Rattle under hard acceleration. [UPDATE]

[BuLoOoSki]

I've been having this issue for the past month (7,500miles on the odo), so finally took the car to the dealership and they confirmed that it's the e-brake tube rubbing against the driveshaft. The had to bend the tube at more than one place to completely have the sound go away. Been driving the car for two days and thankfully can't hear it anymore, for now at least.

Many people are assuming that his is happening due to the driveshaft not being balanced properly, if that was the case then I believe you would feel the entire car vibrating under hard acceleration in all gears. However, what's happening here, at least in my case, is I just hear a rattle in first and second gear hard acceleration, but I definitely don't feel any vibrations. Just my 2 cents.

I have also attached the service bulletin relating to the issue if anyone is interested, SI B26 02 14.

[TheSasquatch]

Funny.. I hadn't had time to log in to the forums for a year or so (since getting my F83) so I didn't think to search and find this thread. Had this console rattling problem to an extreme. Thankfully, Salt Lake City BMW dealer (BMW of Murray) has a fairly knowledgeable service team that knew 'fairly quickly' that there was a service bulletin for the issue..
--- I believe they've actually adjusted / updated the bulletin to make it mandatory to place insulating material between the brake cables / driveshaft (rather than just bending the cables to clear the two).

I had the issue addressed about 3 months ago and it's been perfect and SUCH a joy ever since.
(Now - if I could just get all of my speakers to quit rattling / vibrating under acceleration, I'd be a... well, I may never be pleased.

Cheers.

[M156]

just got an jan built 2016 6MT M3 today and seems like i am having this issue. Surprised bmw still have not fixed it. will go into service tmr

[Sterek]

Ebrake tube rubbing on the driveshaft?

[Mandi90TT]

Originally Posted by Sterek

Ebrake tube rubbing on the driveshaft?

You're 3.5 years too late.

[Sterek]

Originally Posted by Dave 90TT

You're 3.5 years too late.

well i have 1 year warranty. was wondering if that is something that gets covered under warranty?

[Mandi90TT]

Originally Posted by Sterek

well i have 1 year warranty. was wondering if that is something that gets covered under warranty?

Take it to the dealership. The point I was making is that your post, in which you offered an answer, rather than asking a question, was to a thread that hadn't been posted to in 3.5 years.

[Sterek]

Originally Posted by Dave 90TT

Take it to the dealership. The point I was making is that your post, in which you offered an answer, rather than asking a question, was to a thread that hadn't been posted to in 3.5 years.

No i understand sorry to seem like a dumbass but yeah my car is making the same noise with 50k on it. Got worse in the rain with traction control off. so basically all i need to do is bend it out of the way from the drive shaft upwards?

[abitria]

I have a rattling noise coming from the center arm rest when I accelerate in my 428i. Sometimes it makes noises then sometimes it doesn't and sometimes the noise is louder than other times. From reading this post I am guessing it might be the brake lines rubbing the drive shaft. Anyone know how much they charged for the service if they charged anything at all? Bringing my car in next week for an oil change and vehicle check up. thanks in advance

[B15hop]

This sounds like when the brake cable clip which runs under the car breaks and rattles against the drive shaft. I dealt with this before personally in my car.

There is an easy $10 fix for this if you can get under the car. Look to the rear of the car, between the heat shield and the body. You will see a black cable that runs from the rear tires to the front of the car, along the center. Shake that cable with your hand. It will likely make noise if you're hearing that rattling noise.

Anyway. Just buy some thick tie tags and strap it tightly up against the frame of the car to anywhere you can strap it. Up, not down, meaning up toward the sky.
That will stop it from rattling against the drive shaft and is probably just as good as paying $250-$700 dollars that someone will charge you to drop your drive shaft, exhaust and replace the cheap, garbage $10 clip that broke which was holding your brake cable in place.
Literally 10 mins of work and $5 bucks in tie straps. Strap it in a few places if you can.
Cheers.

[PhatLyfe]

What was the rattle?

[Randy Johnson]

I have a 15 435i GC doing something similar. Not sure if this is the same sound but it seems related. I noticed I get the sound when the car is loaded down more with either people or dead weight and when accelerating. The faster you accelerate the more pronounced the noise is. Mine sounded like it was coming from the speakers though. So I thought it was the amp or a short somewhere. I checked under the rear of the car several times looking for a loose or chafed wire. Couldn't find anything. The last time I looked under the car I noticed the plastic clips that hold the parking brake cables in were broken. They are just plastic clips that probably got brittle with age and broke off. So when I noticed this I tried to push the cables back in to the plastic clamp. Of course they would not stay since part of the clip was broken off but I guess I bent the tubes a little that helped keep them tucked up. The next time I took the car out I heard the noise a lot less. It was still there but this seemed I was headed in the right direction. So finally the weekend comes and I have time to check out the parking brake cables. They are tucked up above the drive shaft. Pain in the ass to get in this area. I wanted to figure out a way to tie them up and secure them. This noise was ruining my driving experience. It drowned out the exhaust. So I put the car up on ramps and jack stands and started taking things out. There is a lot of stuff in the way. I removed the 2 chassis braces and a 2 plastic covers which allowed me to remove the heat shield above the drive shaft. I also had to drop the exhaust at the downpipe. I made a small bracket to bolt above the drive shaft to and existing bolt. It was just aft of the broken clip that holds the parking brake cables. With this bracket I zip tied the parking brake cables back up. Put everything back together and took it for a pretty good test drive. Accelerated briskly several time in comfort and sport mode. Engine was warm. I did not hear the noise. I'm hoping this was the fix. BMW really needs to figure out a better bracket for the parking brake cables. So I stumbled on this thread after I noticed the cable bracket was broken. Hopefully this will help others pinpoint the issue.