Things that go bump in the night,

[isnowi 0]

Have been going through the suspension on my newly acquired e36 318is coupe, it had some rather intersting habits and noises when i bought it. A lot of them have now been resolved, however there is still one annoying thump that seems to be coming from under the front passenger side (very hard to tell as the exhaust noise thends to mask it a little bit.

'

So far i have put 4 new tyres on and had an alignment performed (toe in was a little bit out, everything else fairly close) i looked at replacing the front lower arm rear bushing as i have read of failures causing similar issues to what i have, someone has already beaten me to the punch and fitted solid poly bushes. Not that then. Balljoints appear in reasonable condition, wheel bearings and strut top bearings likewise. Right so onto the rear where i knew there was a problem with the shock mounts, which were duly replaced, old ones were on the verge of pushing right through on the passenger side thanks to a bright spark smearing them with grease (not rubber grease either) causing the rubber to go soft and sticky.

Having seen the state of the shock mount i had almost convinced myself that was the cause of my troubles, alas the thump is still there as load as ever.

I still get the feeling that it is related to the front suspension, but i can't really get under the car properly to look so will send it in this week, and get it on the hoist to have a proper look.

Has anyone else had similar issues? or can offer suggestion of what else to look at? I have an inkling that it could be in the steering rather than the suspension, but again i really need to get under it properly to look.

Cheers, Dan

[Grant 4]

Is it there all the time, or only once the car has been driven a bit. The reason I ask, is that our 323i had a thump as well that was not bad but audible once the car was warm (i.e had been driven for 30 minutes or so).

It turned out to be the sway bar link, it had the tiniest amount of play in it (and I mean tiny), that once the suspension components had increased in temperature a bit (through movement), caused the noise.

It was hard to diagnose, and I had the car looked at three times before it was pinpointed.

Good luck

Cheers

Grant

[isnowi 0]

Is it there all the time, or only once the car has been driven a bit. The reason I ask, is that our 323i had a thump as well that was not bad but audible once the car was warm (i.e had been driven for 30 minutes or so).

It turned out to be the sway bar link, it had the tiniest amount of play in it (and I mean tiny), that once the suspension components had increased in temperature a bit (through movement), caused the noise.

It was hard to diagnose, and I had the car looked at three times before it was pinpointed.

Good luck

Cheers

Grant

It is as you describe, it definitely gets worse as the temperature gets higher, on the drive from ChCh it was barely noticeable at first, by the time i was in Picton it had me concerned something was going to fall off. Then when i drove off the ferry it was gone again...

Will look at the sway bar links, they look like a bit of a junky setup to me, may replace them and the swaybar mounts at the same time.

Cheers, Dan.

[Greg111 13]

I'm thinking the sway bar links as well, start there anyway, you will proberly find it is there though.

[isnowi 0]

I'm not so sure, the noise seems to be rapidly getting worse, the closest sort of noise i can equate it to was when the cap that retains the strut insert into the strut body (another car ) loosened allowing the insert to drift up and down inside the strut tube. Not having had the shock boots off of the beemer i don't even know if they are a removable insert or not. The other thing that it does sound like is a loose strup top bolt, (it's not, already checked) maybe i need to have a closer look to the strut top mounts, although they look pretty good from the top.

I heaved on the sway bar link bushes and couldn't detect any movement, i also had a bit of a lean on the steering rack and tie rods, was able to feel a bit of play in the tie rods, although i am not sure how much is to be expected. Did notice that the rack seems to be held in by only 2 bolts and fairly flimsy brackets.

Any insight?

Cheers, Dan

[westy 614]

Front shocks are not inserts.

You sure its suspension. Check the exhaust.

Poly bushes can be noisy too. May need grease?

[Greg111 13]

I'm not so sure, the noise seems to be rapidly getting worse, the closest sort of noise i can equate it to was when the cap that retains the strut insert into the strut body (another car ) loosened allowing the insert to drift up and down inside the strut tube. Not having had the shock boots off of the beemer i don't even know if they are a removable insert or not. The other thing that it does sound like is a loose strup top bolt, (it's not, already checked) maybe i need to have a closer look to the strut top mounts, although they look pretty good from the top.

