[jraybmwx5]

I’ve searched but couldn’t find anything on this issue, but hopefully this can help it gain some traction. There is a loud noise coming from my car. There is no whistling. No clicks or clanks. No other sound. Just a loud, constant, high voltage transformer-like noise, which appears to be loudest on the front left side of the engine (can’t tell where exactly the sound is coming from). It randomly comes on when I unlock the car, or while the car is on and running, or while driving, or while sitting in traffic or a stop sign. If the car is on, the noise will stay on until I turn off the car and lock it. The noise may stay on for several minutes after I lock the car, to as much as several hours. I have a 2012 X5 with 147k miles; and this noise just started. Definitely not normal. And it’s definitely an electrical sound, not a mechanical sound.

Also, I can feel a slight vibration when the sound is on and I touch around the motor/engine/big thingy with spark plugs in it. In a transformer, i read that the humming sound you hear comes from something vibrating within the mechanism of what makes the transformer do its thing (idk the technical explanation).

When I lock or unlock the car, it seems like whatever the normal process a bimmer goes through internally, something is off that triggers the noise. I can hear it trying to do whatever the heck it is that it does — meaning all the normal noises and “movements” are there. But somewhere in the process something triggers this noise.

This morning, no transformer sound/noise came on when I unlocked and turned on the car. The noise didn’t start til I was heading back home after a short drive. The main difference between now and earlier this morning is the heat of the engine/car after driving for 15-30 minutes. Perhaps the heat of the engine is affecting something electrical?

[Marty in NY]

well, that surely doesn't sound good! However, you might get better results if you posted in the forum pertinent to your model year. This is the G05 forum. I think you want the E70/E71/E72 forum expertise if your X5 is a 2012. Great to see high mileage on it though, gives us guys some hope

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[jraybmwx5]

How do i get there? I got here from google. I also see that there is a desktop version of this that looks completely different than what I am seeing now on mobile safari. I’m new to all of this. I even tried to search around, but everything points to the wrong place based on what you’re describing. Is there a different website altogether for my car’s type?

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by jraybmwx5

How do i get there? I got here from google. I also see that there is a desktop version of this that looks completely different than what I am seeing now on mobile safari. I’m new to all of this. I even tried to search around, but everything points to the wrong place based on what you’re describing. Is there a different website altogether for my car’s type?

Its easy, since you are already here, just go to the top menu bar and click on X5.X6, you will then see the drop down I took a screen shot of, choose the E70/E71/E72 and that will take you to a similar forum but for your model year. You will then have to poke around to find where you want to post your question.

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