hi, have a 2011 328 xi and several weeks ago i began to hear a rattle that sounds like it is coming from behind the rear seats. my rear seats do not fold down. it is metal on metal contact almost sounding like a loose seatbelt. brought it to bmw service. they kept the car for 5 days while giving me a loner car. i was treated very well and told that bolts were lose on the moon roof and everything was torqued including the wheel struts. they test drove the car and did not hear the rattle. i picked up the car and heard the rattle on the way home. don't want to get a bad reputation with bmw but apparently they cannot id the source. my plan is to let them work on this problem in the spring when i'll get an oil change. any thoughts anyone? thanks, paul
Unless whatever it is, is driving you absolutely nuts, I'd suggest tolerating it for awhile and giving yourself a chance to try and zone in on it and narrow it down for your dealer. Things like that, particularly if intermittent, can be tough for the dealer to reproduce at all, much less identify. You can help a lot with that if, after paying attention to under exactly what circumstances it appears, you can share your observations with your dealer. Pay attention to whatever you may be doing or what attitude the car is in - coasting, braking, turning, shifting, uphill, downhill, etc. etc. etc. Do whatever you can (safely) to reproduce the sound/issue. If you have it narrowed down, bang around with your fist, try to make it knock. If you think it's below the trunk, perhaps a look under the car for anything loose is an idea. Use all appropriate techniques & safeguards for jacking up the car if you do it yourself, in a worst case scenario not following proper jacking/safety protocols can get you killed.