I'm the third owner of a pretty nice 2003 E39 (silver, premium and sport packages), and it has been really good to me over the last couple of years of ownership, EXCEPT the wind noise. When I'm on the freeway I get some pretty serious wind noise from the right year door area. It actually sounds like the right rear window is open half an inch...which of course it isn't. I have discovered that this problem CAN be caused by missing 'jacking supports' , and was pretty excited to discover that all four of mine were in fact missing ("oh boy, I finally figured it out" I thought to myelf). Unfortunately, once I duct taped over the body holes where the jacking supports go, I didn't experience any improvement in the noise level. So...does anyone have any other ideas? I have heard that there is a seal inside the door that might be loose and cause something like this...but I'm not thrilled about trying to pull the door apart (tips on how to do so, and advice on whether that is likely to pay off is appreciated). Sean
Not saying this is the problem, but I have to say that just putting tape over holes isn't going to do much about noise. For example, my mother's car (Nissan Sentra) suffered a minor accident in which the passenger mirror fell off. Since I don't have a glue gun to put the mirror back on, I put tape over the holes so that rain wouldn't get inside. It is extremely noisy on the highway and moderately noisy in the city. What kind of supports are these? Are they of a material that would prevent noise once installed?
The missing supports are hard black plastic, and are supposed to be (two to a side under the car) what the BMW jack lifts the car by. They are frequently missing (from what I've been told anyway) and missing them is supposed to be a major source of wind noise. Either way, I needed to get replacements anyhow, since without them my jack won't work (fortunately I haven't needed to use the jack to this point), but I was really hoping they would help with the noise problem. I'll hold off on doing anything drastic (like trying to figure out how to crack the door open) until I get the new supports installed, but I'm not that hopeful they'll help right now....
Well if the doors are shut and aligned properly (are flush with the car when shut), sound insulation is intact (I assume the E39 had sound insulation around the door areas?), mirrors are attached properly, and windows are shut completely, then I would say those missing jack supports are the culprit. It doesn't seem logical for it to be anything else...
jacking support / plug The 'plug' that I think you're asking about (and there are 4 of them) are inserted into round holes in the body. If you were to look at the underside of the body just inside the closed driver's door, you should either see a rectangular rubber 'plug' or a circular hole in the body (where the plug goes) no more than about 2 inches in from the door sill. Once you find this one, look for similar locations on the right front, left rear, and right rear of the car. It's REALLY common to be missing all four, and aside from the possibility for wind noise, your BMW jack WILL NOT WORK without these plugs in place. Not just 'be a little dangerous', but full on WILL NOT WORK. I was missing all four, so I bought five - I keep a spare with the jack now, just in case I get stuck. here's a picture from realoem of the part (#12 in the diagram -BMW part number 51717001650) and its approximate front left location. http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DT63&mospid=47587&btnr=51_2295&hg=51&fg=80 Hope this helps Sean
