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      07-02-2012, 03:10 PM   #155
clivem2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ural View Post
Exactly, Clive. Do you think that area can be insulated without replacing the sealing?
I'm wondering that, it needs extra padding pushed in from the top unfortunately. Tricky.....
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      07-03-2012, 08:30 AM   #156
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FIX !!!!!!!!

I think I have a fix for this.

I reported earlier that I thought it was coming through the window too. I did some googling (other search engines are available) and on the "other" BMW forum under the 5 series section it seems some owners of the new 5 series have had the same issue.

One owner tracked it down to a small gap in the seal. I understand that it is not etiquette to post links to the other forum so I will explain what I did.

If you lower the window fully and then look at the rear corner where the window meets upward door pillar you will see that the downward rubber seal stands off from the window. The seal that runs horizontally in my car stops short of the downward pillar and therefore there is a small gap. I have filled this with a foam pad.

Traffic noise - GONE.
Wind noise - SIGNIFICANTLY reduced.

It is like I have a new car.

Ural, Clive. Please try it and let me know how you get on.

I wonder if the horizontal seal progresses further in some vehicles, preventing this from occurring ?

Really hope this works for you guys.
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      07-03-2012, 09:07 AM   #157
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Cool! Is this the inside or outside seal? I'll try it asap. Do you mean this joint? There's an area that doesn't look sealed.....on both....

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      07-03-2012, 09:10 AM   #158
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No. At the bottom of the door pillar. The rubber seal that faces outward doe not sit flush with the window.

I will take a pic when I get chance.
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      07-03-2012, 09:28 AM   #159
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ Daddy-O View Post
No. At the bottom of the door pillar. The rubber seal that faces outward doe not sit flush with the window.

I will take a pic when I get chance.
Here then?


I can't test at the moment as I'm fitting crossbars and bike racks so wind noise is a lost cause. When they are setup I'll take them off.
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Last edited by clivem2; 07-03-2012 at 09:35 AM..
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      07-03-2012, 09:47 AM   #160
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Yes. Exactly that spot!
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      07-04-2012, 09:47 AM   #161
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would appreciate if u can take some pics - have the same probs here
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      07-05-2012, 02:57 AM   #162
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Great Job, DJ! I appreciate it.

After reading you, I checked the other forum and found the original thread on the F10 with more photos , and additionally found a link there to a German Forum about the same problem and fix. Seems many people have the same issue and looking into something that works.

Yesterday I tried it myself and then took a short test drive. First impressions; it will work. Already a significant improvement both wind and traffic noise. Today I will replace the material I used yesterday with something else and take it to a longer test. Two photos attached. I not only filled the gap inside due to the sealer coming short, but also a tiny spot outside just in case.
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      07-05-2012, 03:07 AM   #163
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I'll take my bike rack off the roof and try filling the gaps. Having had BMW tell me the car was performing as intended....if this fixes it the noise and hopefully it will....I'll be frustrated that it's taken almost a year to resolve and without the the help of BMW! I don't blame the dealer, it's a tough thing to track down but surely BMW must have either worked this out or been told about it.

Thanks DJ!
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      07-05-2012, 03:41 AM   #164
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Ural,

I've marked up your 2nd picture. I'm going to try to block the gap I've circled in yellow as well as the one you have in red.

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      07-05-2012, 05:10 AM   #165
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What an improvement! I have something like a 50% reduction in noise, especially traffic noise. My gap plugging is not very good so it should be possible to further improve the situation. If the noise had been like this from the outset I wouldn't have noticed it.



I used window seal, a little sticky on one side and shinny/splippery on the other.
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      07-05-2012, 05:13 AM   #166
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Clive,
Actually the gap you marked is what DJ and all other posters in the other forums were referring to , so you definitely should do there first which I already filled too, shown in my 1st photo taken from inside the car although not very visible. Second gap is outside the car. As I said I did there just in case.

