Glove box/passenger dash rattle cured

Hi,

I finally managed to figure out what was causing any annoying rattling from the glove box or passenger side dash in my 700 mile car. I had taken it to the dealer twice and they said they had a tech check it and make adjustments, but whatever they did had no effect. So the other day I spent some time going over each of the little nuts that are accessible in the area. I used a torque wrench to remove the screws so I could measure how tight they were from the factory. I read around 12-15 lbs, except for one nut below and about 2 inches from the front of the glove box door. That nut came loose with less than 8 pounds. I re-torqued it to 18 lbs and the rattle is gone.

The car is now rattle free, even when go I over some rough spots of our fine California highways. More importantly I no longer have constant annoyance that made the car feel cheap.

Jerry

Next time you contact the dealer you should ask the service manager why his techs are incapable of doing this simple task and why he thinks his service department should receive 10s on the survey. Glad you found the problem!!

Originally Posted by tturedraider

Next time you contact the dealer you should ask the service manager why his techs are incapable of doing this simple task and why he thinks his service department should receive 10s on the survey. Glad you found the problem!!

10s on the survey?? Not happening on this visit. I am thinking a 4-5 on ability for making a failed effort and maybe an 8 on hospitality for greeting me and providing me a coffee.

was it a rattle or squeak?
I have a dash squeak that's driving me nuts..

Originally Posted by jerrykur

Hi,

I finally managed to figure out what was causing any annoying rattling from the glove box or passenger side dash in my 700 mile car. I had taken it to the dealer twice and they said they had a tech check it and make adjustments, but whatever they did had no effect. So the other day I spent some time going over each of the little nuts that are accessible in the area. I used a torque wrench to remove the screws so I could measure how tight they were from the factory. I read around 12-15 lbs, except for one nut below and about 2 inches from the front of the glove box door. That nut came loose with less than 8 pounds. I re-torqued it to 18 lbs and the rattle is gone.

The car is now rattle free, even when go I over some rough spots of our fine California highways. More importantly I no longer have constant annoyance that made the car feel cheap.

Jerry

The same thing is happening to me, and it is driving me NUTS! I brought the car in once and they re-fastened the trim, did nothing. I went back today and took the tech on a test drive... The car was silent!! It rattled about 70% of the time. I will try this.

Originally Posted by suneil

was it a rattle or squeak?
I have a dash squeak that's driving me nuts..

Mine was definitely a rattle, but a squeak could be caused by something coming loose and letting things move around. You could try tightening up the fasteners. They are all pretty small and connecting pieces of plastic so do not over-tighten them. Just nice and snug.

Best of luck.

Jerry

Originally Posted by jerrykur

Hi,

I finally managed to figure out what was causing any annoying rattling from the glove box or passenger side dash in my 700 mile car. I had taken it to the dealer twice and they said they had a tech check it and make adjustments, but whatever they did had no effect. So the other day I spent some time going over each of the little nuts that are accessible in the area. I used a torque wrench to remove the screws so I could measure how tight they were from the factory. I read around 12-15 lbs, except for one nut below and about 2 inches from the front of the glove box door. That nut came loose with less than 8 pounds. I re-torqued it to 18 lbs and the rattle is gone.

The car is now rattle free, even when go I over some rough spots of our fine California highways. More importantly I no longer have constant annoyance that made the car feel cheap.

Jerry

Jerry, can you take a photo and circle the screw that was the problem? Mine is driving me crazy!

Originally Posted by jerrykur

Mine was definitely a rattle, but a squeak could be caused by something coming loose and letting things move around. You could try tightening up the fasteners. They are all pretty small and connecting pieces of plastic so do not over-tighten them. Just nice and snug.

Best of luck.

Jerry

I definately need a photo of where you are taking about. I just went out and looked and I don't see any fasteners that are in plain view. Are you pulling off trim from the inside of the glove box? Are you talking about fasteners that hold the glove box door or something underneith the whole thing?

Originally Posted by Ken335i

Jerry, can you take a photo and circle the screw that was the problem? Mine is driving me crazy!

I would appreciate this as well. Thanks!

I will try to get a picture, but in the meantime run you hand underneath the glove box. There is a panel and about 1-2 inches from the front and on the sides are the nuts sitting in a well.

Found them! You really have to stand on your head to see them. They are 10mm nuts on a stud. I only saw two them and tightened them slightly. No rattles during the test drive! They were loose enough that I could easily turn them by hand just using the socket extender.

Love you man for figuring this out!

Originally Posted by Ken335i

Found them! You really have to stand on your head to see them. They are 10mm nuts on a stud. I only saw two them and tightened them slightly. No rattles during the test drive! They were loose enough that I could easily turn them by hand just using the socket extender.

Love you man for figuring this out!

Great. I will thank my wife. She was patient enough to drive over and over a rough patch of road while I crawled around under the dash.

BTW, what does this say about BMW QA that these nuts are obviously not being tightened correctly at the factory?

Ken, my car was assembled in South Africa, where was yours assembled?

Originally Posted by jerrykur

Great. I will thank my wife. She was patient enough to drive over and over a rough patch of road while I crawled around under the dash.

We need pictures of this!

Originally Posted by jerrykur

Great. I will thank my wife. She was patient enough to drive over and over a rough patch of road while I crawled around under the dash.

BTW, what does this say about BMW QA that these nuts are obviously not being tightened correctly at the factory?

Ken, my car was assembled in South Africa, where was yours assembled?

Mine was assembled in Germany. Looks like they need to change the glove box production/installation instructions - torque nuts past thumb-tight.

I'm just so happy that I don't have to drop the car off at the dealer and possibly get into a fix-it twirl. I like a tight car!