[Yoda]

Anyone else experience rodent damage to the wiring harness on their X7 and if so are their any ways to avoid this?

Apparently some of the materials that BMW uses on the X7 under the hood and for the wiring harness is made out of soy based materials which attract rodents to cause damage by chewing the soy based components in the vehicle including the wiring harness.

[lpshikhar]

I am assuming this soy based story is given to you by your SA ?

Have you seen any videos or pictures of the damage ? Taken second opinion ? Back in 2020 one of my SA tried to get me into this story, when I asked for evidence, made stories about covid and all. He wanted to use my insurance to cover it up.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by lpshikhar

I am assuming this soy based story is given to you by your SA ?

Have you seen any videos or pictures of the damage ? Taken second opinion ? Back in 2020 one of my SA tried to get me into this story, when I asked for evidence, made stories about covid and all. He wanted to use my insurance to cover it up.

Yes, we were told about it by our SA who sent us an inspection video of the chewed up wiring harness in two spots. Our X7 had completely stalled and was showing a "drivetrain malfunction" error message on the dashboard and we had to get it towed to the dealer. They apparently had to replace the whole wiring harness on the vehicle which cost a couple thousand dollars for the repair. Find it really strange that BMW is using "soy based" materials for components on these cars which undoubtedly attract rodents to chew on them and cause such significant damage. We called BMW corporate but they didn't want to do anything about it. Not sure what can be done to avoid this from happening again.

[XM Label]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Anyone else experience rodent damage to the wiring harness on their X7 and if so are their any ways to avoid this?

Apparently some of the materials that BMW uses on the X7 under the hood and for the wiring harness is made out of soy based materials which attract rodents to cause damage by chewing the soy based components in the vehicle including the wiring harness.

Are you parking inside a garage or outside?

[MystroX5]

This is a relatively common problem with some vehicles parked outside. It’s not a new problem with companies trying to “look” green passing the inconvenience and shortsightedness off to their customers.
Audi has experienced the same issue for the last 10 years with the insulation they use over their wires.

If you park in your garage, place multiple mouse traps under your vehicle while it’s parked and obviously keep your pets out of the garage. The idea is to kill them all and it may take a few nights. You might be shocked with how many rodents are actually living in your garage. Obviously never leave any food in your vehicle. This includes french fries lost between the seats.
It’s not just mice, but squirrels and chipmunks that are also attracted to this type of wire insulation. There are sonic rodent repellents that attached directly to your battery that sit under your hood you can try if you park outside. There have been some good feedback reports with them. In my large garage, I use multiple sonic pest repellent that plug into the ac/wall as well as multiple traps all year long. I take rodent infestation extremely serious. Take a high lume flashlight and inspect under the hood of your car. If you find any nesting under your hood, that can include anything from leaves to shredded paper or seeds, you have a critical problem that needs to be addressed asap with traps.

Put some latex gloves on and remove all the nesting material that you can find. Use a shop vac with a crevice tool and vacuum out everywhere you can get into under your hood and fender wells as well as front radiators. Then set multiple traps under and around your garage parked vehicle.


I did a whole tutorial on this for PCA.

[GCR]

https://www.grandpagus.com/products/...ellent-pouches

[lloyd99]

My wife's previous vehicle was a 2013 Cadillac SRX. We both park in our garage. Two years ago, a racoon somehow got into our garage and chewed up a bunch of tubes and wires under the hood of her vehicle. It took us a few days to figure out what was going on. In the end, it was a few thousand dollars of damage to her vehicle - thankfully covered by our insurance. The pest control guy said he has lots of car dealerships as regular customers - as lots of rodents like to get into the engine area.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by BMWXMBlack

Are you parking inside a garage or outside?

Parking outside.

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by MystroX5

This is a relatively common problem with some vehicles parked outside. It’s not a new problem with companies trying to “look” green passing the inconvenience and shortsightedness off to their customers.
Audi has experienced the same issue for the last 10 years with the insulation they use over their wires.

