# my new 745i



## bkorte (Mar 11, 2005)

undefinedHello to everyone,

I just purchased my first BMW. It's a 2003 (late 2002 build) 745i. I love this car!   
Its fun to drive and on the highway or in the city, there are some small things needed to be fixed so I took it back to the dealer (Vista BMW) and they were less then helpful.

The fist problem that I complained about was excessive wind noise from the sunroof. I don't here the noise if the shade is closed, but if the shade is open and the sunroof is closed the wind noise is loud. I have had other cars with a sunroof, but none have been as loud. The dealer says that the wind noise is normal, but I wanted to know what other members have to say.

The next issues I had was with the 19" rims. Has there been a final resolution to the problem with the vibration or do I just have to buy aftermarket 20" rims. I have read several place on this site where people have complained about the rims, but I don't want to spend more money if I can just change the tires. This car has the run flat tires that have 25k miles on them and will need to be replaced within the next 10k miles.

Dealer checked the car and said that the alignment was fine and that the tires were properly balanced. Not that I don't believe that the dealer, but the car was in the shop only 6 hours during which time the software was updated, the oil was changed and the rest of the described service was preformed; Most importantly, the mileage never changed. Should I take the car to a high performance shop and have them check the alignment and tire balance. Sounds like a waste of money while the car is under warranty, but the vibration and road noise are becoming annoying?

Finally, I have this intermittent problem with the NAV. Sometimes the NAV says that it can't find a map cd. Dealer had no clue.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated. I think I am going to go wash my car while I wait for a reply to this message.

Brian Korte


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## drbmw (Oct 12, 2003)

Not much action on this section of bimmerfest. The majority of 7 series owners are silent or don't know about this site.


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## starr666 (Dec 18, 2004)

Hi

My 03 745iL is very quiet inside. The only time I hear a little bit of wind noise is from the side windows at high speed (200K+). I think that this is unavoidable. As for the vibration, I have stock 18" wheels with pirellis and never had any vibration problem. Sounds like a balance problem to me.

I just ordered Breyton 22" with P Zero Nero tires but I won't get them for about 1 week. Will post again after I put on a few miles with those. Tried to get some feedback on this board before I decided to go with the 22's, but did not get much usefull info.

Good luck !


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## djlfp (Dec 5, 2004)

bkorte said:


> undefinedHello to everyone,
> 
> The fist problem that I complained about was excessive wind noise from the sunroof. I don't here the noise if the shade is closed, but if the shade is open and the sunroof is closed the wind noise is loud. I have had other cars with a sunroof, but none have been as loud. The dealer says that the wind noise is normal, but I wanted to know what other members have to say.
> 
> ...


These two problems have both been written about before and for a detailed response you should do a search. That being said, my recollections are:

1. The wind noise problem can be resolved with a realignment of the sash and/or replacement of the gasket, iirc (and that is a big if).

2. These vibration problems often come from using a non-standard tire on the wheel, but even when a standard tire is being used, some dealers simply do not have the capability to resolve this problem. It takes a dynamic wheel balancer of some sort (Hunter?) that many dealers do not have.

I suggest an immediate conversation with the service manager followed up with a letter. If that fails to resolve the problem, talk to BMW at (800) 831-1117. They may be helpful. You might also talk to some other dealers in the area to find out whether they are more responsive. The vibration problem may be ultimately solved through Discount Tire or some other tire dealer selling high-end tires in quantity.

Good luck.


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## Mathew (Feb 8, 2002)

bkorte said:



> The fist problem that I complained about was excessive wind noise from the sunroof. I don't here the noise if the shade is closed, but if the shade is open and the sunroof is closed the wind noise is loud. I have had other cars with a sunroof, but none have been as loud. The dealer says that the wind noise is normal, but I wanted to know what other members have to say.


There's pretty much nothing you can do about that. The problem is that it's glass, there's no insulation and it's not supposed to block out sound. The fact that the moonroof (and windshield) is a bit larger than previous models makes it even more noisy.


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## bkorte (Mar 11, 2005)

*not just a little noise*



Mathew said:


> There's pretty much nothing you can do about that. The problem is that it's glass, there's no insulation and it's not supposed to block out sound. The fact that the moonroof (and windshield) is a bit larger than previous models makes it even more noisy.


How can that be. I drive on I 95 (in Fort Lauderdale) every day in heavy traffic   and at high speed (85 mph ++) :angel: and the noise coming from the drivers window is much less then the noise coming from the moon roof with glass only. I can't believe that BMW designed an 80k car to be noisy. This is not just some small noise, it is noise that makes me close the screen when I take a phone call noise.

