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E70 strange noise

Discuss the problems with your BMW X5 (E70).
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Olliefrom83
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E70 strange noise

Post by Olliefrom83 » Mon Jun 14, 2021 2:14 pm

Afternoon

Suddenly started getting this strange whine type noise from the car
Seems to be coming from the rear, or from somewhere behind back of front seats back. It does it if car is in drive or coasting, from about 15mph up in speed, car is completely fine in all other ways, no grinding or anything, no jerkiness, the noise doesn’t change when turning or braking or anything. But the noise is driving me mad!!
Since this started about a week ago, I have changed rear discs and pads, made no difference, I have new handbrake shoes to go in, incase it’s that, not sure if it could be diff? Wheel bearing (which I hear is hard to diagnose in these cars) prop bearing or transfer case! Anybody had anything similar? Or might have a clue?
Car has star marked tyres all around, is 2011 and has just hit 100k
I have done a link to video of noise below

https://youtu.be/MeGqhwUAkc0

Cheers

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Leslie
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E70 strange noise

Post by Leslie » Mon Jun 14, 2021 7:40 pm

Its most likely a wheel bearing and with a whine like that jacking each up in turn should find it easy enough ,remember to choke the wheels as you will need handbrake off etc :D The diff would tend to get louder when you lift of the throttle .

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X5Sport
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E70 strange noise

Post by X5Sport » Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:32 pm

Could be rear prop centre bearing as it’s pretty much right there. That being said, I would expect a bearing (of any type) to produce a whine that changes in frequency/pitch with speed. The faster you go, the higher pitch the whine. The fuel tank is below the rear seat and there is a pump there too (driver’s side), access is below the seat base.

What happens to the sound when you change speed?
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

Olliefrom83
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E70 strange noise

Post by Olliefrom83 » Tue Jun 15, 2021 11:26 am

The noise does change in frequency, at motorway speed it’s still there but less noticeable, the worst is around 40mph as in the video, have also noticed I can hear it from outside the vehicle if the windows are down when going down my road.

If I jack up the back is the rear axle able to be spun while the front is still on the ground? Or is it going to need to go on a lift?

Cheers

Olliefrom83
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E70 strange noise

Post by Olliefrom83 » Tue Jun 15, 2021 11:30 am

The noise is definitely speed dependant rather than varying with throttle input, push car hard or just doodle around and the noise is exactly the same

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Leslie
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E70 strange noise

Post by Leslie » Tue Jun 15, 2021 11:36 am

The front axle freewheels when ignition is off so you should be able to jack one wheel at a time and spin it

Olliefrom83
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E70 strange noise

Post by Olliefrom83 » Tue Jun 15, 2021 12:04 pm

Ok great, I will give that a go

Cheers

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