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Solved all the squeaks, snaps and pops in my 2005 MCS JCW dash very easily. I complained to the dealer a couple
years back and they pulled off all the front trim panels (3) and the side panels , hidden by the car doors and installed
strips of felt tape. This did not solve the problem but caused more. Like loud snaps and pops when I hit expansion
joints and cracks in the road. There was also a constant squeak from the glove box area. I finally decided this isn't
rocket science and couldn't believe that BMW would design in so much noise. I removed the tach and the 3 trim
panels and quickly identified the problem. When you push at any point on the dash pad or front panels it would creek
in 3 or 4 places all over the place. Why? The felt tape they installed to quiet things just introduced stress (high spots)
in the panels making the contact points higher pressure so the plastic to plastic would snap when flexed even the
smallest bit. I thought about it and came up with the solution. The trim panel's edges lay in channels of the
substructure and is a pure plastic to plastic contact. I removed all the felt the dealer installed so the panels fit flush
and even as designed. But the P-P contact is still there. Here's the beauty part. I needed to put a barrier in place that
would not be thick and introduce distortion. It can't be plastic or rubber, that would squeak too. Fluids won't work as
they just get pushed aside at high pressure points. The solution was a very slick and abrasive resistant tape that is
made for medical use. It is woven nylon and easy to mold, and very slick so not to catch clothes when used for
medical purposes. It's made by 3M and called Durapore. I simply applied the tape around the entire perimeter of each
of the 3 panels so that it wrapped over the edge, mostly on the backside and about an 1/8" on the painted side. When
installed these edges fall into the substructure channels and don't show at all. I also put the tape over the metal clips
that hold the panels in place. I also lined all the edges that contact P-P on the glove box assembly. The constant
squeaker on the glove box is a 1"x1" tab that slides into a slot on the right side of the assembly. A simple strip of tape
solved the problem. You can find squeaks by pushing on the panels and the flexing reveals the problem areas. The
thin tape lets the parts move and flex but now the rubbing is not P-P but plastic to slick nylon tape. Slick like those
disco-shirts from the 70's! Two other problem areas to look at are where the middle panel rubs the two trim bars on
the side of the center console. The radiused out area of the panel can rub on these bar covers. Also the bottom of
these trim bars sit in a pocket of rigid molded foam and flexing causes squeaks. Cover the contact areas in a single
layer of this tape and no more noise. My car is now QUIET !!! I still have one rattle to fix. It sounds like a marble
hopping in a plastic tray. It sounds like it's coming from everywhere depending on where you move your head. It only
rattles over bumps. I found it and now need to devise a way to stop it. It's in the sun roof mechanism inside the roof.
It's part of the track and arm mechanism and stops when the vent is open and under pressure but loose when it's all
closed up (from online forum).
years back and they pulled off all the front trim panels (3) and the side panels , hidden by the car doors and installed
strips of felt tape. This did not solve the problem but caused more. Like loud snaps and pops when I hit expansion
joints and cracks in the road. There was also a constant squeak from the glove box area. I finally decided this isn't
rocket science and couldn't believe that BMW would design in so much noise. I removed the tach and the 3 trim
panels and quickly identified the problem. When you push at any point on the dash pad or front panels it would creek
in 3 or 4 places all over the place. Why? The felt tape they installed to quiet things just introduced stress (high spots)
in the panels making the contact points higher pressure so the plastic to plastic would snap when flexed even the
smallest bit. I thought about it and came up with the solution. The trim panel's edges lay in channels of the
substructure and is a pure plastic to plastic contact. I removed all the felt the dealer installed so the panels fit flush
and even as designed. But the P-P contact is still there. Here's the beauty part. I needed to put a barrier in place that
would not be thick and introduce distortion. It can't be plastic or rubber, that would squeak too. Fluids won't work as
they just get pushed aside at high pressure points. The solution was a very slick and abrasive resistant tape that is
made for medical use. It is woven nylon and easy to mold, and very slick so not to catch clothes when used for
medical purposes. It's made by 3M and called Durapore. I simply applied the tape around the entire perimeter of each
of the 3 panels so that it wrapped over the edge, mostly on the backside and about an 1/8" on the painted side. When
installed these edges fall into the substructure channels and don't show at all. I also put the tape over the metal clips
that hold the panels in place. I also lined all the edges that contact P-P on the glove box assembly. The constant
squeaker on the glove box is a 1"x1" tab that slides into a slot on the right side of the assembly. A simple strip of tape
solved the problem. You can find squeaks by pushing on the panels and the flexing reveals the problem areas. The
thin tape lets the parts move and flex but now the rubbing is not P-P but plastic to slick nylon tape. Slick like those
disco-shirts from the 70's! Two other problem areas to look at are where the middle panel rubs the two trim bars on
the side of the center console. The radiused out area of the panel can rub on these bar covers. Also the bottom of
these trim bars sit in a pocket of rigid molded foam and flexing causes squeaks. Cover the contact areas in a single
layer of this tape and no more noise. My car is now QUIET !!! I still have one rattle to fix. It sounds like a marble
hopping in a plastic tray. It sounds like it's coming from everywhere depending on where you move your head. It only
rattles over bumps. I found it and now need to devise a way to stop it. It's in the sun roof mechanism inside the roof.
