[TJZ67201]

Intro: There are a couple threads on this forum regarding thumping and rattling noises coming from the rear of the G42. This is not specific to the G42, this also affects other models as well, and you’ll see why in the FIX section of this post. It was believed (by myself included) that the noise originated from the rear suspension but this may NOT be the case, at least for most.

This is the process I followed to remove the rear parcel shelf. I don’t have a lot of photos but I might make video if there is enough interest. I will attach more photos inline at a later time, just doing this on my phone for now.

Step 1 - Remove the lower rear seat bench:
- Pull up from the front, there are 3 clips holding it in. Then lower the rear seat backs, will need to put some towels down for protection.

Step 2 - Remove the rear side bolsters:
- There are two T20 or T30 bolts holding it in place. One up top and the other at the bottom, would be hidden by the lower seat bench which was just removed. There is one clip holding it in place towards the top. This one is rough and requires a lot of force. Once removed, you will have some lee way but beware of the airbag wiring towards the bottom. You will also have to remove the plastic seatbelt guide at this point I believe. It’s a small piece about 5 inches across, pretty easy to figure out how that comes out, there are 2 push pins holding it in place. Just keep it connected to the seatbelt and let it dangle.

Step 3 - Remove the lower entryway plastic door sill:
- There are about 6 clips, no screws. They will pop up, pry underneath near the weatherstripping. When all clips are popped, remove the peice by pushing it toward the front of the vehicle. NOTE: some of the white clips will stay in place. You need to remove them from the door sill and install them back into the plastic panel. This goes for all other pieces as well, always remove the clip if it gets stuck in place.

Step 4 - Remove the rear plastic panels. Idk what to call them, think door card if it was a 4 door car.
- There are 3 clips towards the front (of the vehicle). Pop them by wedging your fingers underneath near the B pillar. Will need to lift weather stripping out of the way. Next, there are 5 metal clips holding the panel in place along the window. These will pop up and out and will require a little more force. Lastly, there are 2 additional blue clips to keep in mind, they should just come out once you free the 5 metal clips. Unplug the speaker, it just pulls straight out but beware of which port it is connected to, front or back.

Step 5 - Remove C pillars:
- Carefully pop the black plastic airbag cover piece. This will uncover 1 of 2 T20 or T30 bolts that will need to be unscrewed. The second is located to the front, would have been hidden by the large piece we had to remove in step 4. Now pop the C pillar out and pull towards the front of the vehicle. There are 3 clips holding it in place, one is metal and will require some force. Be mindful that there is a little tab towards the back of the vehicle which will come up and out.

Step 6 - The rear parcel shelf:
- Remove the 5 or so push/pop pins at the front of the piece where the back seat rests lock into place. Now pull up on the shelf to lift it over the metal locks that hold the rear seat in place. Now pull the whole piece up and towards the front of the vehicle. It will require some force and you will hear a pop. Be mindful of the speaker connections. They also just pop out.

Step 7: remove the plastic vent piece by unscrewing the 5 or so bolts.

FIX:

How to fix the rattling / thumping sounds:

I used a combination of Kilmat and SoundShield WrapIt tape to cover essentially all metal surfaces under the deck lid and plastic vent. In my case, I don’t believe this area was the cause of MY sound, just wanted to sound deaden the area while I had it apart.

I believe the exact sound was coming from where the back of the parcel shelf mates with the plastic vent, oddly enough. I wrapped the whole underside and rear edge of the shelf with felt tape. After the re-installing the vent and shelf into place, the squeaking rattley sounds stopped after wrapping with felt.

One more note: I had some minor sounds coming from where the C pillar mates with the parcel shelf. There was a lot of flex with the parcel shelf so I cut a pool noodle in half and placed one half above the rear seatbelt assembly on each side. The parcel shelf then sits on top of the noodle which eliminates the flex and extra noise. Ghetto, but it helps and is completely invisible when everything is back in place.

Additional:

While I had everything apart, I also popped out that piece that sits behind the rear side speakers. It is held in with 6 or so black plastic circular tabs. I installed Kilmat on the whole outter metal siding from this large cavity. Makes knocking on the outside of the car sound like a bank vault compared to no sound deadening. Ever so slightly quieter in the cabin plus sound won’t leak out as much with the speakers blasting. Will be doing the doors next!

[Rdurty2]

Did you have any indication the noise was coming from the shelf?

It would suck to go through all of this and it makes no difference.

