[rich1068]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Has you dealer opened a PUMA case, or at least checked with BMW for others with the same issue, already on record?

Pete,

Your dealer might let you in on that sort of info. I find most dealers don't. Whatever it is it's always the first time they've ever experienced it.

[rich1068]

Got it back.

Nothing wrong with it.

Ho hum.

[F30AM]

Our cars are being buggered on our pot holed tarmac!

[Daveyc]

Hi RIch,

Sounds like you made better progress than I did. The problem is that this is one of those sounds that doesn't always appear to order, until the second the mechanic gets out and you drive off alone!

I drove mine for a good 20 miles this evening on the way home, just to find more situations that bring on the clonk. Still, the most prominent clonking comes in town at 20 mph and even less. In my car, you couldn't miss the sound from rear NS.

[Daveyc]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Sounds the typical response when the garages don't know what is wrong. There is clearly nothing obvious.

I'm not sure this is exclusively an adaptive issue, (but could be in this case) as it appears some of the F25 1-series users have had rear suspension issues and clunking sounds. And not tied to adaptive suspension. Just this past couple of weeks it seems BMW are sorting it, after many months of drivers waiting. Have read the solution is with dampers, top mounts and bushes, (possibly revised).

Also I've read of some rear suspension thumping noise on 5GT models, again not directly linked to adaptive suspension.

I understand your thinking, but I'm not sure you really get to the endstops, that would be some pretty aggressive dynamics and you'd be tossing the car all over the place to lift off the wheels. You can't rule anything out, as it is all supposed to be in tolerance. But how you describe it, in an aging setup I'd be looking at loose top mounts with the clonking you describe.

As you appear to have the same/similar clonking front and rear the common 'parts' are, from my thinking, damper internals, damper control (software/sensor related) and wheel/tyre combination. I read that one 1-series user rid his car of the rear clunking when he changed wheel sets for winter use, 16" moving to 17", so some very unusual suspension behaviour involved in that case.

I do tend to agree the issue looks likely to lay with faulty dampers, but 4 on one car makes me scratch my head. Possibly some control module common to damping strategy may be involved. One bit of thinking... as if the rebound valving is slow to respond and goes to full closure, too late to cushion the rebound, but makes it abrupt with resulting clunk. Vertical motion sensing faulty?

Has you dealer opened a PUMA case, or at least checked with BMW for others with the same issue, already on record?

HighlandPete

Hi Pete,

Good point re adaptive versus passive - I jumped to the conclusion that there were more bits to go wrong on an adaptive setup. I agree with you completely on the sound pointing to worn or loose top mounts on an older car. I don't know if BMW checked to see if they were loose.

I was also wondering if this could point more to control software than dampers. As you say, 4 faulty units is pushing the boundaries a bit and it's a huge coincidence that Rich's clonking is also most prominent at the rear NS. It could well a case of control SW either holding the rebound damper valves wide open or being too slow to close them, as you say. I do think the compression side is OK, as if I hit a ridge (i.e. stepped rise with no drop after), the car rides it perfectly, with no hint of a clonk - just that satisfying, nicely muted 'thwack'.

I could be a bit over excited re dampers over extending. I'm just puzzled that the clunking only seems to happen when the wheels drop int a dip, or come off a raised patch. Maybe it is just some internal gubbins rattling around.

I talked to my very helpful and proactive sales guys (he's already talking about my next car in 18 months time ...) and he's going to pass on an email from me and see what he can do. The dealer did say they'd been in touch with UK head office to see if any similar faults had been reported and said there was nothing, buy I guess this means nothing that they have yet taken seriously.

Sadly, I can see this taking weeks or even months to sort out.

Cheers
Dave

[rich1068]

There is no way on earth that a car of this calibre should behave in this way but to be honest I'm just not up to the battle at the moment. I'm not very well and as previously mentioned I've just given up a 20+ year 20+ a day habit. Cold turkey is a bitch and I feel like shit.

I will come back to this though. Luckily the service manager drives one of these and I've got to know him rather well over the last few months. I'll probably drop him a line and ask him to take my car home one night.

[rich1068]

Any more developments Dave?

I think I'm going to tackle the dealer again.

[derekh929]

Guys I have just ordered the adaptive option are there a lot of people on main site having this issue as well?

[Daveyc]

Originally Posted by rich1068

Any more developments Dave?

I think I'm going to tackle the dealer again.

Hi Rich,

Sorry, I've been a bit crap & gone quiet. I was actually pretty deeply pissed off a couple of weeks ago when I took my car in. It cost me a couple of hours out of my day (I'm self employed and loose money for that) and it really narked me off when I heard that the 'head technician' thought the car was fine.

