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2011 X5 making serous creaking noise from rear

29K views 35 replies 18 participants last post by  Flying Ace 
#1 · (Edited)
When i approach my driveway to park my car, i have this creaking noise coming from the rear right side of the car.

following are the order of events in relation to this noise.

1- I approach and steer to the right (my house is on the right side) i approach it diagonally.
2- passenger front is the first wheel hits the driveway = No Noise at this moment
3- Driver front is the second wheel hits the driveway, as soon as driver front tire touchdown, the right rear side of the car, I guess stretches (lack of vocabulary) and simultaneously the rear passenger in the trunk area some sort of creaking/knocking sound.
It is hard to verbally describe but, it almost feels like there are few bolts loose on the frame or on the strut tower of the car so that a the impact creating this knocking /creaking kind of a noise.

This whole thing is happening in a matter of seconds, as soon as the rear driver side tire hits the driveway everything is back to normal.

Has anyone hear anything like that on their X5.

I have a 35D standard wheels no sport pack. in case if you needed to ask me.
Trunk is empty and i also removed the spare too to diagnose the noise better.

Opinions are welcome.
:thumbup:
 
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#2 ·
You need to have the rear hatch adjusted / aligned. Very common problem on the E70 - had it on my 2007 and 2008. Hasn't happened yet on my 2011, but just a matter of time. Your dealer should be very familiar with the problem and the way to resolve it.
 
#4 ·
Not just interesting. Freaking FASCINATING. Do go on......

Seriously THEY ALL DO THAT. Call your dealer - he can make the creak go away.
 
#10 ·
Anyone have a copy or a link to the print of SB 33 05 08? I'm having the creak/clunk (but thankfully no pooping) in the rear of our new 50i. Fits the OP's description to the letter, and I'd like to be armed with the info when I visit the dealer.
 
#11 ·
I have the same problem on mine. It's more of a 'gong' noise. I took it to my dealer once and they told me they adjusted the lift gate latch. The noise was gone for a couple of days but returned. My dealer is about an hour from where I live so I just dealt with the noise. I will definitely tell them about this SB. Thanks for the info!
 
#13 ·
FYI for anyone getting a creak from the tailgate area, I picked up my '11 50i yesterday after having the issue checked. So far the noise is gone, and the service report reads:

"VERIFIED HARSH POPPING NOISE FROM REAR TAIL GATES AS BODY FLEXED.
PERFORMED BULLETIN 513710 ADJUST FIRST. NOISE STILL PRESENT. ADJUSTED LOWER REAR GATE AND UPPER GATE. NOISE NOW GONE"

So, while I couldn't locate a readable copy of the SB, it seems there is now one in existence for the gate as well as the suspension noted in the OP's entry.
 
#16 ·
FYI - I took mine in a week after delivery and here is their service notes:

THE REAR TAILGATE AND HATCH NEED ADJUSTMENT. ADJUSTED BOTH LATCHES ON THE LOWER TAILGATE ASSEMBLY. ADJUSTED THE LATCH ON THE REAR HATCH. TEST DROVE CAR. NO FURTHER NOISE HEARD.

When I picked up the car, I immediately test drove the car in their parking lot ramp. The noise was indeed gone but it came back 2 days later.
 
#14 ·
I took out the cargo cover to transport something, put it back in and creaking sounds started, couldn't figure it out for a week or two, just realized the other day, took it down and the creaking sound stopped, letting it settle for a few days more, putting it back in this weekend and see what happens. I know, my grammar sucks.
 
#15 ·
Rear sound

I have a 2010 X5 35d with sports pkg and have had a similar issue. The sound originates in a similar fashion and sounds like its coming from the right rear strut. I had the dealer investigate the issue and they, of course, could not replicate the matter. My other suspiciion is that it may have something to do with the fuel tank as that's the side you re-fuel the car from and possibly there is some friction or creaking that originates from that. If you find out what it is, let us know.
 
