[Jax327]

Originally Posted by Dark975

Service manager told me that they sent the video to Bmw Technic and it is their advice to change these parts.

You dont have any type of write up from the BMW service dept by chance do you? Just wanted to know if its something I could share with them.

[Dark975]

Originally Posted by Jax327

You dont have any type of write up from the BMW service dept by chance do you? Just wanted to know if its something I could share with them.

Nope. just got the screenshot of part numbers they would order which i already shared, when i told them i wont be able to wait for the new parts to arrive.

[Payton42]

Originally Posted by Dark975

hi ChalkGreyM340 ,

https://youtube.com/shorts/_BaalYdXR...GSw64PXCFOVvdg

Was that the same metallic clicking sound in my video that you hear from rear passenger side ?
Do you have your own video recorded for this sound ?
Can you please point the the exact spot where these welds are missing maybe with a photo of the place if you have it ?
Maybe your service have a case id for this that i can provide to my bmw service to check.
We could not find the cause of the sound in video and it is coming from the same place you mentioned and it is also metallic.

Thanks in advance.

Dark975 I am experiencing the same exact issue as heard in your video. Car has been at dealer for over 2mths. They replaced entire rear strut assemblies and strut mounts/upper support bearings with no resolve. A bit lost at this point

[aardate]

Originally Posted by Payton42

Dark975 I am experiencing the same exact issue as heard in your video. Car has been at dealer for over 2mths. They replaced entire rear strut assemblies and strut mounts/upper support bearings with no resolve. A bit lost at this point

That's not good, my 2019 330i is currently at the dealer and their diagnoses was the strut assembly, they are replacing that. I was skeptical from the beginning that this could be the issue but now I am also wondering if they even spent any time diagnosing it! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

My car is at Momentum West, is yours at the same place?

[Payton42]

Originally Posted by aardate

That's not good, my 2019 330i is currently at the dealer and their diagnoses was the strut assembly, they are replacing that. I was skeptical from the beginning that this could be the issue but now I am also wondering if they even spent any time diagnosing it! I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

My car is at Momentum West, is yours at the same place?

No, I had the diag and service done at Advantage Downtown Houston. TBH I’d keep yours at Momentum. They seem to listen and make a better effort than Advantage. I think for now I am going to live with it, when it gets on my nerves again I’m going to bring it to the Woodlands because they have always been top tier.

In other words, maybe try to point Momentum to this thread and see if they will remove your back glass and inspect the spot welds if the strut replacement doesn’t work.

Edit: Please keep me updated haha. If they fix it I will bring the car to Momentum

[Jax327]

My dealer is saying my rear strut is bad and needs replaced. Not sure if that will fix it or not as the part needs to be ordered from Germany. I have my doubts

[aardate]

Happy to report my issue has been resolved. My tapping/popping noise was coming from somewhere near the rear wheel wells and not from the glass. Dealer replaced the rear strut mounts as per attached invoice. I hope this helps someone.

[SnowBob]

Originally Posted by aardate

Happy to report my issue has been resolved. My tapping/popping noise was coming from somewhere near the rear wheel wells and not from the glass. Dealer replaced the rear strut mounts as per attached invoice. I hope this helps someone.

Ah amazing! That must be such a relief to get the car back and it’s gone. Would you describe your sounds a pen clicking?

I mentions that I was trying to get my center caps replaced during my coilover install but it didn’t happen. They center caps came after the coilover so the mechanic did not wait and to put them in. I don’t think my noise went away after the coilover but I think my exhaust is clinking now so I have much louder issue. The rear suspension mounts were reused with the new coilover so once I get the exhaust fixed this might be my next move.

Thanks very much for coming back to share how you got it fixed.

[aardate]

Originally Posted by SnowBob

Ah amazing! That must be such a relief to get the car back and it’s gone. Would you describe your sounds a pen clicking?

