Creaking Door or Window

I've got a 2 month old 50i with about 1100kms on it and the passenger door is creaking and driving me crazy. The creak happens as you start off from a stop or as you turn at low speed.

The creak stops if I lower the passenger window a quarter of an inch or more. I've read about the felt around the door frame causing the creak but the glass is still firmly in contact with the felt when its lowered a quarter inch.

It also seems to come from the door more than the glass. Having driven a convertible 3 series for years I've learned that noises don't always come from where they seem.

Any ideas?

Originally Posted by Rosmoss

I've got a 2 month old 50i with about 1100kms on it and the passenger door is creaking and driving me crazy. The creak happens as you start off from a stop or as you turn at low speed.

The creak stops if I lower the passenger window a quarter of an inch or more. I've read about the felt around the door frame causing the creak but the glass is still firmly in contact with the felt when its lowered a quarter inch.

It also seems to come from the door more than the glass. Having driven a convertible 3 series for years I've learned that noises don't always come from where they seem.

Any ideas?

I had it happen with our former 2008 X5 constantly. It was so annoying. The dealer looked at it several times and did finally fix it, however, I don't think they did anything except clean & wipe down the window & felt. You could do that yourself. My 328i does it a little bit and I get it to go away after I simply clean the window.

Unfortunately I think that noise is common with most BMW's. Luckily it is an easy fix.

OK, this is a subject that I do know something about !

window - the felt on the door seal is actually there to stop squeak noises. It's a common car industry design DNA.
The squeak can be caused by dust in the seal, annouying, but as said regular cleaning can temporarily cure it.
The root cause of course is in the door structure design. Basically the door glass is moving in the frame, caused by door frame twist.

Door seal squeak - Very similar to the window squeak it's known as seal itch as the seal drys out and in more humid, or very dry and dusty enviroments, the door moving in the body as you drive makes it squeak.
can be temporaily cured by lubricating the seal with a silicon spray.
root cause is again design I'm afraid. Our beloved BMW Engineers have not done a very good job on the door shut closures design. It's all down to how much money they were prepared to pay to the door seal supplier for the parts.

What can your dealer do for you ???
He will probably have from BMW an industrial strength lubricant, that he can apply (under warranty) which will fix it through the summer. Those lubricants only tend to last for a few months. Next summer it will come back.

What can BMW do about it ????
Well, it depends on how serious they take the problem to be ! They can do extensive testing, and design a new door seal, but to be honest, if they haven't done it by the 2011 face lift, then I don't think that they are planning to do it.

Originally Posted by Rosmoss

I've got a 2 month old 50i with about 1100kms on it and the passenger door is creaking and driving me crazy. The creak happens as you start off from a stop or as you turn at low speed.

The creak stops if I lower the passenger window a quarter of an inch or more. I've read about the felt around the door frame causing the creak but the glass is still firmly in contact with the felt when its lowered a quarter inch.

It also seems to come from the door more than the glass. Having driven a convertible 3 series for years I've learned that noises don't always come from where they seem.

Any ideas?

Just Had mine fixed yesterday. It was driving me bananas. Sounded like an old creaky ship. My work order says "Applied Carboflow to R/F door seal." It's fine now.

Thanks for the help - now I'll be armed when I go into the dealership.

Yep, as I said, they are going for the quick fix.

Unfortunately, my X5 is doing it too, so I tried a quick fix of silicon spray, but it didn't work.
I was about to get one of our Techs to treat my car, but I think I'll run it around the corner to the dealer, and get them to do it under warranty.
The more warranty claims that are put in, the more BMW's Quality guys doing my job will take notice, and drive a design fix for future models.

It would be interesting to log the mileage when it was applied to see how long it lasts.
I'm expecting to be going back again by about October, unless it's quite in Winter times.

about 10 or 20,000 would be max before it starts again.

Originally Posted by Marlbro

Yep, as I said, they are going for the quick fix.

Unfortunately, my X5 is doing it too, so I tried a quick fix of silicon spray, but it didn't work.
I was about to get one of our Techs to treat my car, but I think I'll run it around the corner to the dealer, and get them to do it under warranty.
The more warranty claims that are put in, the more BMW's Quality guys doing my job will take notice, and drive a design fix for future models.

It would be interesting to log the mileage when it was applied to see how long it lasts.
I'm expecting to be going back again by about October, unless it's quite in Winter times.

about 10 or 20,000 would be max before it starts again.

Well that quick fix was short lived. Problem is back already, not as bad as before but almost there.

My Wife's 2011 X5 35d just started doing it too. Mileage is at about 1000. Our last X5 did it too...it stopped after time & plenty of "treatments" from the dealer. I agree it is a very lame thing to have happen to such a nice car. Seems cheap.

Originally Posted by Nick9597

My Wife's 2011 X5 35d just started doing it too. Mileage is at about 1000. Our last X5 did it too...it stopped after time & plenty of "treatments" from the dealer. I agree it is a very lame thing to have happen to such a nice car. Seems cheap.

Now all the doors are doing it.

My old E 39 M5 did this when I had it years ago, The fix at the dealer would always just last a couple of months. My service guy told me lots of BMW's have this problem, has to do with the design. So far my new X5 is quiet, hope that lasts.

My 2010 35d is creaking as well. Started about 3500 miles in on passenger door and quickly seemed to come from all four doors. They "cleaned the seals" and applied teflon tape. It stopped for a few days and came right back but only the passenger door this time. Took it back and they removed tape from that door only ??? and cleaned seals. Again quiet for about two days and back again. This time they said it could be a cracked weld on the frame and that they would remove the headliner to check as this had been a common problem on the E70. They claim not defect was found and they reapplied the tape to that door. Now I have rattles in the headliner.

