Dash whistle @105+ ?

[ronpapworth]

Strangest thing happens on this 98 328i I just picked up. Once I get it up over 100, I start to get a high pitched whistle from the center of the dash. It's not the speed alarm and sounds like air coming into the cabin at oh say, a 105 MPH. Vas ist dat?

Also, I get a pretty good shudder sometimes at take off (5spd) if I don't take the RPMs to like 1500 first. Is that a normal clutch for these newer Bimmers? My old 86 325 never did it, but someone at my work said that the clutch is jerky when you are not used to it.

 

[epj3]

That shuddering means your clutch was at one point fried (glazed, just like brakes can be), or it is not even with the pressure plate. The (worn) clutch in my M3 is smooth as silk. The whistle at 100 mph is george bush watching you do 100 in a 65.

 

[ronpapworth]

Yeah, the clutch and car have 82K on them. I was thinking that might be it.

Me and W go way back... besides, I mean Im doing 100+ on track days... I must have forgotten to mention that...

The worst part is, you can't really go looking for what is whistling at that speed...

 

[Brant-man]

my 318i wash making a whistling noise at around 145-150km/h (no idea what that is in miles) anyway.....it was a missing gromet around a pipe sort of thing in the firewall.

 

[slickbrave]

Can't help with the whistling, but remember German w's are pronounced like v's, so what you meant to type is "was ist das?" Where else can you find a Tennessee guy correcting a Kentucky guy's German?

 

[epj3]

I think the whistling is probably the cowl under the wipers/hood or a window seal. Hey I live in Pennsylvania dutch country... lets fight!

 

[newguy]

Its nervous....