Noise? Transmission or wind?(and a couple other ?'s)

[Mikelb]

Ok,

Just to introduce myself a little, I'm Mike. I'm from NC, I just bought a '96 BMW 318Ti (found out it was a special Cali edition). I love cars, but am clueless when it comes to BMW's or other German vehicles.

I bought this car from a dealer I work for part-time. I drove the car around a bit before, and it drove out fine. I got a real good deal (I think, $4k) for it. I needed a car to drive my newborn daughter around in.

Now, I had this car and it did great. But on the second day, I was on the way to pick up some lunch, and it made a horrendous noise. I noticed that at about 65MPH it was almost unbearable. The car makes no noise up to 60, but at 65MPH (up to about 85MPH) it makes a terrible howling noise.

I talked to the dealer and he said it was wind noise from the top. I listened a little closer, and noticed it sounds as though it's coming from below the dash. I have also noted that the transmission shifts really hard when it's cold and makes a sort of grinding noise. When it's warm, there's no problems with it. I read elsewhere in the forums that this is normal.

Also, at the same time the noise started, the Airbag light came on. I don't know if they are related, but I thought I should note it.


Ok, I also have a few other tech questions.
Is there a CC light?
My cruise will work one time when I turn on the ignition. I can get it to work, but only one time; as soon as I hit a pothole, or the brakes (even the transmission shifter button) it will cease to function until I restart the car. I don't quite understand this.

I noticed the oil lights and that they denote when you should change the oil. I will be doing most of the work on this car (especially oil changes). How do I get that reset?

[318iS]

to reset the lights earth number 7 of any piece of the chassis as in the link....

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e36/ele...ce_lights.html

[iqvkucuh]

heyz
i actually had a same problem with yours, it was noise comes from the bottom of the car, then i noticed that my exhaust was shaking, i changed the exhaust and my car works fine now...
thing you can do is check your exhaust, then you can decide to replace it a new one or just tight it up, lots of people just tight it with a scew or something like that... just try it, good luck with that. and let me know if you fix it or now...

[zboot]

I remember a buddy of mine fixed his loose exhaust problem with coatwire. One day when driving home, the damn thing just fell off. The sudden loss of power, not to mention the sudden load sounding exhaust was a dead giveaway. I'm guessing those railroad tracks eventually took their toll on the coat wire.

[Mikelb]

hmmm... that's interesting... I have noticed that the exhaust has started shaking. It rattles when standing behind it.

Thanks for that link, it'll help me out alot...

[iqvkucuh]

things you migth need to take look at it are:
does your car make any sound while you put in first gear?
check your exhaust, make sure is tight not losing or anything?
then if you wanna spend money just get a new one...
it will work...

[Mikelb]

Originally Posted by iqvkucuh

things you migth need to take look at it are:
does your car make any sound while you put in first gear?
check your exhaust, make sure is tight not losing or anything?
then if you wanna spend money just get a new one...
it will work...

ok, when I put it in first and the car is cold, everything seems louder. It sounds as though the transmission is making sounds. I presume it could be the exhaust (and hope it's this simple).

When the car is warm, this noise doesn't occur in 1st gear, I'd say it starts in probably 3rd (a/b 65, shifts from second at 60). I'm also pretty sure that it stays in third when the noise stops (around 85, when gunning it, it won't shift out of 3rd until around 100).

So, I don't really think transmission, but it doesn't seem like exhaust either. Wouldn't I get some noise when I rev the engine(from where it's blowing apart and leaking?), I don't get any. The exhaust does have a small rattle to it when it's idling and when I rev it towards redline though.

It's supposed to be warm this weekend, and I'll try to take a look at it then.
Any other ideas (to go ahead and check while I'm at it) or anything else that could use some looking at (the car has 170k miles).

[iqvkucuh]

Originally Posted by Mikelb

ok, when I put it in first and the car is cold, everything seems louder. It sounds as though the transmission is making sounds. I presume it could be the exhaust (and hope it's this simple).

When the car is warm, this noise doesn't occur in 1st gear, I'd say it starts in probably 3rd (a/b 65, shifts from second at 60). I'm also pretty sure that it stays in third when the noise stops (around 85, when gunning it, it won't shift out of 3rd until around 100).

So, I don't really think transmission, but it doesn't seem like exhaust either. Wouldn't I get some noise when I rev the engine(from where it's blowing apart and leaking?), I don't get any. The exhaust does have a small rattle to it when it's idling and when I rev it towards redline though.

It's supposed to be warm this weekend, and I'll try to take a look at it then.
Any other ideas (to go ahead and check while I'm at it) or anything else that could use some looking at (the car has 170k miles).

you could try to look at it, and check it out, but i could say that is something with the exhaust systme, or the engine...
but usually if your engine is mess up, you couldnt drive that fast... so i guess is exhaust, just check it out and come back to me...
good luck

[Mikelb]

hey,

something funny happened this morning... I went outside, and it was really foggy. We are under a dense fog advisory it's so heavy. I started the car and left, like I always do. I was running late, so I was really pounding the car this morning. No noise. It didn't happen at 60,65,70, 80, or 90....
Hm... could the wind and humidity be playing a part in all of this?!?

[iqvkucuh]

Originally Posted by Mikelb

hey,

something funny happened this morning... I went outside, and it was really foggy. We are under a dense fog advisory it's so heavy. I started the car and left, like I always do. I was running late, so I was really pounding the car this morning. No noise. It didn't happen at 60,65,70, 80, or 90....
Hm... could the wind and humidity be playing a part in all of this?!?

hey
did you drive your car at night, or did you hear any voice when you out last time?