BMW 3 Series rattles

rhysadams

I've had a BMW 335d on a really cheap lease deal which was delivered in December 2015. Engine is great and fuel economy excellent. Its the M Sport model with a few options on it.

Since day one things have started to rattle and the beautiful Estoril Blue colour has picked up lots of faint scratches and chips. I know what you are all going to say, I'm a BMW driver and I drive up peoples behinds. But I don't and when it comes to car parking, I park out of the way so it doesn't get bumped.

The rattles have really started to annoy me, so at the same times as some warranty work I asked the mechanics to look at all of these "behind panel" rattles.

The mechanic came out with me in the car for a road test, he turned around and said to me that BMW are striving to make lighter and more economical cars, they are using lighter and in turn weaker materials for their products to achieve this. So thinks like plastic rivets won't last as long.

On the paintwork he said that they now use water based paint and put less coats on the car so it scratches easier.

I'd like to hear from anyone else who have heard similar things. I wish I had recorded him.

In the end, BMW wanted to charge me to investigate the rattles. If they found them to be warranty issues I wouldn't have to pay.

Tyler119

I'm shocked, well perhaps not that no even the Germans are making things like they used to. I get customers wanting better MPG, but I'm sure they would rather have rattle free cars.

Are the scratches deep? If they are light marks they may just polish out. You get a small tool that measures the depth of paintwork, would be interesting to compare it to an older model, even from 2010.

rhysadams

Tyler119 wrote: »

I'm shocked, well perhaps not that no even the Germans are making things like they used to. I get customers wanting better MPG, but I'm sure they would rather have rattle free cars.

Are the scratches deep? If they are light marks they may just polish out. You get a small tool that measures the depth of paintwork, would be interesting to compare it to an older model, even from 2010.

Thats why usually I go for German cars, I've mainly had VW's and Audi's in the past but the deal was too good to miss.

The scratches are quite light and I reckon a bit of tcut should sort the issues out, some are deeper than others so may need a smart repairer. I'm dreading the day it has to go back to the finance company

neilmcl

rhysadams wrote: »

In the end, BMW wanted to charge me to investigate the rattles. If they found them to be warranty issues I wouldn't have to pay.

No different to any other manufacturer then.

neilmcl

rhysadams wrote: »

Thats why usually I go for German cars, I've mainly had VW's and Audi's in the past but the deal was too good to miss.

The scratches are quite light and I reckon a bit of tcut should sort the issues out, some are deeper than others so may need a smart repairer. I'm dreading the day it has to go back to the finance company

All cars will pick up scratches, chips etc. It's your responsibility to minimise the damage no-one else's. What sort of driving do you do, for example, town or country? How do you wash your car?

Rattles can be annoying, especially when you can't find the cause but I've yet to own a new car that hasn't had a rattle or two over it's lifetime.

bigjl

rhysadams wrote: »

I've had a BMW 335d on a really cheap lease deal which was delivered in December 2015. Engine is great and fuel economy excellent. Its the M Sport model with a few options on it.

Since day one things have started to rattle and the beautiful Estoril Blue colour has picked up lots of faint scratches and chips. I know what you are all going to say, I'm a BMW driver and I drive up peoples behinds. But I don't and when it comes to car parking, I park out of the way so it doesn't get bumped.

The rattles have really started to annoy me, so at the same times as some warranty work I asked the mechanics to look at all of these "behind panel" rattles.

The mechanic came out with me in the car for a road test, he turned around and said to me that BMW are striving to make lighter and more economical cars, they are using lighter and in turn weaker materials for their products to achieve this. So thinks like plastic rivets won't last as long.

On the paintwork he said that they now use water based paint and put less coats on the car so it scratches easier.

I'd like to hear from anyone else who have heard similar things. I wish I had recorded him.

In the end, BMW wanted to charge me to investigate the rattles. If they found them to be warranty issues I wouldn't have to pay.

I must admit I thought all new cars are now painted with Water Based paint now.

When people say older vehicle paint is more resilient they are telling the truth, it was.

Modern paint is unbelievable easy to scratch.

We used to use 2K and Cellulose paint.

Don't even know if any manufacturers still use 2k.

bigjl

rhysadams wrote: »

Thats why usually I go for German cars, I've mainly had VW's and Audi's in the past but the deal was too good to miss.

The scratches are quite light and I reckon a bit of tcut should sort the issues out, some are deeper than others so may need a smart repairer. I'm dreading the day it has to go back to the finance company

I would be very surprised if the scratches weren't caused during washing.

The best colour to avoid such scratches being visible is Silver. Which is one reason Silver was a very popular choice for Chauffeur cars, they even look ok when dirty.

Black and Blue are two of the worst colours for showing scratches in my experience

AdrianC

bigjl wrote: »

I must admit I thought all new cars are now painted with Water Based paint now.

Yup, and have been for a decade or so.

Iceweasel

For God's sake don't use T-Cut.

Autoglym Super Resin Polish is the thing to use.

It masks swirls and scratches brilliantly.

I also would reckon that the scratches are caused by your car cleaning regime.

Do you use a bucket and a sponge for example - that's deadly.

foxy-stoat

Had an E91 for a few years, swopped the run flats for normals and took apart the centre dash nd refitted it and that got rid of all the rattles and squeaks.

prowla

I don't think my new 320 is fundamentally as good quality a car as my old e39 5-series was.

(One of the things they've done to reduce weight is not have a spare wheel, nor a jack or wheel brace.)