How long would you say the whole process took you?

[Wasp_Factory]

It would be ironic if we've all been looking at the suspension for the knocking and it turns out to be the parcel shelf/plastic vent!

Great work TJZ67201. Need to decide whether I have the appetite and patience to do this or take it to a shop.

Has the knocking definitely gone?

[Bandit009]

Originally Posted by TJZ67201

Intro: There are a couple threads on this forum regarding thumping and rattling noises coming from the rear of the G42. This is not specific to the G42, this also affects other models as well, and you’ll see why in the FIX section of this post. It was believed (by myself included) that the noise originated from the rear suspension but this may NOT be the case, at least for most.

This is the process I followed to remove the rear parcel shelf. I don’t have a lot of photos but I might make video if there is enough interest. I will attach more photos inline at a later time, just doing this on my phone for now.

Step 1 - Remove the lower rear seat bench:
- Pull up from the front, there are 3 clips holding it in. Then lower the rear seat backs, will need to put some towels down for protection.

Step 2 - Remove the rear side bolsters:
- There are two T20 or T30 bolts holding it in place. One up top and the other at the bottom, would be hidden by the lower seat bench which was just removed. There is one clip holding it in place towards the top. This one is rough and requires a lot of force. Once removed, you will have some lee way but beware of the airbag wiring towards the bottom. You will also have to remove the plastic seatbelt guide at this point I believe. It’s a small piece about 5 inches across, pretty easy to figure out how that comes out, there are 2 push pins holding it in place. Just keep it connected to the seatbelt and let it dangle.

Step 3 - Remove the lower entryway plastic door sill:
- There are about 6 clips, no screws. They will pop up, pry [...]

Amazing dedication and follow through on your part! As much as I would love to eliminate this noise, I don’t have the motivation to take on this project. Sadly, if I keep the “damping” in “comfort” most of the noise is elimated for me so I will continue to drive the car this way.

[TJZ67201]

Originally Posted by Rdurty2

Did you have any indication the noise was coming from the shelf?

It would suck to go through all of this and it makes no difference.

How long would you say the whole process took you?

One indication I had was that the rear shelf would rattle with very loud music / certain bass frequency. I wedged cut up pieces of pool noodle in between the plastic vent and the glass which provided enough downward force to mitigate the vibration. I then noticed that not only the rattle was fixed, but I also heard the thumping sound less often. This made me question if it was actually related to the parcel shelf and not the suspension that I had initially thought.

I had my car apart for 3 days only because I took my time and also installed sound deadening. Going in blind, it took me a while to get it all apart. If I had to do it again, I could have it all apart in about half an hour, and 15 minutes to get it all back together. Hopefully this thread will help the “going in blind” aspect for everyone else. It’s scary at first, but I never felt like I was about to break anything and I did not end up breaking anything. Definitely DIY possible if you have the trim removal tools which are super cheap on Amazon for a decent set.

[TJZ67201]

Originally Posted by Wasp_Factory

It would be ironic if we've all been looking at the suspension for the knocking and it turns out to be the parcel shelf/plastic vent!

Great work TJZ67201. Need to decide whether I have the appetite and patience to do this or take it to a shop.

Has the knocking definitely gone?

Thanks! It’s definitely DIY friendly if you have the trim removal tools. The sound is now gone. And with the sound deadening I installed, that car is almost too quiet! In combination with the xHP trans tune I just installed, I am absolutely in love with the car all over again

[Littlecoupe]

For anyone tackling this, those metal V-shaped clips like the one at the bottom of the C pillar photo (4th photo), those can be little jerks. I took off the A pillar cover probably about 8 times in my F22 trying to fix a noise and that clip was my nemesis.

The issue was that the pillar (in the F22) was god-awful to line up when reinstalling. If you feel the need to hammer on the panel with your fist to get that clip installed, DO NOT DO IT. Take a moment, re-adjust the panel, and when it lines up it should just pop in fairly easily. I my Hulk moment, I hammered on the panel with the palm of my hand and then heard the clip fall all the way down to who-knows-where. I was sick to my stomach. Also, pulling off that panel 8 or times eventually caused the clip holder on the pillar cover to break. You'll only get so many chances with this one, it does take a decent amount of force to unclip it from the body. Those white plastic clips as shown in other pictures, those come from the body mounting holes much easier.