I sent quite a tough email to the dealer last week explaining pretty empirically what was going on and they rang me minutes later to book the car in. I talked to them again today and at first they wanted to repeat exactly the dance we did two weeks ago (I take car up, leave if for the day & head mechanic drives it alone) but I said no. We've finally agreed a date for me to take the head geezer out for a drive on 5th March.

Strangely, after being very constant since new, the sound has started to get worse in the last few days and it's more apparent in more situations now. In a way, that's good news, as the dealer will have to do something about it. Shame, as the car drives so well otherwise.

Derek, I think this is down to a few isolated case of problems with adaptive dampers. I wouldn't let this put of you off ordering adaptive. If you like driving, it's the way to go.

I'll let you know what happens on the 5th.

Dave

[Snig]

Hey everyone,

You're not alone. US-Spec M-Sport, low speed clunk over less than perfect roads. DHP and 19" wheels. Time to see the dealer.

[claykin]

Mine has a bit of noise too. It was way worse when car was new. At 1,400 miles it seems quite a bit less (or I'm getting use to it).

Funny thing is that after driving this F30 for 2.5 months I get in my wife's E90 and wonder why the steering is so heavy.

[derekh929]

Originally Posted by claykin

Mine has a bit of noise too. It was way worse when car was new. At 1,400 miles it seems quite a bit less (or I'm getting use to it).

Funny thing is that after driving this F30 for 2.5 months I get in my wife's E90 and wonder why the steering is so heavy.

Do you have the VSS steering option if so do you like it, thanks Derek

[TonyS]

Originally Posted by claykin

Mine has a bit of noise too. It was way worse when car was new. At 1,400 miles it seems quite a bit less (or I'm getting use to it).

Same experience here. Very noticeable clonking when I first got the car but it gradually quietened down and after 2,500 miles it either stopped completely or has gone below my detection level.

[Daveyc]

Interesting stuff, especially that the same problem exists on US cars. I wrote to my dealer a couple of weeks ago and said there were three other owners on this forum with the same issue - looks like the problem is quite widespread.

I'm guessing the problem differs in degree from car to car. My car has been very constant in level of noise. It's certainly low-speed only and most noticeable when a wheel drops into a dup, rather than hitting a rise. Strangely, bigger hits seem not to provoke the knocking.

I get the sound from all four wheels, but the rear left is still most prominent, by some margin. This is more than loud enough for you to think you have a lose rear exhaust box. Overall, the noise is annoying in town, as you're very aware of it and it just takes away a big chunk of refinement in what is otherwise an impressively refined car.

Got a dealer visit booked next week, with the head techie lined up to come out for a drive. I can't believe that BMW are not aware of this issue now.

Dave

[rich1068]

All very interesting. I'm considering taking mine back in next week.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by derekh929

Do you have the VSS steering option if so do you like it, thanks Derek

I have VSS and Adaptive M suspension. Yes, VSS is . I had a 328i loaner with standard Servotronic steering and was happy to have my car back.

[claykin]

Originally Posted by TonyS

Same experience here. Very noticeable clonking when I first got the car but it gradually quietened down and after 2,500 miles it either stopped completely or has gone below my detection level.

Or you got use to it.

I'll know for sure the next time I'm out of town for a few days driving a rental car and come back to my F30.

[Spacebug]

I have this on my standard suspension M Sport. My car is at the dealer for this and a few other things.

When I spoke to the service rep on Wednesday aft (I dropped it off on Weds morning) he said that they couldn't find anything and was I sure about the noise. I told him I was, said it was definitely a suspension related noise, which appeared to be coming from the front drivers wheel.

Yesterday when I called I was told my car wasn't ready as they were doing something on the suspension... Fingers crossed. Should get it back today. I will let you all know what happened.

The F30 320ed that they have given me for a few days has the same issue, but not as obvious. That could be due to the fact it has the 16" wheels and I have the 19's and stiffer suspension.

[Spacebug]

Originally Posted by Spacebug

I have this on my standard suspension M Sport. My car is at the dealer for this and a few other things.

When I spoke to the service rep on Wednesday aft (I dropped it off on Weds morning) he said that they couldn't find anything and was I sure about the noise. I told him I was, said it was definitely a suspension related noise, which appeared to be coming from the front drivers wheel.

Yesterday when I called I was told my car wasn't ready as they were doing something on the suspension... Fingers crossed. Should get it back today. I will let you all know what happened.

The F30 320ed that they have given me for a few days has the same issue, but not as obvious. That could be due to the fact it has the 16" wheels and I have the 19's and stiffer suspension.

So i've just got word back from the dealer.. They can not find a problem. They have been out on a test drive and there is no noise to be heard. This is frustrating! I know the noise is there! The only thing i can say in their defence is that it is not something which happens all the time - some bumps it happens and some bumps it does not.