I heaved on the sway bar link bushes and couldn't detect any movement, i also had a bit of a lean on the steering rack and tie rods, was able to feel a bit of play in the tie rods, although i am not sure how much is to be expected. Did notice that the rack seems to be held in by only 2 bolts and fairly flimsy brackets.

Any insight?

Cheers, Dan

Yes two bolts and tie rod ends is all the rack is held in by, maybe look in the bottom hat of the shock and see if there are any stones around the springs, this also can cause knocking noise.

[isnowi 0]

:beer: :beer: all round to those that suggested sway bar links, passenger side was not as tight as it should be, and both mounting brackets had twisted on the bottom arm meaning that the ball joint on the other end was not working in it's intended range of motion. After spending so much time under there, it's obvious that the previous owner had the same issue, as all the bushes and ball joints are near on brand new. Bonus for me. Still needs new links and sway bar mounts though.

At least i now know that it is nothing overly serious, and the missus can take comfort in that the wheel will not come flying off as she is driving it..

Cheers, Dan

[str8_6 275]

:beer: :beer: all round to those that suggested sway bar links, passenger side was not as tight as it should be, and both mounting brackets had twisted on the bottom arm meaning that the ball joint on the other end was not working in it's intended range of motion. After spending so much time under there, it's obvious that the previous owner had the same issue, as all the bushes and ball joints are near on brand new. Bonus for me. Still needs new links and sway bar mounts though.

At least i now know that it is nothing overly serious, and the missus can take comfort in that the wheel will not come flying off as she is driving it..

Cheers, Dan

My coupe is making the same sort of noises you seem to be hearing. Once it's driven for a few kilometers, the front clunks and creaks. Only seems to do this when it's not raining. Dropped it into the shock shop last week and was told the sway bar links were both new... they didn't seem sure.

When pushing down on the front right, there is a noise coming from the strut (sounds like it)... from reading through the forums, it could possibly be a ball joint or worn control arm.

Let me know how you get on.

[isnowi 0]

My coupe is making the same sort of noises you seem to be hearing. Once it's driven for a few kilometers, the front clunks and creaks. Only seems to do this when it's not raining. Dropped it into the shock shop last week and was told the sway bar links were both new... they didn't seem sure.

When pushing down on the front right, there is a noise coming from the strut (sounds like it)... from reading through the forums, it could possibly be a ball joint or worn control arm.

Let me know how you get on.

Sounds like it could be more than the links on yours, the only way i could get any sort of noise out of mine whilst stationary was to really rock it back and forth heavily, and then it only just made the noise. Definitely seems to be heat related though.

cheers, Dan

[isnowi 0]

Well i replaced both swaybar links, and lo and behold, not only is the thump gone, but the steering is noticeable sharper, it doesn't shake like a warped disc rotor when slowing down, and just generally feels a million times better. The old links don't even look too bad, one has started to split, the other one looks in pretty decent nick still.

I'm going to replace the sway bar mounts, as they are looking a little tired too, then i might have a look under the rear and replace anything worn there as well.

Cheers, Dan

[Greg111 13]

Well i replaced both swaybar links, and lo and behold, not only is the thump gone, but the steering is noticeable sharper, it doesn't shake like a warped disc rotor when slowing down, and just generally feels a million times better. The old links don't even look too bad, one has started to split, the other one looks in pretty decent nick still.

I'm going to replace the sway bar mounts, as they are looking a little tired too, then i might have a look under the rear and replace anything worn there as well.

Cheers, Dan

Hey glad it's improved, you won't usually see the fault in the sway bar links, but they will have quite a bit of movement in the joints than new ones.

[isnowi 0]

Hmm, i may have been a little premature with my celebration, the thump came back worse than ever today when the car was hot. Lifted it and had a quick check to make sure that the nuts hadn't loosened, cranked a little bit on the the bottom one, but also noted that the swaybar mount looks pretty tired, i may look at those as a matter of course, and check that the swaybar itself is still straight. Fingers crossed that what i heard today was merely a nut not as tight as it needed to be.

On the topic of sway bar mounts, does anyone have experience with poly ones in the e36? worthwhile or not compliant enough? I suspect they will be cheaper than OEM ones.

cheers, dan