E92 front nearside creaking noise
Discussion
I swapped my 17" winter wheels with my 18" summer wheels on Saturday on my E92 330i. The summers are the same wheels and tyres in use as last year and had no issues when they came off the car, were balanced correctly and have been stored properly. Since swapping the wheels there's a creaking / knocking noise coming from the front nearside when the car is warm.
I think it is linked to heat in the suspension components, there's no noise whatsoever for the first ~10 minutes of driving and then the noise begins. The longer you drive the louder the noise, eventually progressing into a continuous knocking. At 80 MPH on the motorway there's a whole car judder, I don't think this is balancing as it isn't felt through the steering wheel but the body itself seems to move. It's heard at all speeds but is most evident below 40 MPH, the best "trigger example" is driving down an A road or motorway and at the next junction as you slow down (foot off, no braking) you can hear it. There's no link to acceleration, braking or steering and the car drives absolutely fine, is braking evenly and riding as normal.
I took the front nearside wheel off again today and reseated it to make sure all bolts were tightened evenly. All good. The arch liner is sitting correctly as this can sometimes cause weird noises if it's out of line. I inflated the summer tyres to the recommended pressures after putting them back on, all had lost an even 2 PSI in storage. With a warm car you can hear the noise just by lifting the clutch and creeping forward or back, it's obvious inside the car and wherever you sit it seems to be coming from the front nearside but the noise is not heard outside.
The shocks, springs and front drop links replaced 20k ago (running a Bilstein / Eibach setup) and it had all round brake discs, pads and calliper clean 10k ago. Literally all I've done is jack the car up, swap the wheels and the noise is here.
My first thought was a drop link, particularly as it's the front nearside which takes the bulk of pothole fun. Had the car on a ramp today and there's no obvious play. The only hunch I've got is that the top mounts were not replaced when the suspension was refreshed, maybe jacking the car up has upset an old top mount (the car is a 2009/59 car on 158k miles).
I'm stumped. Does anybody have any ideas? Thanks in advance.
I think it is linked to heat in the suspension components, there's no noise whatsoever for the first ~10 minutes of driving and then the noise begins. The longer you drive the louder the noise, eventually progressing into a continuous knocking. At 80 MPH on the motorway there's a whole car judder, I don't think this is balancing as it isn't felt through the steering wheel but the body itself seems to move. It's heard at all speeds but is most evident below 40 MPH, the best "trigger example" is driving down an A road or motorway and at the next junction as you slow down (foot off, no braking) you can hear it. There's no link to acceleration, braking or steering and the car drives absolutely fine, is braking evenly and riding as normal.
I took the front nearside wheel off again today and reseated it to make sure all bolts were tightened evenly. All good. The arch liner is sitting correctly as this can sometimes cause weird noises if it's out of line. I inflated the summer tyres to the recommended pressures after putting them back on, all had lost an even 2 PSI in storage. With a warm car you can hear the noise just by lifting the clutch and creeping forward or back, it's obvious inside the car and wherever you sit it seems to be coming from the front nearside but the noise is not heard outside.
The shocks, springs and front drop links replaced 20k ago (running a Bilstein / Eibach setup) and it had all round brake discs, pads and calliper clean 10k ago. Literally all I've done is jack the car up, swap the wheels and the noise is here.
My first thought was a drop link, particularly as it's the front nearside which takes the bulk of pothole fun. Had the car on a ramp today and there's no obvious play. The only hunch I've got is that the top mounts were not replaced when the suspension was refreshed, maybe jacking the car up has upset an old top mount (the car is a 2009/59 car on 158k miles).
I'm stumped. Does anybody have any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Edited by SoupAnxiety on Monday 13th March 18:26
Edited by SoupAnxiety on Tuesday 14th March 06:55
Edited by SoupAnxiety on Tuesday 14th March 06:57
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