Can I attach a sound file to a post?

If I can I will record it and post it tonight.

B Korte


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## Mathew (Feb 8, 2002)

I know what the sound is, and for that reason I keep the shade shut. Think about the aerodynamics, there's more wind blowing by the moonroof than your windows. Next time your in your car, take a look at your side-view mirrors. The little bumps on top of that are to deflect wind away from your windows and reduce the wind noise.


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## bkorte (Mar 11, 2005)

Mathew said:


> I know what the sound is, and for that reason I keep the shade shut. Think about the aerodynamics, there's more wind blowing by the moonroof than your windows. Next time your in your car, take a look at your side-view mirrors. The little bumps on top of that are to deflect wind away from your windows and reduce the wind noise.


If that is true then this car sucks. If I can't have the shade open on a nice day and still have a conversation on the factory installed phone via the car speakers and microphone then what's the point.

One would think that a person at BMW would have actually driven the car on a highway while making a call with the factory installed phone system with the shade open and discovered that it will not frickin work.

Thanks for the confirmation of my problem, but I'm going to go yell at BMWNA and see if they have a workaround.

BK


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## fl_ron_jon (Mar 22, 2005)

Have you tried the dollar bill test? Take a dollar bill and close in between the glass and the seal. Move around and look for loose spots between the glass and the seal. The majority of the wind noise is created by the low pressure outside sucking the glass from the seal and making an air leak.


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## STEPDad (Mar 23, 2005)

*Tire and Sunroof noise*

Did you ask if [/FONT]the dealer used a Hunter Road Force balancer to check the tires? These are very expensive but many dealers are getting them because they are the only machines that can properly isolate some imbalances. Run Flat Tires have extremely stiff sidewalls in order to support the weight of the car without air in them, so they will always transmit more road "noise" than standard tires. Unfortunately, they also use special wheels that will not work with standard tires; you'll have to get new wheels if you want conventional tires. When choosing a larger than stock wheel, you also sacrifice ride quality in order gain performance, so ask yourself "Do I really need more grip in this car?" after all, it's not an M5.
Wind noise from the sunroof can come from a couple of sources. Is the suroof properly adjusted? The leading edge of the sunrof should be 1mm below the roof surface and the trailing edge should be 1mm above the roof surface with the sunroof closed. If the front (leading) edge of the sunroof sticks up above the roof, it will force air down into the interior and whistle. Another problem may be missing lift pads undeneath the car. the sunroof drain tubes end just above the lift pads on the E38 7 series (not sure about the E65) , when the pads are missing air will blow UP THE DRAIN PIPES and make wind noise at the sunroof opening. X5s and X3s have a similar problem that requires putting check valves at the ends of the drains. Try taping the opening around the sunroof and driving the car. If the noise is still there with the sunroof taped closed,the problems with the drains.
Hope this helps


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## jdcondro (Nov 17, 2006)

I just purchased a 2004 745i and later noticed the same problem with the moon roof noise. The car is still under the original warranty but the dealer said this noise was normal. I don't think so. My previous car 2005 530i did not have this problem. The discussion above about the roof drain tubes is interesting. Good Luck


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## KZ (Oct 20, 2006)

I think what bkorte wrote is agreeable. I never had the noise problem with my 750IL untill I rotated my tires. The guy I bought the c ar from didnt rotate the tires frequently. So rigth after the rotation my wind noise problem started. I havent fixed it yet so i am not sure that the tires are causing the noise but i am certain after reading what bkorte wrote.


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## CocoDolpho (Nov 1, 2006)

I have similar wind noise problem coming from the sunroof. Glad to know I'm not the opnly to believe the wind noise is excessive. When I took it to the dealership I got the same answer everyone else got: it's normal for a 745...Well I don't think so either. It's really the only thing bugging me about the car...If anyone get that fixed, please let us know so we can fix that too. Thanks guys!


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## asci01 (Jun 1, 2006)

The wind noise from your sunroof is not normal.

My 02 745i is as silent as a tumb even at 100 mph

I also have 19s and the tires needed balancing when I bought the car. The Lexus dealer where I got the car from (yes that's correct someone traded in this precious car for a Lexus and I didn't hesitate to trade in my GS300 for this awesome car). Anyway, the dealer balanced the 19s and the car rides as smooth as glass !

Again the wind noise and vibration are not normal.


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## CocoDolpho (Nov 1, 2006)

Uhm...what to do then since my dealer tells me it's normal? I'll try rtalking to them again and maybe test drive another 745 to see if i get the same wind noise. But again, if anybody gets that fixed, let us know. Thanks.


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