#23 ·
I have a 2010 X5 35d with sports pkg and have had a similar issue. The sound originates in a similar fashion and sounds like its coming from the right rear strut. I had the dealer investigate the issue and they, of course, could not replicate the matter. My other suspiciion is that it may have something to do with the fuel tank as that's the side you re-fuel the car from and possibly there is some friction or creaking that originates from that. If you find out what it is, let us know.
I have same creaking noise it's had a complete suspension refurb ie all bushings including control arms problem not solved I've tried everything.i now am almost sure it's the long bolt nearest to the wheel I'm going to remove it apply grease and I will let you know
 
#22 ·
Happens on occasion with my dad's X5 as well. I'll let him know, whether he decides to fix it, is his decision.
 
#24 ·
Mine was the rear fold-down seat latch (U-shaped metal thing near the top) that made some noise on one side but it sure sounded like something further back in the vehicle. (Some fuzzy/hairy Velcro wrapped around the two U-shaped brackets (both sides) solved this noise problem on mine:))
 
#28 ·
I've made three different adjustments on mine which definitely helped with the rattles and creaks... and I can't believe I'm even saying this about a $60k+ car, but there it is.

1. As was mentioned in this post, the rear seats can rattle when in the up position and latched. The issue is the pressure on the latch isn't enough so it allows the seat itself to move on the latch which causes the noise. A band-aid fix is to wrap the latch with something so it's not metal on metal, such as electric tape, etc. I say band-aid because it's not really a proper fix. I wrapped mine with electric tape and was too lazy to dig behind the panel to see if there is an actual adjustment for the latch, which I assume there should be. An easy test to see if your rear seat(s) are making noise (mine was just the driver side) is to fold them down and then drive around. If the noise goes away you know where it's coming from.

2. The latch for the rear hatch (upper) itself has an adjustment on the lower tailgate. There are two bolts holding the latch so I loosened them a little and pushed the latch as far inward (towards the inside of the car) as possible then re-tightened. This puts more pressure on the hatch when it's closed and keeps it from rattling. This worked very well in my case but may also have worked better because of the number 3 adjustment which I'll describe next. A note on this one, the bracket for the latch has two empty holes as well which looks like there are two bolts missing. I'm not sure if it was intentional but I've read other people say theirs are found this way as well. I'm not sure if you can add two additional bolts or not and I always wondered if the two existing ones are enough to hold the latch from moving back over time. I guess we'll see.

3. This third adjustment I found on another forum. It involves backing out two rubber stops from the pillar/frame that the hatch rests on. The idea here is to put pressure on the hatch when closed thus not allowing it to rattle around. It definitely helped on mine. Here is the link to the post and the procedure is an attached PDF. http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-for...nocking-sound-rear-1-4-inside.html#post778376

Also, another note is that making the rear hatch adjustments will affect how the hatch lines up with the rear panels of the car. In my case when the hatch was closed it was obvious that it should be a little tighter as the hatch stuck out a little further then the rear-quarter panels and wasn't lining up like a BMW should. After the adjustments everything lines up properly now and when I close the hatch it does a solid thunk where before the whole thing rattled to a stop. I still do have a little bit of creak here and there but it's SO much better than it was before.
 
#29 ·
Thank you for sharing your experience, rpoitras.

For #2, have you tried to adjust two U shape latches on the lower tailgate? I also read from other forums that putting some electric tapes might help which unfortunately doesn't work in my case. Or you just adjust the latch in the middle of the lower tailgate?
 
#30 ·
No I didn't touch the latches on the lower tailgate at all. I think tightening up the hatch also puts pressure on the lower part as well so in my case it works. I've noticed that my lower portion is pretty tight anyway because if I don't close it with a fair amount of force it registers as not closed by the car and won't allow the upper hatch to close until I firmly close the lower portion.
 
#32 ·
I solved mine by wrapping a short-length Velcro (the fuzzy/hairy part) around the C-shape latch for the rear seat (fold down the rear seat and the C-shaped thing is right there). We wrap it where we can see some paint rub-off spots. And do this again every few months lol.
 
#34 ·
try driving with the tailgate open- that can tell you if it is in the pillars or a hatch alignment/latching force issue. You dont need to drive 10 miles, just pick those maneuvers that you know will cause the noise...
 
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