[duegatti]

I noticed mine when I pulled out from the Performance Center.

I'll never be happy with the car, the dealer, or BMW as long as I have this noise.

It's a scandalous shame, because it's a great vehicle otherwise.

My 2016 RT is by far the best motorcycle I've had.

[Plusforce]

Originally Posted by Bimmerforlife

For those that have this issue, did you hear this on day 1 of ownership or did it start to happen months down the road? If it’s a seal issue maybe it starts after cars been out in the elements and seals break down?

Here since day 1, there's wind noise at speed above 40-50 on both sides. I hear the driver's side and my wife says the same thing about the passenger side.

[bocabimmer]

Well, back again from another week at the dealership. This time they heard the noise and they claimed that my window tint installer must’ve cut the tint on the outside of the glass and nicked the rubber trim of the outside window seal. We fixed it!, they claim.

Took it on a few errands and what ya know … it’s still there.

[lfdal54]

Originally Posted by bocabimmer

Well, back again from another week at the dealership. This time they heard the noise and they claimed that my window tint installer must’ve cut the tint on the outside of the glass and nicked the rubber trim of the outside window seal. We fixed it!, they claim.

Took it on a few errands and what ya know … it’s still there.

This certainly dampens any enthusiasm for this car when you take it on the highway, IMO. For those with the m40i's folks can say, "Hey it's a sports car". Well maybe, but it's also supposed to be a "luxury SAV". There's nothing "luxury" about a good many things on this car, wind noise among them. Then can we mention seat comfort.... or better yet, let's not.

[bocabimmer]

Originally Posted by lfdal54

This certainly dampens any enthusiasm for this car when you take it on the highway, IMO. For those with the m40i's folks can say, "Hey it's a sports car". Well maybe, but it's also supposed to be a "luxury SAV". There's nothing "luxury" about a good many things on this car, wind noise among them. Then can we mention seat comfort.... or better yet, let's not.

I can live with the wind noise. It’s annoying and not what I’m expecting out of a vehicle of this price point but if that’s my biggest gripe, I’m doing okay.

I’m more unimpressed with my dealer at this point. They pretty much have dismissed all of my issues as “normal operation”. I had to fight tooth and nail to finally get them to see that my center console was malformed over 3 trips.

[AllBlackBimmer]

I'll reiterate -
I am not saying the door seal is not an issue however - go read my first post in this thread , post #7

The sound might SOUND like its coming from the drivers door, but it may not be.
The airbox is a known issue with TSB fix.
My issues sounded like a door seal as well, and the dealer originally tried to blame my aftermarket mirror caps. After putting OEM mirror caps back on, the noise was still there and sounded like it was from the door - It wasnt though.

The weatherstripping seal on the moonroof shrinking is also a known issue - unsure if TSB or not, but well known.

Both of these issues can causes a sound that may sound like its coming from the door - but it may not be.

I wish you all the best as my wind noise was going to make me trade the vehicle in.
After 2 dealer attempts over a 2 week period, they got it fixed with the 2 issues I have listed above.

All good over a year later.
Good luck.

[jsh139]

Does this wind noise occur with the LCI X3 M as well?

[bocabimmer]

So interesting update: my wife was the one who concurred there was wind noise and that’s what prompted me to believe I wasn’t insane and scheduled my trip to the dealer last week.

Now that the car is back, I let her drive it all day today and lo and behold she swears the sound that was bothering her is now gone!

Maybe the cabin is a little noisy to begin with and there was an extra noise. Combine both together and I’ve just become overly picky and now nothing will be good enough? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[lfdal54]

Originally Posted by bocabimmer

So interesting update: my wife was the one who concurred there was wind noise and that’s what prompted me to believe I wasn’t insane and scheduled my trip to the dealer last week.

Now that the car is back, I let her drive it all day today and lo and behold she swears the sound that was bothering her is now gone!

Maybe the cabin is a little noisy to begin with and there was an extra noise. Combine both together and I’ve just become overly picky and now nothing will be good enough? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I switch between 4 cars. My 2011 Buick Lucerne and our 2022 Q5 are tied for the quietest on the highway. And as much as people complain about Audi's Q5 handling, I can see why Buick's are called boats. Then comes my X3, and last is my ex's Versa. Sadly, the Versa isn't that much louder than my X3, at least from wind noise.

[bocabimmer]

Originally Posted by lfdal54

I switch between 4 cars. My 2011 Buick Lucerne and our 2022 Q5 are tied for the quietest on the highway. And as much as people complain about Audi's Q5 handling, I can see why Buick's are called boats. Then comes my X3, and last is my ex's Versa. Sadly, the Versa isn't that much louder than my X3, at least from wind noise.