[TJZ67201]

Originally Posted by Littlecoupe

For anyone tackling this, those metal V-shaped clips like the one at the bottom of the C pillar photo (4th photo), those can be little jerks. I took off the A pillar cover probably about 8 times in my F22 trying to fix a noise and that clip was my nemesis.

The issue was that the pillar (in the F22) was god-awful to line up when reinstalling. If you feel the need to hammer on the panel with your fist to get that clip installed, DO NOT DO IT. Take a moment, re-adjust the panel, and when it lines up it should just pop in fairly easily. I my Hulk moment, I hammered on the panel with the palm of my hand and then heard the clip fall all the way down to who-knows-where. I was sick to my stomach. Also, pulling off that panel 8 or times eventually caused the clip holder on the pillar cover to break. You'll only get so many chances with this one, it does take a decent amount of force to unclip it from the body. Those white plastic clips as shown in other pictures, those come from the body mounting holes much easier.

Oof, good point. I did have to “hammer” mine back in with the palm of my hand but fortunately it did not fall into the abyss.

[Littlecoupe]

Originally Posted by TJZ67201

Oof, good point. I did have to “hammer” mine back in with the palm of my hand but fortunately it did not fall into the abyss.

I think it's all about getting it perfectly aligned to the slot it installs in. After that blunder, I was extra careful to line it up (you could see the slot when viewing from the outside of the car). If it's lined up perfectly, it only takes just a little bit of force and *thunk*, it slides in.

I don't think mine fell INTO the A-pillar, but instead down the pillar cover, down the dash, into somewhere.

[Haneef]

Originally Posted by TJZ67201

Intro: There are a couple threads on this forum regarding thumping and rattling noises coming from the rear of the G42. This is not specific to the G42, this also affects other models as well, and you’ll see why in the FIX section of this post. It was believed (by myself included) that the noise originated from the rear suspension but this may NOT be the case, at least for most.

This is the process I followed to remove the rear parcel shelf. I don’t have a lot of photos but I might make video if there is enough interest. I will attach more photos inline at a later time, just doing this on my phone for now.

Step 1 - Remove the lower rear seat bench:
- Pull up from the front, there are 3 clips holding it in. Then lower the rear seat backs, will need to put some towels down for protection.

Step 2 - Remove the rear side bolsters:
- There are two T20 or T30 bolts holding it in place. One up top and the other at the bottom, would be hidden by the lower seat bench which was just removed. There is one clip holding it in place towards the top. This one is rough and requires a lot of force. Once removed, you will have some lee way but beware of the airbag wiring towards the bottom. You will also have to remove the plastic seatbelt guide at this point I believe. It’s a small piece about 5 inches across, pretty easy to figure out how that comes out, there are 2 push pins holding it in place. Just keep it connected to the seatbelt and let it dangle.

Step 3 - Remove the lower entryway plastic door sill:
- There are about 6 clips, no screws. They will pop up, pry underneath near the weatherstripping. When all clips are popped, remove the peice by pushing it toward the front of the vehicle. NOTE: some of the white clips will stay in place. You need to remove them from the door sill and install them back into the plastic panel. This goes for all other pieces as well, always remove the clip if it gets stuck in place.

Step 4 - Remove the rear plastic panels. Idk what to call them, think door card if it was a 4 door car.
- There are 3 clips towards the front (of the vehicle). Pop them by wedging your fingers underneath near the B pillar. Will need to lift weather stripping out of the way. Next, there are 5 metal clips holding the panel in place along the window. These will pop up and out and will require a little more force. Lastly, there are 2 additional blue clips to keep in mind, they should just come out once you free the 5 metal clips. Unplug the speaker, it just pulls straight out but beware of which port it is connected to, front or back.

Step 5 - Remove C pillars:
- Carefully pop the black plastic airbag cover piece. This will uncover 1 of 2 T20 or T30 bolts that will need to be unscrewed. The second is located to the front, would have been hidden by the large piece we had to remove in step 4. Now pop the C pillar out and pull towards the front of the vehicle. There are 3 clips holding it in place, one is metal and will require some force. Be mindful that there is a little tab towards the back of the vehicle which will come up and out.

Step 6 - The rear parcel shelf:
- Remove the 5 or so push/pop pins at the front of the piece where the back seat rests lock into place. Now pull up on the shelf to lift it over the metal locks that hold the rear seat in place. Now pull the whole piece up and towards the front of the vehicle. It will require some force and you will hear a pop. Be mindful of the speaker connections. They also just pop out.