While started I also filled another place I think the sealing is somewhat abnormal (at mine at least) and where I hear my whistling kinda wind noise most. Photo below. This evening I will work on that area as well with another material hoping to further improve our insulation.
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      07-05-2012, 07:16 AM   #167
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Great. I am pleased this has worked for you guys. It has rained a lot here today and I have been out for a drive - no more noise of the tyre splashing through surface water!!!

Such a simple thing in the end.
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      07-05-2012, 07:34 AM   #168
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BMW quality control should be ashamed of this ... I hope they read this board and will implement changes immediately


Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ Daddy-O View Post
Great. I am pleased this has worked for you guys. It has rained a lot here today and I have been out for a drive - no more noise of the tyre splashing through surface water!!!

Such a simple thing in the end.
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      07-05-2012, 07:42 AM   #169
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mooney058 View Post
BMW quality control should be ashamed of this ... I hope they read this board and will implement changes immediately
Absolutely! More so when they insisted to me the noise was normal for the car. The 5 series fix was posted on the board in May 2011, someone must have told BMW of this....so why didn't they think about it for the X3. Such a simple TSB. Very disappointing.

DJ, when it rains here (it will do soon...) I too look forward to not hearing the sloshing noises!
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      08-03-2012, 04:05 AM   #170
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The dealer and BMW north UK had my car yesterday. They did some non-standard work on the mirrors and re-aligned the door trim plus rubber scraper on the inside of the front windows - they now are butted up to the window seal at the edge of the door. So now I don't need my pieces of foam. :-)

Noise levels are now where I would have expected them to be, road/RFT noise is now probably more obvious than anything else. The fixes have reduced the level of noise, it's now easy to talk and be understood at over 90mph, previously this was difficult at 70mph. Even more significant is the reduction in harshness - the auto industry talks about NVH, noise, vibration and harshness. The higher frequencies from passing traffic, wet roads and wind noise are now massively curtailed, resulting in reduced harshness.

Now, how do I fix the plasticy vibrational rattle in the upper centre part of the dash? It could the centre speaker rattle people have talked about.
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      08-03-2012, 01:09 PM   #171
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At last!!!
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      08-04-2012, 02:04 AM   #172
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Guys:
Just so you know, I just picked up my 2013 X3 a month ago and I also go the wind noise starting at 70-80mph... Gonna print out this thread and bring to my dealer =)
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      08-04-2012, 02:26 AM   #173
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Great work from clivem2 to get BMW to finally admit and fix the problem. An exercise in strong will and persistence! Hopefully other people with the problem can present the evidence in this thread to BMW and avoid the months of denials and "fixes" that make no difference
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      08-04-2012, 06:39 AM   #174
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Big thanks to DJ Daddy-O for posting about the 5 series fix.

To get my car fixed it took:

- giving the lowest score possible to my dealer on satisfaction
- the service manager at BlueBell BMW Wilmslow became personally very involved
- the dealer got BMW regional involved
- complaint to BMW UK MD - pushed to customer services who could do nothing
- finding the fix on this board (thanks DJ!)
- telling customer services and the dealer about it
- dealer and BMW regional then working on the car to properly fix it

The dealer has actually performed well, the real issue is that BMW hadn't noted the fixes being applied by people to their 5 series. The seals on 5s and 3s are the same type as the X3. The dealer should have been told by BMW to check and how to re-align the seals. The E90 loan car I just returned has seals very nicely aligned.

To sum up:

- there was poor quality control at the assembly plant
- BMW should have known about this issue as the 5 series fix is about a year old!
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      08-04-2012, 07:22 AM   #175
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I would like to see some pictures of how they have fixed the gap in the 5 series.
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      08-04-2012, 08:04 AM   #176
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kitercarlos View Post
I would like to see some pictures of how they have fixed the gap in the 5 series.
I don't know whether BMW have done anything, owners have done the same as the pic above for the X3.

All the dealer needed to do with my X3 was to move the door trim forward a little and the rubber scraper back a little so that there's no gap.

This is before the fix.



Here it is after the fix.



BTW, the right hand yellow circle....I'm not convinced that piece of rubber needs to overlap the frame. The passenger door doesn't and seems ok. It's the left circle where the action needs to be!
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