I mentions that I was trying to get my center caps replaced during my coilover install but it didn’t happen. They center caps came after the coilover so the mechanic did not wait and to put them in. I don’t think my noise went away after the coilover but I think my exhaust is clinking now so I have much louder issue. The rear suspension mounts were reused with the new coilover so once I get the exhaust fixed this might be my next move.

Thanks very much for coming back to share how you got it fixed.

Yes it was a huge relief especially taking the rear shelf and trunk apart, I was driving the car that way trying to resolve the issue for 2 weeks. The noise could be described as a loud metallic pen clicking but you want to make sure you isolate everything else and pinpoint where its coming from, others are having issues near the rear glass, mine was more from the rear wheel wells, it was almost impossible for me to find the exact location. I hope your issue gets resolved.

[Payton42]

Originally Posted by aardate

Yes it was a huge relief especially taking the rear shelf and trunk apart, I was driving the car that way trying to resolve the issue for 2 weeks. The noise could be described as a loud metallic pen clicking but you want to make sure you isolate everything else and pinpoint where its coming from, others are having issues near the rear glass, mine was more from the rear wheel wells, it was almost impossible for me to find the exact location. I hope your issue gets resolved.

Glad to hear they got you sorted ! I’ll probably bring the car over to them soon. How was the experience getting them to verify/acknowledge the sound and the timeline for repair?

Edit: also who was your SA?

[aardate]

Originally Posted by Payton42

Glad to hear they got you sorted ! I’ll probably bring the car over to them soon. How was the experience getting them to verify/acknowledge the sound and the timeline for repair?

Edit: also who was your SA?

The SA is James Crowe but the master techs name is William, he's the one who drove the car with me and acknowledge the noise. He seems very knowledgeable with noises on these cars.

[SnowBob]

I'm happy to report that I finally fixed the clicking noise coming from my rear. Just to recap, the noise developed as a pen-click sound intermittent from the rear shelf area. I've taken turns sitting in the back with the rear seats folded over trying to isolate the source without luck. I brought the car to two Houston dealers who gave the car back without any work saying they "could not reproduce." This was a major long time annoyance.

I had two major potential solutions: the first being reported fixed by a Dallas dealership with a center plate replacement for the rear sock mounts (33-50-6-877-738). The second was the fix reported in this thread by aardate.

I intended to have the center caps replace by my mechanic during a coilovers installation but they did not arrive by the time he started working. After the coilovers were installed, the clicking reduced but still happened occasionally over dips in the highway. The coilovers reuse the OEM stock shock mounts.

Over the Christmas holiday, I reinstalled the rear coilovers replacing both the center caps (33-50-6-877-738) and the shock mounts themselves. This fixed all the clicking in the rear so the problem is either between the shock mounts or the center caps.

The center caps are cheap (~$12) but the shock mounts are ($100-140) depending if you purchase online or at the stealership.

I'd recommend anyone having this issue replace both. You will also need to replace single-use hardware for the shock mounts. Refer to this helpful thread.

Last note, the shock mounts for the G20s look the same but have separate parts for cars with M-Sport suspension or standard. Part 33-50-6-877-738 is for M-Sport shocks and 33-50-6-889-267 is for standard suspension as reported in aardate's post. This post is also a good reference for the required replacement fasteners.

Thanks everyone for contributing to the fix, happy new year!

[Atomic_]

Could be car seat anchor caps

[woodym5]

Thanks for the info 👍

[Jax327]

Hey guys, I just got my M3 fixed with the parts listed in this thread. The dealer determined it was my passenger side rear strut that needed to be replaced. I can say now the pen tapping sound is gone.

[aardate]

That's awesome! the car is so much more enjoyable with these annoying noises fixed. Now on to the next rattle/creak/noise

[Jax327]

Originally Posted by aardate

That's awesome! the car is so much more enjoyable with these annoying noises fixed. Now on to the next rattle/creak/noise

It’s a great feeling for sure especially when it’s a $100k car ha. I expect some stiffness since it’s an m3 but noise like that. Your post helped me out greatly as I printed it out and gave it to the dealer.