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BMW X7 (G07) Forums General BMW X7 Forum Interior “Thnuking” Noise from Rear, Interior of Truck

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      11-23-2020, 12:19 AM   #1
Kagcar
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Interior “Thnuking” Noise from Rear, Interior of Truck

I have about 3K miles on my X7 M50i — and I have just started to hear a thunking-rattle from the rear of the cabin that seems to be emanating from the split access doors when going over rough road bumps or when going over segments where the left and right sides of the truck are at different elevations — almost as if the truck is twisting (but not literally of course.) I thought it could also be the access cover in the floor to the spare tire storage but I cannot seem to isolate the sound to determine its source.

To be clear, it is less of rattle and more of a thunking sound, like something heavier and more solid than plastic or metal — and it is definitely more closely related to something inside the cabin or very close to it — not something underneath or outside the truck I am hearing on the inside. When driving over level (left to right) and typical, relatively smooth roads, this sound rarely occurs and the truck is very solid and quiet.

Speed is not a factor either as it can happen when going fast or going slow Like pulling into my driveway at 2-3 MPH and the truck is traversing elevation changes whereby the left and right sides of the truck are at different elevations, hence any slight twisting or resulting torque on the body could be causing the rear hatches to move ever-so-slighting on their gaskets???

It does not seem to be temperature related or related to the cargo cover which I removed, retracted, reseated, etc. It reminds me of the sound that sometimes came from the rear hatch of my Saab 900 Turbo over rough roads. (I solved this by placing a cloth on the wood cargo cover to add pressure to keep the rear hatch from vibrating.)

I suspect it is the rear split access doors since it seems like I can replicate the noise if I stand outside the X7 and push down firmly on the upper door section off center on either the left or right side. . . It almost seems like the firmness of the doors needs to be adjusted??

Also — and this may seem odd — the sound appeared after I had the truck detailed, I am sure this is a coincidence but maybe something they used on the rear hatch gaskets is causing the sound when there is movement in the doors due to normally non-perceivable body movement, road vibration and extreme road bumps???

Does anyone else have this issue and any ideas how to isolate this or even fix it.

Thanks!
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      11-23-2020, 01:38 PM   #2
Sphinx15
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Try this - The solution for me was from this post over in F15 - I would also suspect adjustment/increasing the height of the trunk bump stops would work as well. A few wraps of electrical tape and I'm now rattle free.
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      11-24-2020, 11:04 AM   #3
Kagcar
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Thanks for the suggestion — I will try this out.
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      11-24-2020, 12:02 PM   #4
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This doesn't sound like your issue but I thought I post anyway because you never know. Anyway I had a somewhat clunking sound occurring when I went over bumps or rough road and it turned out to be the rear seat belt. My daughter didn't let the seatbelt retract so it was hanging, swinging and knocking up against the side of the door. 🤨
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      11-24-2020, 11:31 PM   #5
Kagcar
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I did check this out in both he second and third rows but after adjusting them and doing various driving runs, nothing changed.

The sound is deeper and more muted than what I hear when a seat belt is hitting something. But, I will take another look at these seat belts. . .
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      11-25-2020, 09:03 PM   #6
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Mine is in the lower clamshell on drivers side. If you ride in the back you can hear it. It is definitely when the body shifts left and right. Like a mercury switch falling back and forth. I found you can mitigate it by manually closing trunk half way. Then open all the way. The close with button. Lasts for a week or so. Dealer has had trouble resolving. Been in 4 times so far.
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      11-27-2020, 01:31 AM   #7
Kagcar
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So, I did an experiment based on the suggestion of padding out the trunk bump stops...first I put a small folded cloth in the trunk door well on each side to pad out the space and absorb any movement of the trunk door—that seemed to reduce the frequency of the thunking.

Then, I removed the cloths and placed a dark brown round furniture pad foot—those self stick ones you put under furniture legs so they don’t scratch the floor—on each of the upper trunk door stops which padded them out further, and that was enough to minimize the thunking to almost be eliminated; enough that I can live with it!

Based on this, is the dealer able to adjust the trunk door to tighten it up so these added on pads are not needed? Or, just leave them. . .

I wonder if the trunk door will continue to loosen up over time so the effectiveness of padding out the stops will be diminished?
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      11-27-2020, 12:49 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kagcar View Post
So, I did an experiment based on the suggestion of padding out the trunk bump stops...first I put a small folded cloth in the trunk door well on each side to pad out the space and absorb any movement of the trunk door—that seemed to reduce the frequency of the thunking.

Then, I removed the cloths and placed a dark brown round furniture pad foot—those self stick ones you put under furniture legs so they don't scratch the floor—on each of the upper trunk door stops which padded them out further, and that was enough to minimize the thunking to almost be eliminated; enough that I can live with it!

Based on this, is the dealer able to adjust the trunk door to tighten it up so these added on pads are not needed? Or, just leave them. . .

I wonder if the trunk door will continue to loosen up over time so the effectiveness of padding out the stops will be diminished?
It's a 100k car. I don't think we should resort to sticking pads in the car to balance something out. I turned my radio off today and heard something back there. It only happens on occasion if I'm on some rough roads
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      11-27-2020, 01:00 PM   #9
mitch57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stockguru View Post
It's a 100k car. I don't think we should resort to sticking pads in the car to balance something out. I turned my radio off today and heard something back there. It only happens on occasion if I'm on some rough roads
Same here. However, I think I've narrowed it down to occurring only when there's lateral movement in the rear.

I think this could be something that's inherent in the design of having a split tail gate/trunk. Hopefully enough people are reporting this to BMW so they can find a fix for it.
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