Welcome to Tech Talk, where our resident BMW tech Nick Owen answers all your pressing BMW technical questions, frustrations, and issues. Have a question for Nick? Email him at techtalk@roundel.org. Let’s get into it.
WD-40 To the Rescue
You may recall my email about my 2009 335i concerning a clunking noise from the front end that sounded like a spring unwinding. Your opinion was that it was either the ball joint or brake pads moving around and making noise.
My first step was to redo the brake pads and I wrote to tell you this did not have any effect on the noise.
Subsequently, I went online and checked with an AI system by supplying all the information I had. The AI noted initially that it was likely the strut support. However, it did agree that it might be the ball joint and provided a process to check the ball joint play by rocking the tire left to right and up and down as this was another potential problem area.
The results of that test did not reveal any movement I could detect with the ball joint. In addition, I took a crowbar and put it under the tire and lifted it to see if there was play I might have missed. When doing this I heard a loud groaning from the strut.
Given this I still thought that my initial suspect was the strut support unit. So, I tried lubricating it with WD-40 in the hope that it would flow down into the strut bearing and beyond. I let the car sit overnight to help the lubricant penetrate.
The next day when I took the car out for a ride the noise was completely gone and it has not come back.
Does this make sense to you? Do you think this will remedy the problem or should I go ahead and replace the shocks and associated equipment? I didn’t doubt your suggestions and appreciated your response but wanted to let you know what transpired.
John Calabria
Glad to hear you got somewhere on this! If WD-40 made the noise go away, I would continue to monitor it before replacing any parts. It is possible you have some play in the upper strut bearing and after adding a lubricant it is now gone. My gut says that it will come back eventually. If and when it does, proceed with replacement.
2016 M235i Convertible Top Issue
I occasionally get a “top not fully latched message.” It can happen with the top up or the top down. To clear it I start to open or close the top and then close the top (or open) and things seem just fine.
The car has 46,000 miles on it and still has the original battery with a resting voltage of 12.1 with a dip to 11.4 at starting. I mention this because the battery is 10 years old and it could be the sensing circuit is a bit sensitive to voltage.
Can you tell me where the sensor that is generating this message is located? Maybe a set of contacts need cleaning or something of the sort. Or maybe I just need to replace the sensor.
I love that the battery is still hanging in there. I have put it on a tender whenever I am out of town for a week or longer. It is a contest between me and battery as to who’s going to die first: me (I’m 85) or the battery!
Dave Lenderking (VA)
Despite the age of the battery, if there are no symptoms of it aging or failing then it’s fine to stay put.
As for the convertible top issue, it’s probably a failing micro switch but I couldn’t tell you where. That is something a diagnostic machine can do to determine which sensor for the top is not working properly.
2026 BMW X5 3.0 Twin Scroll Turbo – Reliable?
We are considering replacing my wife’s 2012 528i with 113,000 miles with a 2026 X5. Does this engine have similar problems to the N20 in the 528i? We have followed a strict schedule of oil changes every 5000 miles, along with all other maintenance required. The timing chain on the 528i has never been changed, so this might be a good time to replace the car.
So far it seems the current B48 four-cylinder engine is not showing the same premature timing chain failure as the N20. From what I have seen, the B48 is rather solid. I would argue that the plastic oil filter housing that resides under the intake manifold was not the best choice of material for that particular component. Luckily, there are metal aftermarket alternatives for when the time comes. I think it’s a smart move to replace the 528 with the X5 before something undesired happens.
