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I feel every single bump,crack, pebble onthe road it's worst cause my widows rattle l

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    #16
    There's a lot that can be said on this issue with regards to convertibles, so I'll try and sum up everything I've learned in my 10 years of 'vert ownership.

    1) A lower x-brace and upper strut brace will help immensely with cowl shake. This is where a lot of the rattles in the roof, and where the windows mee the roof, come from.
    2) Suspension matters a ton. I had Bilsteins/H&R on my car for years, and they rode much rougher and caused more more squeaks/rattles due to their harshness than my current Ground Control coilover setup. Getting the right spring rates, and the matching damper rates, is a bit of an art.
    3) You can absolutely replace the seals on the top where the windows meet, which will likely help. However they are quite expensive so be prepared. Alternatively, with the top down and the door open, you can "push" the window A-pillar towards the interior of the car. Not too hard, but enough for the metal to bend slightly. This sounds insane, I know, but trust me. If you do it gently and don't go more than about 1/4" at the top of the frame, you'll actually force the window to press against the top, reducing rattles. This also works for the metal strip of the "B" pillar that's part of the rear window.
    4) I don't know what swaybars you're running but too-large bars can really overwhelm the floppy chassis and increase chassis flex.
    5) Don't be afraid to pull off the door cards and adjust the windows so that they fit nice and snug against the top and seals. Again, it's a bit of an art and will take a lot of trial & error, but it's not difficult.

    In the end a convertible will always rattle more than a hardtop car because the chassis has all the rigidity of a wet piece of Charmin.... but there are things that help :)

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      #17
      sure ... i'll give you my take ... grab a beer & have a read ...

      i believe it is a design issue ...having first been designed as a 2 door/4 door, cabrios didn't hit the market until '87 ... for the cabrio, they basically chopped the top off of the coupe, strengthened the windshield surround & added 'wing' windows for added support ... they also widened the side rails which made the front buckets more narrow ... there was other body strengthening steps, too ... so, basically, they bolstered the existing body/chassis ... however ... they didn't do too much to beef up the actual door guts themselves ... they merely removed the coupe's door trim from around the window & added a wind wing window to help support the windshield in a rollover ... BAM ... a cabrio door ...

      so the guts in the cabrio's doors are basically the same as the coupe's ... consequently ... when you raise a cabrio's window, it doesn't have the perimeter window frame of the coupe to guide the window & keep it rigid from rattling & buffeting in the wind ... it's the nature of the beast ... bmw solved this issue in the e36 series because they were able to design the e36 cabrio from the ground up alongside the coupe, thus being able to address any rattling noises from the start .. i don't know how they actually redesigned the interior of the cabrio doors for the e36, but i do know that their windows do not rattle like the e30 does

      i've now had my second cabrio since '00 ... streets in san francisco are the worst in the nation ... way too many potholes ... before lowering my ride, not many window rattles on the rough roads .. however ... once i dropped it down on my eibach pro kit, that's when my windows started to rattle like a snake... so i took the door cards off and:

      1) made sure all the bolts inside door frame were nice & tight ... all harnesses & plugs secured tightly to inner door frame
      2) made sure to grease up the window guides while i was in there ...
      3) took out the factory brown paper sheet underneath the door panel & used it as a template to cut out a thin sheet of foam for insulation ... (i basically replicated what the inside of my e34 touring door looked like >>> which uses insulating foam rather than brown paper for weather shied
      4) i then did a few hot glue spots on the 4 corners the door ...
      5) adhered the newly cut foam ... & then finally remounted the door panel ... these simple efforts greatly reduced road rattle ...

      if i had to do it all over again, i'd probably also stick some of that sound deadening mat on the inside of the door while i was already in there , too


      final upshot ... by tightening & insulating the door the best you can, you can eliminate MOST of the rattles in the doors ... & when you hit those particularly rough patches on the roads & your teeth & windows start rattling, default to my first advice & just raise your windows up about 5 inches
      '92 alpinweiss 5spd cabrio w/mtech appearance package & factory hardtop
      '95 alpinweiss 528iT
      '88 dodge ram 50 sport cab

      Comment


        #18
        Originally posted by CorvallisBMW View Post
        There's a lot that can be said on this issue with regards to convertibles, so I'll try and sum up everything I've learned in my 10 years of 'vert ownership.

        1) A lower x-brace and upper strut brace will help immensely with cowl shake. This is where a lot of the rattles in the roof, and where the windows mee the roof, come from.
        2) Suspension matters a ton. I had Bilsteins/H&R on my car for years, and they rode much rougher and caused more more squeaks/rattles due to their harshness than my current Ground Control coilover setup. Getting the right spring rates, and the matching damper rates, is a bit of an art.
        3) You can absolutely replace the seals on the top where the windows meet, which will likely help. However they are quite expensive so be prepared. Alternatively, with the top down and the door open, you can "push" the window A-pillar towards the interior of the car. Not too hard, but enough for the metal to bend slightly. This sounds insane, I know, but trust me. If you do it gently and don't go more than about 1/4" at the top of the frame, you'll actually force the window to press against the top, reducing rattles. This also works for the metal strip of the "B" pillar that's part of the rear window.
        4) I don't know what swaybars you're running but too-large bars can really overwhelm the floppy chassis and increase chassis flex.
        5) Don't be afraid to pull off the door cards and adjust the windows so that they fit nice and snug against the top and seals. Again, it's a bit of an art and will take a lot of trial & error, but it's not difficult.

