[Charlottehanlon]

Purchased '12 X3 F25 with 85k on it about a month ago in primo condition. Now that the cold weather is here I am hearing rather disturbing creaking noise coming from the sunroof. I am just waiting for the entire unit to crash down on top of me. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to quiet the sound?

[tracer bullet]

Fairly normal, yes. The fix amounts to strategically placing foam in spots to prevent rubbing.

[Opie55]

Forget foam. You need two small peel and stick rubber pads - the ones a little smaller than an M&M. You put one on each side on the end of a little lever arm. I'll post a pic tomorrow where.

[dat1guy]

Originally Posted by Opie55

Forget foam. You need two small peel and stick rubber pads - the ones a little smaller than an M&M. You put one on each side on the end of a little lever arm. I'll post a pic tomorrow where.

I'm sure rubber works but I prefer the felt ones in case you place some in areas where some sliding can happen. You can get them in any hardware store for 2$, usually used as door stopper for cabinets. The noise disappears completely.

[Opie55]

There is no "some areas". It is two specific spots. One on each side. And felt may compress or rub off.

[Opie55]

Open your sunroof shade, but not the sunroof. Grab that rubber piece just forward of the center bar that divides your sunroof in half and pull it down - you can see in the bottom of the pic I have it pulled down. See the little adhesive rubber thing on top of that little shelf the arrow is pointing to? Just grab that plastic center bar and pull it down - the little shelf will lower with it. Use a small rag or paper towel with alcohol to clean any grease off the little shelf. Stick on rubber thing. Repeat on other side. Don't buy the real thick rubber stops. These are 1/8th inch or so. What this does is slightly lower that center bar across its whole length. That is what creaks.

[Opie55]

And to be a bit clearer, you are only pulling down on the front of the center plastic divider bar. It sort of pivots downward. You can pull it down probably a full inch. Just grab it a couple inches inward of the little shelf thing. Finally, before you do anything you can test if this is your problem. Open your sunroof shade and drive your car until it creaks. Take your right hand and hook your fingers over the front of the plastic diver bar near the center of the car - like above the center console - and just pull down a little. Does the creaking stop?

[oVeRdOsE.]

https://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showp...6&postcount=74

[nyalpine90]

very common on F25, there is a thread with simple solution.

[TheCoolX3]

I thought I had this issue so I put felt pads on where the arrows point and my creaking got noticeably worse. I took the felt pads off and tested until I realized the only way the creaking stopped was with the windows a little bit down. I went around and pushed in on all of the trim pieces with a result of no change in the creaking...

Any ideas?

[Opie55]

Originally Posted by TheCoolX3

I thought I had this issue so I put felt pads on where the arrows point and my creaking got noticeably worse. I took the felt pads off and tested until I realized the only way the creaking stopped was with the windows a little bit down. I went around and pushed in on all of the trim pieces with a result of no change in the creaking...

Any ideas?

Not exactly sure what you are saying - are you saying you no longer think it is the sunroof, and a creak is coming form somewhere else or are saying you still think it is the sunroof, but somehow lowering the side windows helps? For a creak to get worse by putting pads where I show in my picture, but get better by lowering the side windows is totally weird. Those two things seem unrelated. But to eliminate the sunroof I would open the shade and drive until it creaks. First try pulling down on the front of the center plastic divider w/o touching the glass. Second, press up on the glass. If neither of those two things makes any difference, it's probably not the sunroof.

[TheCoolX3]

Originally Posted by Opie55

Not exactly sure what you are saying - are you saying you no longer think it is the sunroof, and a creak is coming form somewhere else or are saying you still think it is the sunroof, but somehow lowering the side windows helps? For a creak to get worse by putting pads where I show in my picture, but get better by lowering the side windows is totally weird. Those two things seem unrelated. But to eliminate the sunroof I would open the shade and drive until it creaks. First try pulling down on the front of the center plastic divider w/o touching the glass. Second, press up on the glass. If neither of those two things makes any difference, it's probably not the sunroof.

I no longer believe it is the sunroof. I put the pads where directed and the creak got noticeably worse. I tried pushing up on the glass and pulling on the divider bar and there was no noticeable change in the creaking. I could only get the creaking to have a noticeable decline with the windows down. Odd...

[BMW JA]

I cut the felt pads down to about a eight of a inch thick and then added lithium grease to the surface. Works!