Cabrio noise fixed (may help coupe/targa owners too)

[RatboneRanch]

For as long as I've had my 996 cabrio I've had a noise coming from behind my left ear while driving. Kind of a dry, scratchy squeak, like a SKKCH sound, when traveling over bumps. It was there top or up down, windows open or closed. I even searched this forum for ideas, but no luck. I learned to live with it, figuring my chances of actually tracking it down and fixing it were slim.

The other day, when the car was parked with the top down, I leaned into it to get something from the center console. As my body weight pressed on the driver's door, I heard the familiar squeak. I pressed against the door a couple of times and was able to reproduce it. Suddenly, it dawned on me. My BMW 3-series makes an annoying noise on bumpy roads, and I've kept it at bay by rubbing silicone grease on the driver's door striker every other month or so. Would that work here?

I rubbed some silicone grease on the 996's door striker and tried to reproduce the sound. Silence. To make sure, I took it for a test drive (always looking for an excuse to drive the 996). Sure enough, no noise. It's been a few days now, and it's still quiet. I guess that over the miles, the driver's weight stresses that side of the car and leads to excess flex, creating noise where the door shuts. This explains why both my 996 and my E30 make the sound in the same place. Of course, my 996 has 1/6th the miles my BMW has, but it is a cabrio, so it's naturally less rigid. Anyway, this may help somebody, so I thought I'd post it.

Edited August 14, 2011 by RatboneRanch