I’ve switched between 4 cars in the last couple years. The X3 isn’t the worst, not even second worst.

Worst is my van. It measures at 67db at 40mph and a headache producing 72 at 70mph. The X3 is 62 at 40 and 65 at 70… except in the corner of that window.

My i3 was loud but I attribute that to the thin glass and the CFRP body. When it would rain forget taking a phone call, it was impossible to hear over the racket.

Best was my 330. Never even thought about wind noise in that. Actually any of my three 3 series for that matter. Even the X5 was quiet.

[lfdal54]

Originally Posted by bocabimmer

I’ve switched between 4 cars in the last couple years. The X3 isn’t the worst, not even second worst.

Worst is my van. It measures at 67db at 40mph and a headache producing 72 at 70mph. The X3 is 62 at 40 and 65 at 70… except in the corner of that window.

My i3 was loud but I attribute that to the thin glass and the CFRP body. When it would rain forget taking a phone call, it was impossible to hear over the racket.

Best was my 330. Never even thought about wind noise in that. Actually any of my three 3 series for that matter. Even the X5 was quiet.

We had 3 F31's: 2, were 2014s, and a 2018 328d. All were whisper quiet on the highway. Can't believe they screwed the X3 so badly. Although my 2016 F25 was dead quiet and so was my 2019 G01.

[TLEHMANN]

I have a 23 X3 M40. I had a noise as well. I found it too and was able to remedy with some tape. It was from my sunroof seal. It had shrunk and left a hole. It sounded like it was coming from the door, but it was actually above.

They replaced the sunroof completely and its now gone.

[bocabimmer]

So this is my final update (I promise). After my wife says she doesn’t hear the noise anymore I went out with my decibel meter on my watch and sure enough the sound levels at the corner of the window are the same as cabin levels now.

It’s possible that I’ve become so sensitized to listening for noises that any noise I hear, no matter how trivial, I’m construing as too much. I didn’t believe the dealer could fix it, and I was skeptical of their fix. No more. As far as I’m concerned my issue is resolved.

Photo of what they replaced is attached. Arrow points to where they said the defect was.

[SnowWhiteX3]

Originally Posted by AllBlackBimmer

Go find my thread I made about this, you can search for it - made it about a year ago - was something like 'driver's side wind noise'

There is SIB regarding two things that fixed my issue -
1) the airbox (believe its the airbox) inside the engine bay at the firewall is not sealed well from the factory. They add some tape around this area
2) the weather-stripping on the moonroof between the movable portion of the sunroof and fixed portion of the roof shrinks over time and gaps are created on the ends

I had an awful loud pitched whistling noise, and local dealer did both this fixes and completely solved my issue.
It's annoying for sure, and it took them 2 chances to fix it, but they did a good job and got it done. $0 out of pocket.

It is not the mirrors as they originally tried to blame my aftermarket M style mirror caps
People think it comes from the door or window not being sealed, on RARE occasion this might be it, but this is not common on the x3/x4 .... it might sound like its coming from this area, but it's not. Hard to diagnose properly, but I had the shop manager ride in my car with me to verify the noise and got it corrected.

Good luck.

Can you post pictures of the tape on the airbox? I’m having a hard time finding where to put it. I tried to PM you but my account is too new. Any help would be great, the wind noise is driving me crazy and all the seals in the window and sunroof seem to be fine.
Thanks!

[AllBlackBimmer]

Originally Posted by SnowWhiteX3

Can you post pictures of the tape on the airbox? I’m having a hard time finding where to put it. I tried to PM you but my account is too new. Any help would be great, the wind noise is driving me crazy and all the seals in the window and sunroof seem to be fine.
Thanks!

2015 doesn’t apply to this, this is for the g01/g02 models.
The air box goes through the firewall behind the engine… my understanding is this area is what needs to be taped. I assume accessibility is from the bottom of the car… but, your car doesn’t apply to this SIB

[SnowWhiteX3]

Ah damn, back to the drawing board I guess…
Thanks for the reply though!

[pr0gi]

I can't be 100% sure, but it might also be caused by the windows themselves. I have an acoustic glass package but still experience noise. Yesterday, it was raining, and when I rolled down the driver and passenger windows, I noticed that there were no streaks left when rolling them up, except for a small part at the front near the side mirrors. If I remember correctly, in all my other cars so far, when doing this, the whole window gets water streaks. Also, when driving over a road which is nearly dry and going over wet parts, it sounds like my door is not fully closed or I have a hole in the floor.