noticed before the trip even if it´s not at grinding or whining like in many clips on Youtube. Mine is more of a loud resonance sound when the car deaccelerates with gear and disappears totally when on free roll without gear.

[ianfp]

If you are just out of warranty, do you have the option to extend it?

[Callaway]

No, I bought the car 14 month ago with the premium selection warranty which just ended last month...
PS-warranty here in Sweden is one year or 20000 km.

So the "only" thing left is the engine, vehicle damage, etc insurance.

Tried to listen extra hard for any strange sounds on my way home from work. What I can hear is a low humming very low whistling sound from the front/engine area that stops right after putting it into neutral gear when driving. But still, perhaps it was there before and I just didn´t notice it. But i don´t think so....

[Callaway]

The sound is getting louder (it comes and goes though and disappears in higher speeds). Had a neighbour listen to the sound to make sure i´m not imagining stuff, and it´s definitely there. Somewhere from the left front side
A rotating whining sound stops when you put in neutral gear and let up the clutch. As soon as I push down the clutch pedal the sound starts again, even without putting it into gear. Just rolling with the clutch pedal to the floor makes the sound to start...

Went to the local mecanics today. They thought it might be the pinion, but they were not sure without more checking. So I booked a time next week.

Does the pinion make sense? After 42000 miles?

[Northandy]

It sounds to me like a clutch release bearing issue, not heard of that a lot on x3's but it's a relatively common problem on manual cars.

[Callaway]

My X3 has a manual gearbox. After some driving today listening carefully when and how it sounds:
Most clear when driving the first 10-15 minutes
Same level of sound regardless of speed or rpm
The rotating/whining (somekind of spinning bearing) noise stops a couple of seconds after putting into neutral and releasing the clutch.
When in "free roll" and pressing down the clutch the sounds start again, same thing if i put it into any gear.
When I parked the car it felt like some "glitches"/grabbing in first gear when once or twice driving slow into the garage.
After some lunch I drove off again and noise was less/almost gone. This has happened before that the noise decreases or even disappears time to time while driving.
A second drive in the evening and the noise was back....

I´m not quite sure how the clutch release bearing works, but would a bad one make noise both with clutch pressed down as well as with normal driving in gear?

What kind of bearing stops rotating when I put into neutral gear and starts again when pressing down the clutch?

[Callaway]

After a day of at the local dealer they´ve narrowed it down to two possible faults (something with the front drivetrain diff? or transfer case/diff). Next step will be to take it apart and see which part is the faulty one and then order it from Germany, since these parts aren´t in stock anywhere in Sweden. Ahg...what a nightmare!

[buze]

My X3 manual 2.0L makes a slightly whinny noise when driving from cold. Disappears a couple minutes in; I assume it's warming up something... Seems different than yours.

Make sure to have them check the pedal box, there was a recall on that -- they changed mine at my last service (that's my third now!)

[Callaway]

Yes I´ve heard that whining sound as well and it´s not the same. Disappears after a while.
Mine is going in for repairs next week.

Do you know why there was a recall on the pedal box? Never heard of it here in Scandinavia.

[buze]

Originally Posted by Callaway

Yes I´ve heard that whining sound as well and it´s not the same. Disappears after a while.
Mine is going in for repairs next week.

Do you know why there was a recall on the pedal box? Never heard of it here in Scandinavia.

Well, my first one never was 'right' and in fact, it stayed stuck a couple of times as I was driving... It eventually broke down in the middle of nowhere, and had to have the car towed away... they replaced the box with a 'fixed' one...
Note that I reported problems with the clutch several time to the garage, and of course, they never found anything wrong with it... surprised?

... and now at the service, they changed it *again* for apparently, a new, new one. Altho, I don't think it works as good as the #2 version, which was smoother than this one (it squeaks a bit)

You'd have thought that BMW after 100 years would have figured out how to make clutch pedals, wouldn't you...?

[Peter_R]

Originally Posted by buze

You'd have thought that BMW after 100 years would have figured out how to make clutch pedals, wouldn't you...?

No. They do not make them. It is a subcontractor. The same with many components.

[Callaway]

Well, after a day at the mechanics it seems like it´s the front diff making the noise/sound.
According to them it was worn and the oil was real bad...
All covered by the drivetrain insurance

Still wondering over the click sound my clutch pedal makes half way down and up. The click, almost like ballpoint pen only occurs when it´s warm. Cold mornings it´s gone...
Will have them look into that as well.

Any ideas?

[mibmwx3]

Don't know if it is the same whining noise I heard for so long that 3 dealerships could not hear, but it ended up being the rear differential. After it was replaced, the sound was gone.