If you park in your garage, place multiple mouse traps under your vehicle while it’s parked and obviously keep your pets out of the garage. The idea is to kill them all and it may take a few nights. You might be shocked with how many rodents are actually living in your garage. Obviously never leave any food in your vehicle. This includes french fries lost between the seats.
It’s not just mice, but squirrels and chipmunks that are also attracted to this type of wire insulation. There are sonic rodent repellents that attached directly to your battery that sit under your hood you can try if you park outside. There have been some good feedback reports with them. In my large garage, I use multiple sonic pest repellent that plug into the ac/wall as well as multiple traps all year long. I take rodent infestation extremely serious. Take a high lume flashlight and inspect under the hood of your car. If you find any nesting under your hood, that can include anything from leaves to shredded paper or seeds, you have a critical problem that needs to be addressed asap with traps.

Put some latex gloves on and remove all the nesting material that you can find. Use a shop vac with a crevice tool and vacuum out everywhere you can get into under your hood and fender wells as well as front radiators. Then set multiple traps under and around your garage parked vehicle.


I did a whole tutorial on this for PCA.

Thanks for the info. We will try the ultrasonic device under the hood to repel the rodents.

[MystroX5]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Thanks for the info. We will try the ultrasonic device under the hood to repel the rodents.

For outside parking: You can still place a trap under your hood over night. That is a quick way to get the ones that learned to call your BMW “home”. Just make sure you remove them in the morning before you drive off.

I like the plastic clamp traps. Cleaner and safer than the older wire spring on a board.

These ones are great:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q3M6QYK...T1zcF9kZXRhaWw

[Joemac8]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Thanks for the info. We will try the ultrasonic device under the hood to repel the rodents.

I park a classic Corvette in my garage in northern Wisconsin. This has been a problem for years. I find mouse poop on top of the ultrasonic "repeller". Moth balls do nothing. Plant oils (mint etc.) do nothing. Dryer sheets, same.

The ONLY thing that helps, is mouse traps or a cat. Nothing else works. If you set out poison, they eat it and it takes up to seven days to work. They die inside walls and stink. Or they die outside and the poisoned mice are then eaten by other creatures, sending the poison up the food chain.

I now put my Corvette inside an inflated plastic bubble, and the mice haven't gotten in.

A never ending battle.https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/im...ilies/sigh.gif

[MystroX5]

Originally Posted by Joemac8

I park a classic Corvette in my garage in northern Wisconsin. This has been a problem for years. I find mouse poop on top of the ultrasonic "repeller". Moth balls do nothing. Plant oils (mint etc.) do nothing. Dryer sheets, same.

The ONLY thing that helps, is mouse traps or a cat. Nothing else works. If you set out poison, they eat it and it takes up to seven days to work. They die inside walls and stink. Or they die outside and the poisoned mice are then eaten by other creatures, sending the poison up the food chain.

I now put my Corvette inside an inflated plastic bubble, and the mice haven't gotten in.

A never ending battle.https://g07.bimmerpost.com/forums/im...ilies/sigh.gif

Where did you get the plastic inflatable car bubble/capsule?? I have seen them for years and am thinking of one for my 911 as an extra level of safety storage. Is there a small access area to run a battery tender wire inside the bubble? It’s a great concept as many I know have used them for years now with their Harley.

[XM Label]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Parking outside.

If parking outside, I place traps around the entire perimeter of the house especially area next to driveway. Also traps under the car. No need to remove if you park in the same spot all the time and pull in and straight out. Obviously if turning wheels to park everytime you need to move them daily. Or get an outdoor cat.

Even in my garage I have traps around inside perimeter of garage walls.

Live in the woods so can’t avoid them entirely.

[Joemac8]

Originally Posted by MystroX5

Where did you get the plastic inflatable car bubble/capsule?? I have seen them for years and am thinking of one for my 911 as an extra level of safety storage. Is there a small access area to run a battery tender wire inside the bubble? It’s a great concept as many I know have used them for years now with their Harley.

https://carcapsule.com/

[bengal_mann]

My wife experienced a same issue with her Countryman. The problem was solved after applying this.

Originally Posted by Yoda

Anyone else experience rodent damage to the wiring harness on their X7 and if so are their any ways to avoid this?

Apparently some of the materials that BMW uses on the X7 under the hood and for the wiring harness is made out of soy based materials which attract rodents to cause damage by chewing the soy based components in the vehicle including the wiring harness.

[Yoda]

Thanks guys, will try out these suggestions.