# Question on improving the door closing sound..



## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

Yeah, this is nit-picky and kind of obscure...

I've noticed for a while that when closing the driver's door, it sometimes makes a tinny, clanging noise. It seems to happen in colder weather. I noticed that if I hit the lower panel of the door (below the black trim strip) with my knuckles it makes a similar kind of tinny sound. I tried this on some other cars (not e46 3 series though), and didn't hear anything like this. I'm thinking that I could solve this with a well-placed damper of some sort (maybe a stick on piece of rubber, or even felt). Has anyone noticed this? Any suggestions on what would work well for solving this problem-- I'd prefer to not have to take apart my door. Its no big deal, but if I can fix it easily and cheaply, I will.


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## visor (Sep 7, 2002)

Yeah, I 've noticed this too on the drivers side, after I had removed and reinstalled the door panel when upgrading the speakers. The tinny rattle seems to emanate from around or below the lock/handle area. I'm not about to take apart the door again as my door clips are starting to fail ... from taking them apart too many times while making mistakes on the speaker install :banghead: .

Sorry, not much help here... but if this noise gets worse, then I'll bite it and do it.


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

visor said:


> *Yeah, I 've noticed this too on the drivers side, after I had removed and reinstalled the door panel when upgrading the speakers. The tinny rattle seems to emanate from around or below the lock/handle area. I'm not about to take apart the door again as my door clips are starting to fail ... from taking them apart too many times while making mistakes on the speaker install :banghead: .
> 
> Sorry, not much help here... but if this noise gets worse, then I'll bite it and do it. *


That makes sense-- I was thinking it was the door sheet metal making the noise- but if that were the case, all of the doors would make this noise and they don't. Only the driver's door has the lock, which would explain why only it makes this noise. Damn.


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## Bob330Ci (Oct 15, 2002)

You can always try removing the lock like some people were doing as an anti-theft measure. Anyone here done that, and did that help the rattle?

B.


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

Bob330Ci said:


> *You can always try removing the lock like some people were doing as an anti-theft measure. Anyone here done that, and did that help the rattle?
> 
> B. *


True. I was thinking of that too. I guess that would kill 2 birds w/ one stone. Don't know if I'm really ready to ditch my driver's door lock though.


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## nate (Dec 24, 2001)

obsess much


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

nate328Ci said:


> *obsess much  *


No-- like I said, its not a big deal-- but if there's an easy fix, I'll do it.


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## Zaphod (May 23, 2002)

If it is the lower panel that appears to be part of the problem. Do you think a piece of dynamat (sp?) would help?


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

This is actually the one jarring thing I noticed on my test drive of a 330i. I got out of the car and slammed the door and the noise it made gave me a double take. I was wondering if the seatbelt was stuck in the doorjamb or something.

I loved the sound of the door slam on my E34. Especially in an enclosed garage it sounded like a bank vault closing. I sometimes slammed it harder than it needed to be just so other people in the garage would look around to see what car sounded so great.

:bawling: I was so proud of that car's doors :bawling: 

:eeps: :eeps:


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

Zaphod said:


> *If it is the lower panel that appears to be part of the problem. Do you think a piece of dynamat (sp?) would help? *


I'm still not sure if its the door sheet metal or the lock. I actually think it might be the lock since only the driver's door seems to make this noise when closing the door. I think dynamat is a good idea- but i guess i'll have to remove the door panel to apply it-- it might not be worth it (i may cause other problems).


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

PhilH said:


> *This is actually the one jarring thing I noticed on my test drive of a 330i. I got out of the car and slammed the door and the noise it made gave me a double take. I was wondering if the seatbelt was stuck in the doorjamb or something.
> 
> I loved the sound of the door slam on my E34. Especially in an enclosed garage it sounded like a bank vault closing. I sometimes slammed it harder than it needed to be just so other people in the garage would look around to see what car sounded so great.
> 
> ...


Yeah, the e34 had one of the best "thunks" in the business. The e46 is pretty good as far as the current crop of cars-- I think its only topped by the e39 5 series. Mercedes has lost its good door thunk. The e46 is better than the A4 which makes a horrible rattling noise if the window is down when you shut the door. Recent VWs (the Passat in particular) seem to have the best door thunk sounds.

Before I bought my car, I drove a lot of e46's and I did notice that there's a pretty great range of variability in how the doors sound. ON some cars, the side view mirrors would make a "boing" sound, other car's door latches make a "clank", and other makes the hollow tinny clanging noise. Some were perfect. I guess it also depends on the temperature.

Its definitely a small, obsessive thing but its one of those intangibles that used to make owning a German car more "special". Since I like my car a lot and plan to keep it for a while, I've slowly been fixing the small things that start to irritate over time. I've managed to make my car sound a lot more solid with the addition of some felt in a few places for example. I feel lucky to be able to focus on such small problems because it means that the car is so good overall--and it keeps getting better! When you get your 330, give it 1 year to "shakedown" any problems before you pass judgement on it. Hopefully you won't have issues, even stuff as trivial as this is!


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