Originally Posted by Rosmoss

I've got a 2 month old 50i with about 1100kms on it and the passenger door is creaking and driving me crazy. The creak happens as you start off from a stop or as you turn at low speed.

The creak stops if I lower the passenger window a quarter of an inch or more. I've read about the felt around the door frame causing the creak but the glass is still firmly in contact with the felt when its lowered a quarter inch.

It also seems to come from the door more than the glass. Having driven a convertible 3 series for years I've learned that noises don't always come from where they seem.

Any ideas?

Best solution we have found is Wurth Rubber Care Gel Sticks...

This silicone free gel stick is used to keep your rubber seals in good condition, while also preventing the seals from freezing in the winter.

Keeping your rubber parts in good condition prevents cracking, increases service life. While also eliminating squealing and creaking caused by dry rubber.

Click HERE for more information.


Please let us know if you have any questions! Feel free to shoot me a PM or email.

Best,
Joe

@ Joe,

nice Ad for your business, and it probably will work, as it is a Lubricant, but the point is that BMW are refusing to take this issue on board and fix the Design.
So, as they have recogniosed it as being a warranty claim to put carboflo on it, everyone on this forum that has this problem should take their car back as often as required, for the dealer to treat their seals at BMW's expense.
these claims will drive a warranty spike, and their management will be looking at that.
those figures should drive them into doing something, because it will be costing them money, and reputation.

Could someone tell me or show me with pics where exactly the door seals need to be "lubed"? I applied the Wurth Rubber Care Gel Stick to no avail. Frankly, I'm getting very tired of this issue.

Thanks!

Apply to seals on both the door and the frame. Make sure to also cleanup the body frame around areas where seal touches it - I found mine was covered with some sticky residue...

Apply it to the rubber seals AND the upper felt on the doors. My M3 and the wife's X5 both have this problem.

Originally Posted by darwin316

Apply it to the rubber seals AND the upper felt on the doors. My M3 and the wife's X5 both have this problem.

Thanks guys. Now, I put it on the felt as well? Wont the window get smudged with the product?
I did put it in the door seals and it is as loud as ever. The only thing that silences the noise is putting the window down a couple inches and then it is quiet. Does this indicate it is a felt issue, not a door seal issue?

Thanks again!

Not on the felt around the glass - the felt on the very top edge of the door!

As I said, clean up very well the door and body frame areas where seal from opposite part touches it!

Originally Posted by alexmish

Not on the felt around the glass - the felt on the very top edge of the door!

As I said, clean up very well the door and body frame areas where seal from opposite part touches it!

I see. I know where you are talking about now. I'll give that a try. Thanks again.

I have seen many post in E90 forum that the felt type material should not be lubed, it will cause more noise very soon cause the lubed will attract more dirt stick on it.
I found my 30d LCI creak on driver side door immediately after took delivery & the first drive, took it back to dealer, they fixed it with Lubricant, problem solve for about a month, now came back with more creak ! I have follow the E90 forum suggestion to clean all the felt material properly & let it dry, the creak now reduce a lot but still not go away completely and become more & more & more & come over time. It is driving me crazy. might just leave it and hope it will go away overtime.

It is also excited by the weather conditions (Humidity) Mine was during the hot weather of August, I have'nt noticed it lately.

would be intersting to hear from others that have had this issue, if they also experienced it going away, as the weather gets cooler.

First post on this forum - great forum!

My 2011 X5 diesel (6,000 miles) has exact same issue - front passenger door. Ditto issue as described in the #1 comment on this thread . . . happens when you start off from stop, no noise when the window is lowered about a quarter inch. Creaking sound was there about two months ago, then disappeared on its own, reappeared again last week. After washing the car yesterday (manual wash at a car wash place using high pressure water) creaking sound disappeared again!

Regarding humidity - last week it rained pretty much every day, that is when the creaking sound reappeared. Now it is dry, the sound is gone. I would have guessed the opposite - humidity will help with lubrication and less likely to creak. Maybe the wash yesterday cleaned the felt and solved the problem - at least temporarily.

If this creaking sound comes back again, is Carboflo (comment #4) better than a transparent teflon tape (comment #11), or is it the other way around?

Can an individual purchase Carboflo?

I do have the same issue. I didn't realize that it is a common problem. I have 2011 X5 35D August Build (7000 Miles). I thought factory/dealer forgot to remove some packing materials in the car and kept looking for those every where. Didn't except something like that coming from a 70K car . My E46 (RIP) never have that issue when first got it. I guess I am going to dealer to get it fixed and get the issue in the system. Worse is bad creaking noise coming from steering column which i posted earlier in the forum.

same noise here too, 2011 x5 drivers door, if i lower the window 1/16 of an inch no noise.

Originally Posted by hanhth

I do have the same issue. I didn't realize that it is a common problem. I have 2011 X5 35D August Build (7000 Miles). I thought factory/dealer forgot to remove some packing materials in the car and kept looking for those every where. Didn't except something like that coming from a 70K car . My E46 (RIP) never have that issue when first got it. I guess I am going to dealer to get it fixed and get the issue in the system. Worse is bad creaking noise coming from steering column which i posted earlier in the forum.

• Creaking noise disappears at highway speeds (~70 mph) - wind load might be just enough to prevent this noise.

• My sister (Singapore based) had the same issue with her 3 series, 2008 model year. Dealer knew right away what to do, applied "transparent friction tape" (my guess is it is the same thing as teflon tape mentioned in this thread). So far it is working for her, no noise since then.

• Please post dealer response/fix after yours is fixed, I will do likewise. Waiting for noise to reappear before taking it to the dealer.

• Mine is a July 2010 build, no other issues, no steering column noise, overall very happy, first diesel, glad I got a diesel.