Chirping 740

[dietzgw]

My '96 740iL will randomly start making chirping sounds from the dashboard. The chirps are 3 to 4 seconds apart. It's a definite "chirp" or "ding" as opposed to the "chime" sound that you hear for other alerts (such as when the outside temp drops below 37). Sometimes you won't hear it for days. Then it will start. Sometimes it goes away in a few minutes and other times it doesn't.

Anybody know what my car is trying to tell me?
Gary Dietz
1996 740iL - Aspen Silver

[AprilGoose]

Pull off the wood trim to the right of the steering column(its a few inches in length) Under it you will find a screw. That screw can work loose over time and then it will make weird bird like squeeks or chirps. In my car it would come and go with temperature changes. It seemed to to worse when the temps were in the 50s. Anyway tighten the screw up and replace the wood trim. The trim is just held in place by to little metal nubs. To remove pull straight back on it. You might need to use something to get it started. You can actually induce the sound by tapping on the wood trim but only if the temperature is in the zone. It took be a while to figure out where it was coming from. Good luck.

[Ray7er6ers5er3er]