X3andZ4owner wrote  

I hear and feel a clunk from the front suspension when I drive over a small hump with great angle on the frontwheels. It sounds like something is loose in the steeringcolumn or the suspension..

Car is in the shop for the seventh time for this issue. No end in sight.

juddholland wrote

Car is in the shop for the seventh time for this issue. No end in sight.

Jeezz... good we have 5 years warranty on the car here in Norway..

Keep us up to date on what they find..

ILuvMy335i wrote

I managed to fix the rear rattle over bumps. It drove me insane to the point that I asked a friend to sit in the trunk and identify the source...it was the tailgate! The noise was tin / metal like knocking every time I drove over a hard enough bump. Especially loud when there was a bit of body flex. I tried everything prior to the fix below including stripping and removing tools, covers etc. The fix is as follows:

If you open the tailgate you will notice that there are 2 black rubber stoppers on the body just above the tail lights. These stoppers are adjustable. I've noticed that if the differential adjustment is such that one side of the tailgate is slightly higher than the other, that the weight of the tailgate causes the clunk when the body moves in just the right way. I experiement by adjusting the stoppers a few times and voila - after 3 or 4 times, noise was gone.

The only noise - now have is a light bizz/ rattle when I take off and sometimes at speed. Seems to be centre speaker or somewhere around that area.

Thanks for the info. I noticed height difference between the two rubber stoppers, and the higher one has obvious mark probably because the strut metal knot on that side always presses it first. But could you tell me how to adjust it?

ILuvMy335i wrote

The only noise - now have is a light bizz/ rattle when I take off and sometimes at speed. Seems to be centre speaker or somewhere around that area.

Sounds like the same as I have. From the driver's seat it seems to come from the centre speaker. From the passenger seat it seems to come from the driver's side A-pillar. Moving my head to the centre when it happens has it shift to the A-pillar too. Somewhat confusing and hard to track down!

Oh man, I have that terrible rear clunk too. Good to hear that it can be fixed.

Any more details on how to adjust the rear tailgate so it's quiet?

ReturnZero wrote

Oh man, I have that terrible rear clunk too. Good to hear that it can be fixed.

Any more details on how to adjust the rear tailgate so it's quiet?

I finally managed to adjust the bump-stops to the right height. Now the problem is gone. Let's see if I can explain this without pictures.
You need to remove the two panels at the back interior of the trunk(now you can see the wires of taillights). Reach with your hands from inside of the trunk. It is a bit hard for the left side, and you need to pull down the liner a bit and reach further in. Then you can feel the adjustment screws for the rubber bump-stops. The screws have plastic torx covers and they are removable. If you have driver bit with right size(T50) you can use that to adjust directly without removing anything, but the torx sockets are very shallow. I don't have a torx bit that can fit, so I take off those plastic covers(They are mounted by two tiny clipps to the adjustment screws, so prepare for some damage on your finger nails). Also be extra careful not to drop them. Then the torx drivers heads are exposed and I used a hex socket wrench to turn them, and you can see the rubber bump-stops from outside turning with them.

I had to try 2/3 times to completely get rid of the noise. I may not have necessarily set the stops the same height relative to the car body as the body on both sides may not be perfectly leveled to begin with, so I may have one stop slightly higher than the other. I'm happy with that as long as the tailgate stops clunking when car leans over to either side.
Hope that is clear enough with my limited English.

jxterma wrote

I finally managed to adjust the bump-stops to the right height. Now the problem is gone. Let's see if I can explain this without pictures.
You need to remove the two panels at the back interior of the trunk(now you can see the wires of taillights). Reach with your hands from inside of the trunk. It is a bit hard for the left side, and you need to pull down the liner a bit and reach further in. Then you can feel the adjustment screws for the rubber bump-stops. The screws have plastic torx covers and they are removable. If you have driver bit with right size(T50) you can use that to adjust directly without removing anything, but the torx sockets are very shallow. I don't have a torx bit that can fit, so I take off those plastic covers(They are mounted by two tiny clipps to the adjustment screws, so prepare for some damage on your finger nails). Also be extra careful not to drop them. Then the torx drivers heads are exposed and I used a hex socket wrench to turn them, and you can see the rubber bump-stops from outside turning with them.

