CAR House

Hello all!

I bought a used X3 last weekend:


3.0i Sport
March 2006
58k miles
auto
LOADED with extras!


It is a GREAT car! I love it. :) (Before that I had a 1998 E39 528i SE Touring and before that a 1994 525i SE - all great cars.)

One problem, though :( : I have noticed that there is a rattle/vibration coming from the exhaust pipe within a few seconds after starting from cold. It is loud enough that you most certainly notice it if you are outside the car and within say 30 feet, but I did not notice it when I was in the car and started it up this morning (but my wife called me later to say she heard it clearly as she waved me off from the living room window).

(I haven't noticed it occurring when the engine/exhaust is warm, but it is possible that it occurs then also.)

Also, when driving, I can hear the rattle (very faintly) at around 1,200-1,300 RPM. (The ironic/annoying thing is that when we carefully test drove the car, we noticed a whirring/rattling sound coming from the rear left hand side, but after a bit of poking around and careful listening, we both concluded that it was the sat nav unit whirring as it read the DVD disc and figured that that was either normal or fixable or tolerable. I have now deduced that it is in fact the exhaust rattling.)

Could you guys please suggest what the problem might be (presumably within the exhaust)? If you have a fair idea of the cause, do you think it is something that would fall under the full manufacturer warranty (which runs until March 2009)?

I might try speaking to the (independent) car dealer that I bought it from but (strictly speaking) he would not be obliged to do anything (but worth a punt nonetheless). If he won't help, I will have to try the warranty or else I will have to pay to have it fixed (which I never like doing...).

Thank you!

Matt