My fans have always ran full speed on boot for 3 - 5 seconds.  I started with A06.  I can live with that, but the continued BIOS hang on a warm start from A06 - A10 is frustrating enough I won't be buying Alienware again.

In my case it's a new machine, only 3 months old. Once the machine has booted they make no noise at all so I'm not overly concerned. It's just that this grating sound is new and tends to suggest something isn't working as it should. It only started after the A10 bios update however, that could just be a coincidence because a rather heavy-handed on-site technician replaced the MOBO this week so it could be linked to that although they did not make this noise when testing after he had put the machine back together.

I would send it in to Alienware if you can't figure out the issue on your own without taking the thing apart. What may have happened is, especially with older units, the fans in your machine aren't meant to spin that fast, given you upgraded to a current BIOS configuration that is probably meant for more recent units. In my opinion, it's your fans aren't supposed to be running that fast for as long as they are. I don't know how long you've owned this particular laptop, but if it's always done that perhaps the fan housing is wearing out.