I had to try 2/3 times to completely get rid of the noise. I may not have necessarily set the stops the same height relative to the car body as the body on both sides may not be perfectly leveled to begin with, so I may have one stop slightly higher than the other. I'm happy with that as long as the tailgate stops clunking when car leans over to either side.
Hope that is clear enough with my limited English.

post pics please

I'm having the same problem, please post some pictures. Thank you!!!

pantong wrote  

I'm having the same problem, please post some pictures. Thank you!!!

Please post pics. The rattling is driving me crwzy

Can someone who has experienced such issues and found a fix please post pics of how to solve the rattle noise that comes from the trunk area? It's driving me nuts!

ILuvMy335i wrote  

I managed to fix the rear rattle over bumps. It drove me insane to the point that I asked a friend to sit in the trunk and identify the source...it was the tailgate! The noise was tin / metal like knocking every time I drove over a hard enough bump. Especially loud when there was a bit of body flex. I tried everything prior to the fix below including stripping and removing tools, covers etc. The fix is as follows:

If you open the tailgate you will notice that there are 2 black rubber stoppers on the body just above the tail lights. These stoppers are adjustable. I've noticed that if the differential adjustment is such that one side of the tailgate is slightly higher than the other, that the weight of the tailgate causes the clunk when the body moves in just the right way. I experiement by adjusting the stoppers a few times and voila - after 3 or 4 times, noise was gone.

The only noise - now have is a light bizz/ rattle when I take off and sometimes at speed. Seems to be centre speaker or somewhere around that area.

Please post pics or add'l details. Sounds like my issue

flash3 wrote

Please post pics or add'l details. Sounds like my issue

BUMP!!!!!!

Mingstar88 wrote  

flash3 wrote

Please post pics or add'l details. Sounds like my issue

BUMP!!!!!!

Anyone else?

Check out this post, it might help you:

http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=687509

That link wasn't much help. I still have the noise!!! :/

jxterma wrote

I finally managed to adjust the bump-stops to the right height. Now the problem is gone. Let's see if I can explain this without pictures.
You need to remove the two panels at the back interior of the trunk(now you can see the wires of taillights). Reach with your hands from inside of the trunk. It is a bit hard for the left side, and you need to pull down the liner a bit and reach further in. Then you can feel the adjustment screws for the rubber bump-stops. The screws have plastic torx covers and they are removable. If you have driver bit with right size(T50) you can use that to adjust directly without removing anything, but the torx sockets are very shallow. I don't have a torx bit that can fit, so I take off those plastic covers(They are mounted by two tiny clipps to the adjustment screws, so prepare for some damage on your finger nails). Also be extra careful not to drop them. Then the torx drivers heads are exposed and I used a hex socket wrench to turn them, and you can see the rubber bump-stops from outside turning with them...

Thank you for the info. I'll ping my dealer as part of upcoming service visit then.

^ can someone include pics of that fix? I wanna try it before going to bmw

My wife has a 2012 X3 3.5is and thanks for the tips in this thread fellas!

We had the rattling in the tailgate area and it seems that the little stops on both sides of the tailgate needed to be adjusted to make the tailgate tighter and more snug when closed. This was a 2 minute fix and the rattle is now GONE! Thank you to all!

pantong wrote

Check out this post, it might help you:

http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=687509

I've tried that..... It didn't help.....

biglare wrote

My wife has a 2012 X3 3.5is and thanks for the tips in this thread fellas!

We had the rattling in the tailgate area and it seems that the little stops on both sides of the tailgate needed to be adjusted to make the tailgate tighter and more snug when closed. This was a 2 minute fix and the rattle is now GONE! Thank you to all!

Would you mind showing some pics please?

flash3 wrote

That link wasn't much help. I still have the noise!!! :/

I still have the noise too..... Service guys keep saying they cannot reproduce the noise.....

gareth12468 wrote

Would you mind showing some pics please?

Yes, please see the red arrows in picture below that shows the black plastic stoppers that needed to be adjusted. Just give them a half turn (counter clockwise) and check to see if tailgate is more secure. Only a half turn has solved our tailgate rattle issues!


*Note: the picture is not of my X3, but the same parts are on the X3.


I hope this helps for your tailgate rattle issue as it helped me!