330 Ci gear whine

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tk - 14 Mar 2005 21:59 GMT

I have a 2001 330Ci with 30,000 miles. I hear a slight rear end gear whine
under light load. It doesn't seem excessive yet; but, I thought it unusal
for the milage. Does anyone else have this and could it be considered
normal. The nearest dealer is like 100 miles away; and, I hate to make the
drive just for that. (I'm one of these people that, most of the time,
prefers to listen to the car, instead of music; and, I probably hear too
much.)

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R. Mark Clayton - 15 Mar 2005 00:31 GMT

>I have a 2001 330Ci with 30,000 miles. I hear a slight rear end gear whine
>under light load. It doesn't seem excessive yet; but, I thought it unusal
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>prefers to listen to the car, instead of music; and, I probably hear too
>much.)

It will be the differential.

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tk - 15 Mar 2005 01:56 GMT

Thanks for the reply. When I said rear end whine, I thought it would be
understood that I was talking about the differential.
If it's not, maybe there's a cat in my trunk!

>>I have a 2001 330Ci with 30,000 miles. I hear a slight rear end gear whine
>>under light load. It doesn't seem excessive yet; but, I thought it unusal
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> It will be the differential.

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Dean Dark - 15 Mar 2005 02:07 GMT

>Thanks for the reply. When I said rear end whine, I thought it would be
>understood that I was talking about the differential.
>If it's not, maybe there's a cat in my trunk!

A dog is more likely to make a whining sound than a cat is. On the
other hand, SWMBO is of the opinion that a "rear end whine" sound is
more likely to be coming from me, at 2 a.m. in bed.

Signature

Dean Dark

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Somebody - 15 Mar 2005 17:58 GMT

> I have a 2001 330Ci with 30,000 miles. I hear a slight rear end gear whine
> under light load. It doesn't seem excessive yet; but, I thought it unusal
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> prefers to listen to the car, instead of music; and, I probably hear too
> much.)

Is it possible it's a wheel bearing? Perhaps a rear seat passenger would
localize it to one side?

Anyway whine in a 30k mile car is not ok, get it looked at. It won't go
away, it will get worse until something gets damaged. If they "don't hear
it" when you bring it in, be sure to bring it back again before the warranty
is up; it will be worse by then.

-Russ.

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alt.auto.bmw@2nerds.com - 19 Mar 2005 03:12 GMT

> I have a 2001 330Ci with 30,000 miles. I hear a slight rear end gear whine
> under light load. It doesn't seem excessive yet; but, I thought it unusal
> for the milage. Does anyone else have this and could it be considered
> normal.

FWIW, my 2001 330Ci has "suffered" from a mild rear-end whine since
it was new. As you noted, it's noticeable only when the drivetrain
is lightly loaded.

In my case, I hear the whine only when going above about 60 mph
on the highway, and even then, the whine is heard only when the throttle
is backed off a bit--the whine usually appears when the gas mileage
indicator is hovering around 45 mpg (I'm using the mileage indicator
as a rough indicator of drivetrain "load"). At any "load" above or below
that 45 mpg mark, the whine goes away.

The whine is most noticeable when the car is going down a long,
shallow grade on an interstate. The whine is not really "loud",
but it's definitely noticeable.

I have no idea if the whine is harmful, but I've noticed no ill effects
in about 53k miles traveled thus far.

Chris

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