Step 7: remove the plastic vent piece by unscrewing the 5 or so bolts.

FIX:

How to fix the rattling / thumping sounds:

I used a combination of Kilmat and SoundShield WrapIt tape to cover essentially all metal surfaces under the deck lid and plastic vent. In my case, I don’t believe this area was the cause of MY sound, just wanted to sound deaden the area while I had it apart.

I believe the exact sound was coming from where the back of the parcel shelf mates with the plastic vent, oddly enough. I wrapped the whole underside and rear edge of the shelf with felt tape. After the re-installing the vent and shelf into place, the squeaking rattley sounds stopped after wrapping with felt.

One more note: I had some minor sounds coming from where the C pillar mates with the parcel shelf. There was a lot of flex with the parcel shelf so I cut a pool noodle in half and placed one half above the rear seatbelt assembly on each side. The parcel shelf then sits on top of the noodle which eliminates the flex and extra noise. Ghetto, but it helps and is completely invisible when everything is back in place.

Additional:

While I had everything apart, I also popped out that piece that sits behind the rear side speakers. It is held in with 6 or so black plastic circular tabs. I installed Kilmat on the whole outter metal siding from this large cavity. Makes knocking on the outside of the car sound like a bank vault compared to no sound deadening. Ever so slightly quieter in the cabin plus sound won’t leak out as much with the speakers blasting. Will be doing the doors next!

Hey man. I just bought an ‘23 M240i. I knew this existed when I bought it. But too good a deal to pass up. So I bought it with the sound. Lol. Are you in MA by any chance? I’d love to pay you to help me do the same.

[Rdurty2]

Originally Posted by TJZ67201

Oof, good point. I did have to “hammer” mine back in with the palm of my hand but fortunately it did not fall into the abyss.

How many sq ft of killmat did you use? Also what mil?

For the felt tape how much did you need?

[Haneef]

Originally Posted by Littlecoupe

I think it's all about getting it perfectly aligned to the slot it installs in. After that blunder, I was extra careful to line it up (you could see the slot when viewing from the outside of the car). If it's lined up perfectly, it only takes just a little bit of force and *thunk*, it slides in.

I don't think mine fell INTO the A-pillar, but instead down the pillar cover, down the dash, into somewhere.

Are your thumping issues solved?

[TJZ67201]

Cross post from this thread as well: https://g87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1903609

Ok so I’ll admit that I fucked up a bit. See when I did my testing it was abnormally warm out. Fast forward 2 weeks later and it got cold in the Midwest (like it should be) and the noise returned… I ripped apart and removed rear deck and I still heard the noise WITHOUT the parcel shelf in the vehicle. It just so happened that when I did my initial testing it was warm and my car doesn’t make much noise at all when it’s warm, so I was convinced the noise was from the parcel shelf.

So last week I took my car to the dealer. They confirmed they heard the noise and replaced the rear passenger shock absorber. The car still makes the exact same noise. They could have opened a case with BMWNA but decided not to (they consulted with me first) since I have a tuned trans. They advised I remove the tune and bring it back so BMWNA doesn’t void part of my warranty if they see the tune.

So I am I still experiencing the rear thumping noise after my rear deck lid fix. It is important to note that my fix DID permanently resolve vibration noises when blasting songs with bass, but it is not entirely the cause of the thumping noise I am hearing. I am busy the next couple of weeks but I will post here if/when there are any suspension updates. They tested another M240 on the lot and it also had the noise. I am not sure what year that was but I’m assuming it was brand new.

TO EVERYONE IN THIS FORUM! If you are hearing the suspension noise, this fix may help depending on the source of the noise. My rear parcel shelf DID make some noise but it was NOT the cause of the thumping. If you are hearing thumping sounds from the rear suspension, please bring your car to the dealer if you can, after the holidays of course. We need BMWNA to properly investigate this issue and maybe issue a service bulletin or recall. Thank you all and have a merry Christmas and happy holidays!

[Haneef]

Originally Posted by TJZ67201

Cross post from this thread as well: https://g87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1903609

Ok so I’ll admit that I fucked up a bit. See when I did my testing it was abnormally warm out. Fast forward 2 weeks later and it got cold in the Midwest (like it should be) and the noise returned… I ripped apart and removed rear deck and I still heard the noise WITHOUT the parcel shelf in the vehicle. It just so happened that when I did my initial testing it was warm and my car doesn’t make much noise at all when it’s warm, so I was convinced the noise was from the parcel shelf.

