Wind Noise

[djam43]

Quote: Originally Posted by caesar (original)

At speeds above 85mph I get a 'windy sort of noise' which is difficult to describe!

It's a MCS purchased new 05/07/07 with A/C.

The sound comes from the area of the heater controls when I have the A/C off, and the air flow directed to the windscreen and the fan on 1st click. It only starts at 85-90 MPH and gets worse as the speed increases. As I reduce speed so the noise reduces, and stops once i get to 80mph.

The noise is high pitched......almost like a whistle!

Very annoying, maybe the car has a built in sensor to stop it going above the speed limit!

Its trying to tell you to slow down.

[revolver89]

I have the same wind noise problem from around ~140kph to 180kph. It just dissepears when I push hard the windhield (around the rearviewmirror area). Now the car is in the authorized BMW service. As I am told, they have faced that problem couple of times. They are going to check and rebound the rubber / windshield. Hope that solves the problem without any water leakage in the future.

[caesar]

Took the MCS for a drive this evening to get the magic 1200 miles done.

Gave it some boot on my 'private airfield' and once it reached 90 mph then the Wind Noise returned

The noise is difficult to describe, it sounds as if something is resonating behind the dashboard near the Speedometer dial as a result of the airflow at high speed

I am a bit worried about contacting the dealer, if they remove the dashboard they could cause more problems, and would also have to drive it fast to get the noise.

The best idea is to get them to send a report to BMW rather than experiment themselves.

What do you think

[South Shore Lad]

Whoops!

[lagger]

I have had the problem. Have been in and out of the garage 4 or 5 times and have had a new windscreen. Kept palming me off saying I'm going too fast. Had to take the mechanic out and drive at 100+ miles per hour. Problem has now been solved. Apparently the problem lies in the front windscreen pillars. There is packing that is inside there which vibrates and makes a noise at high speed. Either you get a windscreen specialist to fix the packing or let the BMW garage know what the problem is as they seem to be unaware of it.

[caesar]

Hi lagger,

When the noise occurred, where did it seem to come from ?

The noise I get seems to come from behind the Speedometer which is not near the Windscreen Pillars !

If the problem I've got is the same as yours, can they repair it without having to fit a new Windscreen ?

Many thanks

[lagger]

Yes they can repair it without fitting a new windscreen. Like i said there is packing behind the front pillars on the windscreen. It only needs a small piece to come loose to make a high pitched noise. It sounds like it's coming from the front dash but the noise is actually coming from either the left or right pillar. Mine was the left. I was in and out of the garage for months before the problem was solved. Now it seems to be fine.

[caesar]

Many thanks lagger.

I think it is probably the left side that has the problem as well, at about 60 mph I can hear a definite noise from there.

I will visit the dealer this week and show them your comments...please let me know if this is NOT OK ?

[lagger]

That is no problem what so ever, it sounds like you have exactly the same probs as me and lots of others. Lets hope one day mini will get it sorted. Good luck .

Dave

[caesar]

Visited the dealer today and have to take them for a test drive to hear the noise next Wednesday.

They had not experienced this problem before, and were vague about the cause !

Lager, how long did it take your dealer to fix the Pillar packing ?

[caesar]

Took it for a run yesterday evening + plus a tape-recorder........thought I would record the sound to play-back to the dealer!

Got to 95 mph but the sound did not occur. I think there has to be a headwind as well as high speed to cause the noise, and there was no wind here yesterday.

I have also checked around the pillars and windscreen to ensure the rubber seals are a good fit, could find nothing wrong.

[mini_jim]

The noise is caused by the black strip that runs around the roof and is a known problem to the dealers, or at least any decent dealer that knows what they are talking about. Yes, you do need a head or cross wind and depending on wind speed, need to being going above legal limits anyway..

I don't know what the exact fix is but I got it sorted when my clutch was replaced for the notorious 3rd to 2nd noise - which is now fixed and no noise after 1000 miles..

Cheers

Jim

[JayM2]

Quote: Originally Posted by caesar (original)

Took it for a run yesterday evening + plus a tape-recorder........thought I would record the sound to play-back to the dealer!

Got to 95 mph but the sound did not occur. I think there has to be a headwind as well as high speed to cause the noise, and there was no wind here yesterday.

I have also checked around the pillars and windscreen to ensure the rubber seals are a good fit, could find nothing wrong.

Hi Caesar,

Did you ever get to the bottom of this and find a fix?

[caesar]

Hi JayM2,

Thanks for the interest. No I did not solve it. My threads on here were stopped because I mentioned speeds in excess of the legal limit.

The weather recently has been very calm with little wind, as a result at 'certain speeds' the noise has diminished !!

I would like to find a solution, but due to the circumstances involved in producing the noise makes it difficult.

[JayM2]

Caesar,
I too have the noise. I thought for several months it was the wipers but I am now convinced Mini-Jim is right about the top windscreen seal. I was out this morning and got the noise, I pushed the top of the windsceen and the noise went. Repeated a few times with the same result. The thing is the seal looks good and it certainly doesn't leak. Not sure what to do yet because if the dealer fix involves taking the windscreen out I'm not keen on having that done.