Noisy 2005 X3 3.0?

[AudiSport]

We've just bought a 2005 3.0 X3, and can't get over how loud the engine noise is in the cabin?

[AudiSport]

Yes, although I thought it must be how the car was. However following my wife's 90-mile drive home she says it's really noisy.

[AudiSport]

Tedders and David, thank you both so much for your knowledgeable input! Following another drive tonight in the car with my wife I can confirm the drone at 50/60 is the main issue - and sure enough the flap in the exhaust is stuck open! I'll get it looked at tomorrow and report back. Thank you again!

[AudiSport]

Quick update: our local indi had a look today and there is a separate pipe that comes off the exhaust that had a hole stopping the vacum closing the flap. All fixed for £20 and the cabin is now quiet and refined at crusing speeds.

Thanks again for the input lads!

[AudiSport]

Yeah, mechanic said that the pipe had a hole in it, so he just trimmed it down and re-attached. £20 well spent. Interestingly the flap is still open when the engine isn't running.

Just been out in the X3 tonight and the difference is amazing, really quiet now. Unless of course you put your foot down...

[AudiSport]

griffter said:

Sorry for going off topic (now original topic is resolved :-) ) but we've just bought an 04 x3 3.0 and are really impressed with it. They get a bit of a mixed press, but for a usable, refined and dare I say it fun to drive all rounder it's great. We started off looking for a manual 2.5 but there are so many rough ones we had to broaden the search. The 3.0 auto is a great combination and seems to give comparable economy with good performance. After an e36 328, an e24 alpina B9 and an e61 tourer the x3 is surprisingly fantastic!!

Yes, so far I'm very impressed with ours. We previously owned a 54 plate 3.0d X5 which was eventually sold due to a string of bills relating to carbon buildup and a failed turbo. My wife now only does 6k miles a year! So we bought a Qashquai (spelling?), but we missed the German build quality so that was sold and we now have an X3 which sits somewhere in between the two. Additionally, we banked £2000 as the X3 was only £7000, which feels a lot of car for the money. Metallic dark blue with full service history, 62k miles, sports pack and loads of options including panoramic roof etc etc.

We are really pleased, specially now we have sorted the engine noise issue. It's no X5, but for us, it feels special and an event to drive.

[AudiSport]

Great stuff, doesn't it make a difference! Great result for this post and future reference, thank goodness for the well informed coming to my aid!

[AudiSport]

Surely this is a very basic item that should be picked up on the annual service? How can a mechanic miss such a simple fault?

I guess these things can happen, but we got there in the end hey ; )

Edited by AudiSport on Saturday 23 August 21:18