E39 540 Issue

[///MALCOLM325]

Hi Guys,

So my wife used the 540 this weekend and went over a speed bump fiercely and when I drove it this morning I got a flapping noise under the passenger side of the car, seems like the rubber cover under the front passenger side has been ripped in places. The sound coming from under the car seems like the noise you hear when the plastic under the wheel arch rubs onto the tyre. The noise is intermittent, mostly at take off, which is weird, after 40km/h, no sound.

So before cutting out the torn piece I just want to check if its wise to do so..the noise is driving me up the wall.

 

[rick540]

It's mostly for areodynamic purposes and covers the fuel filter as well.

It's perfectly safe to remove it but should be replaced sometime as it (sort of) protects the fuel filter.

 

[moranor@axis]

its a squirrel whacking off under your car :rollsmile:

 

[///MALCOLM325]

Well I wish the squirrel would arrive already!

One more thing guys, seems like the car is going to be used for a month or so full time and its got me on the edge already. So I want to make sure everything is 100's...so would like to do a full engine, gearbox, suspension check up - perhaps a oil and filter change as well. Anywhere trustworthy in Pretoria east or Centurion that will be able to give me some pure piece of mind.

 

[Legacy]

You let your wife drive your car??

 

[Sith]

its a squirrel whacking off under your car :rollsmile:

:roflol:

 

[whattingh]

So my wife used the 540 this weekend

Now there's your problem...

some pics might make it bit more clear.

If it is the wheel arch plastic then you want to attend to it asap as if the wheel grips it somehow it could damage something else.

 

[///MALCOLM325]

I checked that its not the wheel arch covers, made 100% sure. Its just the same noise as that, and when I checked under the car, there was a piece of the cover hanging, which I eventually pulled off. Now the sound is intermittent when pulling off, from take off to around 20 km/h, then its gone. The sound is like a plastic scraping on the road, like when a mudflap touches the floor, the thing is, there is nothing touching the floor, going to put it on a lift around lunch time and get some clarity. It really is weird.

 

[whattingh]

sound can be misleading sometimes. Check the front half of the underside of the car. You said she hit a speed bump. Chance are the driver side one is also damage. Also maybe check the plastic cover that sit between the front bumper and the sump guard plate.
That is the main ones I can think of now.

best bet is to jack it up an check everything under the car.

like i said. Location by sound fro within can be very misleading

 

[SecondSkynz]

go to jacques at fastserv , just behind queenswood firestation. he works on my 540i.

 

[///MALCOLM325]

Ok....so I had someone check out the car and do a full check, turns out that the rubber under cover is warped but not casuing that ittermittent sound. Its the control arm bushes and/or ball joints....what cost I'm I looking at, and is there someone who can assist?

 

[///MALCOLM325]

My mechanic took a better look at the car and the control arm bushes are fine, the ball joints are still fairly new and suspension has been thoroughly checked but can not diagnose where the slight noise at take off is coming from..final straw booked in at Menlyn Auto Monday for diagnosis...

 

[whattingh]

Have you check:
- rear suspension
- balljoint, intergal link, wishbones, subframe mounts
- diff bushes
- gearbox mounts
- engine mounts

 

[///MALCOLM325]

Have you check:
- rear suspension
- balljoint, intergal link, wishbones, subframe mounts
- diff bushes
- gearbox mounts
- engine mounts

Yep all has been checked by 3 mechanics, currently at BMW Menlyn Auto for diagnosis!

Actually the car was there for a day and they didn't hear a sound. So I pitch up there yesterday afternoon and take one of the service managers for a drive and amazingly they hear it!...so 1 wasted day at the stealers. Hopefully the extra day will help find the cause of the noise. The Manager was quite embarrased that they actually didn't hear it (or as my wife keeps saying - they didn't want to hear it)...Menlyn Auto customer service has been on the decline over the past few years I've been using them.

 

[///MALCOLM325]

So BMW calls me just now and advised that the gearbox will need to be replaced, which baffles me as it was rebuilt last year and hasn't even gone more than 10k KM, this was done at ZF at a price tag of almost R19k. Yesterday they could not hear the noise and diagnostics gave no errors, and today I need to replace the gearbox. My gut feel is that they don't know what they talking about :thumbdo:

Is there someone on the forum in PTA who is quite knowledgeable on E39's can maybe assist me with just checking the car out, with my minimal knowledge I can vouch that its not the gearbox, but I could be wrong?

 

[Fordkoppie]

Typical dealer service.
It goes in for a suspension checkup and they diagnose the gearbox to be fooked. Morons

 

[junaidm5]

check ur stabilizer links

 

[///MALCOLM325]

Update : Stabilizer links checked, almost everything has been checked on the car. It's now going to Hatfield BMW tomorrow to get it looked at...I think I will leave it there until they eventually find the problem ! Hopefully they don't come back and say it's the gearbox! :blab:

 

[rick540]

Typical dealer service.
It goes in for a suspension checkup and they diagnose the gearbox to be fooked. Morons

You have that so right!

In my case they diagnosed a failed torque converter as an exhaust.... really clever.

 

[Sankekur]

Typical dealer service.
It goes in for a suspension checkup and they diagnose the gearbox to be fooked. Morons

You have that so right!

In my case they diagnosed a failed torque converter as an exhaust.... really clever.

Buuuuut, did they "fix" it by shoving a piece of cloth in somewhere as a "temporary solution"