So last week I took my car to the dealer. They confirmed they heard the noise and replaced the rear passenger shock absorber. The car still makes the exact same noise. They could have opened a case with BMWNA but decided not to (they consulted with me first) since I have a tuned trans. They advised I remove the tune and bring it back so BMWNA doesn’t void part of my warranty if they see the tune.

So I am I still experiencing the rear thumping noise after my rear deck lid fix. It is important to note that my fix DID permanently resolve vibration noises when blasting songs with bass, but it is not entirely the cause of the thumping noise I am hearing. I am busy the next couple of weeks but I will post here if/when there are any suspension updates. They tested another M240 on the lot and it also had the noise. I am not sure what year that was but I’m assuming it was brand new.

TO EVERYONE IN THIS FORUM! If you are hearing [...]

Thanks TJ. But just curious how only a handful of us are hearing it? Is it just our cars or we have abnormal hearing. lol.

Anyway, thanks for the update. Was about to force a dealer to do what you did. Well let’s see what my dealer has to say. Though I don’t believe they’d ever be able to fix. So I guess we got to live it. It doesn’t annoy me if I focus on not hearing it. But the car is a beauty. So live with it till I get the M340i in a year or so. I got the craziest deal on my M240i lol. Like, got the trade value you usually get at a dealer. So wanna maximize my use and swap when my family arrives to the US.

I assume the M340i doesn’t have this.

[TJZ67201]

Like I said in my PM to you, I would suggest bringing it to the dealer and telling them it sounds like either rear parcel shelf or the suspension. They should go on a ride along with you in the car.

I agree, I absolutely love the car aside from this damn noise. It is not so bad in comfort mode and in warmer weather. Still not normal, especially for a premium brand.

[Haneef]

Originally Posted by TJZ67201

Like I said in my PM to you, I would suggest bringing it to the dealer and telling them it sounds like either rear parcel shelf or the suspension. They should go on a ride along with you in the car.

I agree, I absolutely love the car aside from this damn noise. It is not so bad in comfort mode and in warmer weather. Still not normal, especially for a premium brand.

I plan to do Comfort for steering and suspension and the rest Sport+. This should reduce the sound. Since I am from MA, it’s insanely cold lol. Assume I’ll keep hearing it.

Yeah I’ll see what the dealer says. I would love to drive more M240i. My brand new is arriving in March. Will try it and keep you all posted. If I see any dealer having one, going to go try them. lol.

[MPR]

Please keep us posted. I am interested in what the issue is and will use that to determine next steps. I’d like to avoid a trip to the dealer to let them tear apart my car — I’d rather do it myself if possible.

I am surprised it’s not the rear deck, hopefully it’s not part of the cars frame that they forgot to weld together, or something.

[Haneef]

Originally Posted by MPR

Please keep us posted. I am interested in what the issue is and will use that to determine next steps. I’d like to avoid a trip to the dealer to let them tear apart my car — I’d rather do it myself if possible.

I am surprised it’s not the rear deck, hopefully it’s not part of the cars frame that they forgot to weld together, or something.

My gut feeling says it is what it is I guess. lol. Till we upgrade xD but I am super surprised why only a few are vocal. Either this is happening to just us. Or others don’t sense or feel it. lol.

[German1967]

5k miles in I have not heard this “thumping noise” yet (Aug 2023 build). Granted I have not looked for it and listen to music most of the time. Trying not to listen for it now.

[Haneef]

Originally Posted by German1967

5k miles in I have not heard this “thumping noise” yet (Aug 2023 build). Granted I have not looked for it and listen to music most of the time. Trying not to listen for it now.

Don’t try. I never knew this existed and would have just never known. I read this forum before buying lmao. Now I know. So I heard it because I was looking for it 🤣

M340i is my next car in a year or so.

[Rdurty2]

Damn that’s a kick in the balls.

[MPR]

Originally Posted by German1967

5k miles in I have not heard this “thumping noise” yet (Aug 2023 build). Granted I have not looked for it and listen to music most of the time. Trying not to listen for it now.

I wouldn’t consider my noise as a thump, it kinda sounds like a wooden ball in a cardboard box gently slapping the side of the box on occasion, if that makes sense. I can live with it. I guess you can consider it as a thump, but not a bad thump, just an annoyance on an almost brand new car.