It's part of the track and arm mechanism and stops when the vent is open and under pressure but loose when it's all
closed up (from online forum).
| Dash Rattle Solution |
| OR |
My `05 S has had plastic rattles, clicks, and ticks in the dashboard since the day I bought it. Very
annoying, since I have put maybe 25 lbs. of acoustic treatment into the rest of of the car to make it
more habitable.
I have taken it in for warranty service for interior plastic-noises issues five times. Most recently,
Rasmussen MINI replaced the whole dashboard cap, and used almost an entire roll of felt tape while
installing it, according to the service records.
It still rattled. More like a BMC than a BMW-derived car, if you know what I mean...
Today, after all that, I solved the issue for once and for all - at least so far, so good.
I had noticed that whenever the dash started making cheap-plastic noises excited by the road, I could
always kill the noises by pressing down lightly on almost any part of the dash cap.
So I took some open-cell urethane foam and shoved it into the gap between the black paint at the
bottom of windshield and the dash-cap. It puts just enough very-light down-pressure across the dash to
shut it the h**l up.
Results are amazing. For the first time in three years, the dashboard does not click and tick on every
tarstrip, pot-hole, and patch on the road. If I tap on the top of the dash with a couple of fingers it does
not respond with cheap-plastic noises, and I can finally hear the H-K without accompanying road-rattle.
The stuff I used is intended as weather-stripping for installing air-conditioners. You can find it at any
hardware store. It's soft grey open-cell urethane foam, 1-1/2" square section, four feet long, with no
adhesive - about $5 - comes rolled up in a plastic bag in the weather-stripping section.
I used a credit card to shove it into the gap, where it is basically invisible. Problem solved (three years
and multiple dealer interventions later). It is easy to pull it out of there in one piece with a needle-nose,
if ever needed.
Looks like this, but is smaller - 1-1/2". I got it at Ace hardware.
http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com...l-p-52137.html (from online forums)
annoying, since I have put maybe 25 lbs. of acoustic treatment into the rest of of the car to make it
more habitable.
I have taken it in for warranty service for interior plastic-noises issues five times. Most recently,
Rasmussen MINI replaced the whole dashboard cap, and used almost an entire roll of felt tape while
installing it, according to the service records.
It still rattled. More like a BMC than a BMW-derived car, if you know what I mean...
Today, after all that, I solved the issue for once and for all - at least so far, so good.
I had noticed that whenever the dash started making cheap-plastic noises excited by the road, I could
always kill the noises by pressing down lightly on almost any part of the dash cap.
So I took some open-cell urethane foam and shoved it into the gap between the black paint at the
bottom of windshield and the dash-cap. It puts just enough very-light down-pressure across the dash to
shut it the h**l up.
Results are amazing. For the first time in three years, the dashboard does not click and tick on every
tarstrip, pot-hole, and patch on the road. If I tap on the top of the dash with a couple of fingers it does
not respond with cheap-plastic noises, and I can finally hear the H-K without accompanying road-rattle.
The stuff I used is intended as weather-stripping for installing air-conditioners. You can find it at any
hardware store. It's soft grey open-cell urethane foam, 1-1/2" square section, four feet long, with no
adhesive - about $5 - comes rolled up in a plastic bag in the weather-stripping section.
I used a credit card to shove it into the gap, where it is basically invisible. Problem solved (three years
and multiple dealer interventions later). It is easy to pull it out of there in one piece with a needle-nose,
if ever needed.
Looks like this, but is smaller - 1-1/2". I got it at Ace hardware.
http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com...l-p-52137.html (from online forums)