        In the end a convertible will always rattle more than a hardtop car because the chassis has all the rigidity of a wet piece of Charmin.... but there are things that help :)


        Wow!! Thanks man, really appreciate it.. definitely answered stuff I was thinking !!!
        As far as sway bars what ever is stock is what I have

        And as far shocks I'm thinking koni's


        Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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          #19
          thanks Ryan Sf ill def take my cards off and start adjusting and tighten stuff

          Comment


            #20
            let me add one more thing ... a couple weeks back, my driver's interior door handle broke (so i thought) on my e34 touring ... so i ordered a new handle ... when it came in, i popped off the doorcard (much harder than on the e30, but i digress) ... much to my dismay, it wasn't a broken door handle, but the bowden cable from the handle to the catch had snapped... wasn't pleased

            so instead of driving around with a raw front driver's door for another week, I put the door back all together again while waiting for the bowden cable to come in from pelican ... i purposely left the insulating foam off because i just figured that i'd put it back in when the new cable arrived

            so here's the point ... for the week that i drove around with no foam insulation while waiting for the cable to come in, i could definitely hear the door rattle at times ... in fact ... i made a mental note of which roads highlighted the noises ... then ... after going back in with the new bowden cable, reattaching the foam insulation & sliding the door card back on ... well ... i took the same noisy route & found the door to be very quiet ... through the process of elimination, i'm positive that a thin sheet of pourous type foam insulation would help quiet the e30 cabrio doors, too ... with that said ... i can only imagine how much more quiet the cabrio doors would be if i was to also wrap the inside skin of the door with some of that dynomat xtreme stuff or some other equivalent type of wrap
            '92 alpinweiss 5spd cabrio w/mtech appearance package & factory hardtop
            '95 alpinweiss 528iT
            '88 dodge ram 50 sport cab

            Comment


              #21
              Originally posted by ryan SF cabrio View Post
              through the process of elimination, i'm positive that a thin sheet of pourous type foam insulation would help quiet the e30 cabrio doors, too ... with that said ... i can only imagine how much more quiet the cabrio doors would be if i was to also wrap the inside skin of the door with some of that dynomat xtreme stuff or some other equivalent type of wrap
              This an an awesome idea. Use a Dynamat-like sticky insulation on the inside of the outer door sheetmetal/skin to dampen the metal, then line the vapor barrier with some kind of insulating foam to help soak up noise from rattles. I might just have to do this myself!

              Comment


                #22
                besides the porous grey spongey insulation sheet between the door frame & door card that i already mentioned ... my '95 e34 touring also has some sort of insulating mat adhered to the inside of all four doors ... hard to get a pic of it because they have those side impact bars running horizontally in the doors & i can't see any part number or brand name on the insulating matt ... that's why i thought of dynamat xtreme would work just as well if not better

                so, once again ... tighten any loose bolts, secure any loose parts of the door's electrical harness, apply dynamat extreme on the inside of the door, hot glue tack your newly cut grey foam insulation to the door frame ... & then cover it by snapping back on the door card ... & every one of those breakable white plastic clips on the perimeter of the door card must be unbroken to help make a complete seal as the door card snaps on

                i did a quick search on realoem & they call their barrier wrap "Sound Deadener" ... part # 51488165271 ... 50 clams ... &, unfortunately, it doesn't say how much footage on the roll
                '92 alpinweiss 5spd cabrio w/mtech appearance package & factory hardtop
                '95 alpinweiss 528iT
                '88 dodge ram 50 sport cab

                Comment


                  #23
                  For better or worse my car is so stripped down that it has fewer rattle sources
                  Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. -Mark Twain

                  Comment


                    #24
                    I adjusted my windows to press tighter against the seals and pressed in the A frame window, the window rattle pretty much under control

                    I ordered a X brace and front strut bar from Garagistic last night !!!


                    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

                    Comment


                      #25
                      lots of info in this thread. Thanks guys!


                      it's a Kenny Powers quote on wheels

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Originally posted by ryan SF cabrio View Post

                        1) made sure all the bolts inside door frame were nice & tight ... all harnesses & plugs secured tightly to inner door frame
                        2) made sure to grease up the window guides while i was in there ...
                        3) took out the factory brown paper sheet underneath the door panel & used it as a template to cut out a thin sheet of foam for insulation ... (i basically replicated what the inside of my e34 touring door looked like >>> which uses insulating foam rather than brown paper for weather shied
                        4) i then did a few hot glue spots on the 4 corners the door ...
                        5) adhered the newly cut foam ... & then finally remounted the door panel ... these simple efforts greatly reduced road rattle ...
                        Good stuff right here!
                        sigpic
                        Current:
                        92 325ic Mtech 770
                        99’ 528it
                        Past:
                        02’ 325it - 88' 735i - 88' 325ic - 89' 325is - 85' 325e
                        90' 535i - 95' 530i - 03' 530i - 88' 325ic

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                          #27
                          What bushing are better for comfort, poly or rubber ?


                          Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                            #28
                            Rubber.
                            Originally posted by kronus
                            would be in depending on tip slant and tube size

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                              #29
                              I feel every single bump,crack, pebble onthe road it's worst cause my widows rattle l

                              How do you guys feel about "Butt brace"

                              Heres one, I'm still skeptical about these, any one got one ?




                              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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                                #30
                                I ran a custom home-built one for a year or so and never could notice a difference. It was made from tubular steel, just like the RaceSkids version. Personally I don't think the ButtStrut's aluminum bar design would have anywhere near the torsional rigidity necessary to create a measurable (let alone noticeable) effect.

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