[Putzo]

Hi folks,

I just picked up an '08 335i coupe in early December and, over the past seven odd months, it's become annoyingly clear that the previous owner managed to drop a bearing ball or a marble or some other spherical object into one of the air ducts. At least, I think that's where the foreign object is, anyway.

The dealer wants to charge me a minimum of three hours to go spelunking for it and there's no guarantee they'd even find it. Has anyone else run into this issue? Is there a guide that I can follow to get a look inside without wrecking anything? Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks!

Putzo...

[fdriller9]

Post up a video/sound clip of it.....maybe it's the failing blower motor issue.

[Putzo]

Originally Posted by *********

Post up a video/sound clip of it.....maybe it's the failing blower motor issue.

Is it possible that the blower motor issue is the problem if the climate control is turned completely off and I can hear this "thing" rolling around when I go around corners?

[fdriller9]

Hahaha no......I guess you do have something in there. I would be it's an acorn or something though.

Try pulling the microfilter housing cover off and looking in there.

[GetSomeE92]

Do you have the ash tray in front of the shifter? If so, lift out the ash tray and check to make sure there is no loose change that got under it. Many people use these ash trays as coin holders. I had a simlar sound in my car and checked under there before going nuts. Sure enough, a quarter and a penny managed to get under the ash tray and were making the noise.

[Putzo]

Originally Posted by *********

Hahaha no......I guess you do have something in there. I would be it's an acorn or something though.

Try pulling the microfilter housing cover off and looking in there.

I may have already checked this, but will try it again. Is this located in behind the glove box?

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by Putzo

I may have already checked this, but will try it again. Is this located in behind the glove box?

No it's the long cover in the back of your engine bay.

[Putzo]

Originally Posted by GetSomeE92

Do you have the ash tray in front of the shifter? If so, lift out the ash tray and check to make sure there is no loose change that got under it. Many people use these ash trays as coin holders. I had a simlar sound in my car and checked under there before going nuts. Sure enough, a quarter and a penny managed to get under the ash tray and were making the noise.

This is the first thing I checked. No coins. At first I thought someone had dropped a quarter in a vent, but the more I've listened to it and the way it rolls on accel/decel and around corners, I've come to think of it as spherical. It also "travels" further than the ashtray would allow, making me think vent/duct.

[Putzo]

Originally Posted by *********

No it's the long cover in the back of your engine bay.

Okay, I will check it out. It sounds close enough to be in the dash right in front of the passenger seat, but I can't say for sure that it's not further forward.

[deanmc]

Are you sure it's in the front vents? I heard a sound too, it ended up being a couple of lemonhead candies and a quarter underneath my driver's seat. If you look under the seat, there are openings where the floor vents are, and it's easy for things to get stuck in there.

[Putzo]

Originally Posted by deanmc

Are you sure it's in the front vents? I heard a sound too, it ended up being a couple of lemonhead candies and a quarter underneath my driver's seat. If you look under the seat, there are openings where the floor vents are, and it's easy for things to get stuck in there.

It's hard for me to pay too close attention while driving, so I had the g/f sit in the front passenger seat and listen closely. She's fairly certain it's coming from the dash. I had already looked everywhere I could find under both seats as well with no luck.

[Kafer]

Originally Posted by deanmc

Are you sure it's in the front vents? I heard a sound too, it ended up being a couple of lemonhead candies and a quarter underneath my driver's seat. If you look under the seat, there are openings where the floor vents are, and it's easy for things to get stuck in there.

I had the same issue. I kept hearing something rolling around in the vents, like a ball bearing or something. Took me a while to trace the sound to underneath the front passenger seat. A few quick drops of the clutch later I found a rogue almond in the rear footwell. I stomped on that almond till it turned into a fine dust.

[cn555ic]

Tie a magnet to a string and feed it into the hole and hopefully the object is metal and it will attach itself to it and your problems should be over

[burton727]

turn your radio up louder.. just kidding that seriously would drive me crazy as im sure it does you.

[Seminole]

I had a strange noise from the dash area when taking corners, as if something was rolling from one side of the car to the other. Brought it to the dealer and after they poked around for a while they took off the splash guard that goes under the engine bay area and found an acorn that was rolling around on it. If you have some ramps you could raise the car up and unscrew it to take a peek.

[Putzo]

Originally Posted by deanmc

Are you sure it's in the front vents? I heard a sound too, it ended up being a couple of lemonhead candies and a quarter underneath my driver's seat. If you look under the seat, there are openings where the floor vents are, and it's easy for things to get stuck in there.

Well deanmc, you take the prize. The damned thing was indeed inside the heater vent under the passenger seat. Behold:



If anyone knows what the hell this thing is, please enlighten me. I will be sacrificing it to satan later this evening.

[muttly]

That's an imunity idol.

[taibanl]

I bet your gf is guilty. Probably why she was like "its coming from the dash babe..really...i swear..."

[Elliott@DetailAddict]

Immunity Idol! Put it back in! lol

[deanmc]

Originally Posted by Putzo

Well deanmc, you take the prize. The damned thing was indeed inside the heater vent under the passenger seat. Behold:



If anyone knows what the hell this thing is, please enlighten me. I will be sacrificing it to satan later this evening.

Glad you found it! Noises in the cabin drive me nuts.