metastable

I have a 5 month old '08 FEH 4WD with the NAV system. It has a really weird noise eminating from the center console near the NAV system that sounds reminiscent of an old computer floppy drive. The noise only appears sometimes (more frequenlt lately), and it only seems to appear when the car is "on" (I hear it in electric mode when the engine is off). I don't hear it when I turn the ignition to the accessory position, even though the radio is still active. I have tried removing all CD's from the player including the navigation DVD since it sounds similar to a CD or floppy drive when it is seeking for data (kind of electro-mechanical). The noise is still there, and is just loud enough to be noticeable when crawling along in electric mode in traffic. Questions: Any idea what is causing this noise? Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!