[richie_starr]

Hi All -

Will be quick, have an appt at 10am at a German Motor shop tomorrow to see what's going on, but over the phone they didn't seem too sure of what the potential issue could be...

48k miles, garage kept X2 xDrive28 (2020, Automatic), that as of the last 10-12 days is making a low pitched growl and seems to struggle at low speeds/RPMs.

Strangely, not noticeable from the exterior of the car as much as it is internal, and no check engine/vehicle status notifications have popped up.

Unsure if it could be the intake or something related, living in Los Angeles I'm not so sure that's as much of thing.

Uploaded a video to youtube,

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oWFYZEcbZLU

[RockCrusher]

Good grief the roads were rough!

Low pitched growl is one symptom but that the vehicle appears to struggle at low speeds/RPMs kind makes the behind the keyboard diagnosis a bit tougher.

My 2nd (and 1st) hand experience is when a direct injection engine struggles that is often due to a bad fuel pump, the low pressure fuel pump.

Going by: There are always two problems, unless there is just one or 3 or more...

If the growl appears to be tied to vehicle speed that's a sign of a drive train problem. Could be a wheel bearing or a half shaft CV bearing but a bad front or rear diff is not out of the question.

For a bad wheel bearing/CV bearing sometimes the noise can be affected when the vehicle makes a turn. This loads or unloads the bad part and the noise changes.

A bad diff noise can be affected when the vehicle is accelerating vs. coasting/slowing down.

If the growl is tied to engine speed most often that's something amiss with the accessory drive system. The water pump is the accessory drive that most often goes bad. But any accessory drive can go bad. Neighbor replaced a very noisy A/C compressor a couple of weekends ago. But an accessory idler roller bearing can be noisy, too.

If the growl appears to not be affected by engine or vehicle speed that could be -- could be -- fuel pump related. The pump is bad but still runs and is making a constant racket.

Of course a real mechanic will have to make the diagnosis. Hopefully the shop you have selected has sufficient experience that -- is often the case -- when a vehicle pulls in based on the noise -- and previous experience dealing with it -- the techs already have a high confidence idea of that the problem is.

[richie_starr]

Thanks so much, this was helpful and a jumpstart for the garage. Will report back to help others if possible.