Where my parents live there is a long cobbled road. It happens everytime i drive down that road... Shame it is 300 miles from me otherwise i'd be taking the BMW service rep on a field trip..!

Anyone know of a cobbled road near Brighton?!?

[Daveyc]

Originally Posted by Spacebug

So i've just got word back from the dealer.. They can not find a problem. They have been out on a test drive and there is no noise to be heard. This is frustrating! I know the noise is there! The only thing i can say in their defence is that it is not something which happens all the time - some bumps it happens and some bumps it does not.

Where my parents live there is a long cobbled road. It happens everytime i drive down that road... Shame it is 300 miles from me otherwise i'd be taking the BMW service rep on a field trip..!

Anyone know of a cobbled road near Brighton?!?

Hi Spacebug,

I feel your pain. I've been through exactly this experience twice now and it costs me a couple of hours out of my (self-employed) day each time. I find the knocking sound is triggered more by the wheels dropping into small dips, rather than by hitting rising bumps. Worth looking out for, as you might find more places where you get the noise.

My car has go worse and, at just under 3,000 miles, I get the noise from every wheel at some point in my 4-mile low-speed commute through average city roads - small potholes, manhole cover depressions etc. Another very reliable trick is to drive find one of those very aggressive speed bumps - not the tarmac kind on public roads, but the laid heavy rubber variety with quite a sharp, almost triangular profile. There are a couple of these at my dealer premises - if you drive up to them very slowly, you'll hear the knocking as a wheel drops over the trailing edge.

Dave

the car very slowly put

[Daveyc]

Bit of an update and it's not great progress. I took the car to the dealers for the third time last week and made a point up-front of asking that the head technician would come out for a driver with me.

I rang the day before to confirm with the Service department that the head technician would be coming out with me, but I ended up (once again) with a very nice but quite junior technician. The terminal problem here is that these guys generally don't get to drive something like a 3330d, so my guy simply thought the car was great and couldn't hear any undue noises.

I'm firmly on the not impressed list now, which is a shame given how great the car is generally. If I'd test driven this particular car before buying it, I would have walked clean away from it. This is burning up my time and I really don't think the dealer is taking this seriously. To make any useful progress, I neded to go out with a technician (or a senior manager from the dealership) who drives cars of at least this standard every day.

Not sure on next steps, but really don's see any point pursuing it with this dealer. Might try another dealer although, to be fair, my local dealer have given me great service in general. Either way, the service staff should be more in touch with the cars they service. No good not having driven them.

Anyway, an interesting thought: I think these knocking sounds are going to get much more noticeable when the weather warms up. When we briefly had temps up into the 8-10 degree range here, my car was noticeably noisier. Now it's cold again, my car still makes the noise, but is generally quieter. That also fits the idea that the noise is coming from under-damping - i.e. the damper fluid is thinner and less viscous in warmer weather. It will be interesting to see if a lot more people pop up with this complaint went the weather really warms up.

This might also explain why a couple of people who had the knocking problem found it faded over a few weeks - that could be down to temps dropping toward the long cold snap we had.

Dave

[johnbmw6]

Originally Posted by Daveyc

Bit of an update and it's not great progress. I took the car to the dealers for the third time last week and made a point up-front of asking that the head technician would come out for a driver with me.

I rang the day before to confirm with the Service department that the head technician would be coming out with me, but I ended up (once again) with a very nice but quite junior technician. The terminal problem here is that these guys generally don't get to drive something like a 3330d, so my guy simply thought the car was great and couldn't hear any undue noises.

I'm firmly on the not impressed list now, which is a shame given how great the car is generally. If I'd test driven this particular car before buying it, I would have walked clean away from it. This is burning up my time and I really don't think the dealer is taking this seriously. To make any useful progress, I neded to go out with a technician (or a senior manager from the dealership) who drives cars of at least this standard every day.

Not sure on next steps, but really don's see any point pursuing it with this dealer. Might try another dealer although, to be fair, my local dealer have given me great service in general. Either way, the service staff should be more in touch with the cars they service. No good not having driven them.

Anyway, an interesting thought: I think these knocking sounds are going to get much more noticeable when the weather warms up. When we briefly had temps up into the 8-10 degree range here, my car was noticeably noisier. Now it's cold again, my car still makes the noise, but is generally quieter. That also fits the idea that the noise is coming from under-damping - i.e. the damper fluid is thinner and less viscous in warmer weather. It will be interesting to see if a lot more people pop up with this complaint went the weather really warms up.

This might also explain why a couple of people who had the knocking problem found it faded over a few weeks - that could be down to temps dropping toward the long cold snap we had.

Dave

who is your dealer?.