[samson]

Greetings. I own a 2011 X5 5.0 with exactly 250 miles left on warranty (49,750 on ODO).

About a month ago I noticed intermittent road noise coming from the car. It primarily occurs when I get up to 30 to 40 miles per hour. At times it whines loudly and at times it goes away. I did not really think a lot about it until I drove my girlfriends Honda Element and realized that it is quieter than my car.

I took my car to my tire guys (Grand Turismo East in Chamblee, GA), to take a look at it. They still balance wheels by hand and know what they are doing. They said that the front drivers side bearing was a possible culprit, but they also could hear the rear pinion screaming and felt confident that was the issue.

Being that my vehicle is almost out of warranty, I took it to my dealer, Nalley BMW, today. I told them what Gran Turismo had said and they road tested the car. The mechanic stated that it sounded like the tires. When I pointed out that the tires were Michelin Pilots with less than 5,000 miles on them, he agreed that was probably not the issue.

My SA just called me and told me that it is just road noise from the tires. She even stated that the shop foreman got involved and when they put the vehicle in the air they could not find a problem.

With the car almost out of warranty, I am not sure what my next step should be. I am confident in saying that up until a month ago the vehicle was very quiet ( as a $75,000 car should be). I am also pretty confident that within another few months I will have a bigger issue which I will have to pay for when it goes out of warranty.

Thanks in advance for any advice.