F11 BMW front suspensions clunk/knock
F11 BMW front suspensions clunk/knock
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Gad-Westy

Original Poster:

15,868 posts

230 months

Yesterday (11:46)
quotequote all
I know these things are near impossible to diagnose remotely but maybe someone can suggest some simple checks I can do.

Two sets of symptoms. I think they're unrelated as the first has been present for a while and the second only appeared recently.

1. At low speed, particularly noticeable when cold, there is a bit of a knock from the O/S front corner. Some time ago I replaced the ARB links all round in the hope that might sort it but no joy. It doesn't seem to have really got any worse in the last 30k miles or so since I noticed it.

2. Recently, in South of France (so high temperature) on windy roads, I noticed a clunk going from lock to lock on the tighter roads. This still seems to be present back in the UK though not always so obvious.

The car is currently jacked up at the front in my garage to do some investigating. With the wheels in the air, steering from lock to lock, I don't hear or feel anything obvious but if I really hammer the steering from one direction to the other, I do hear a knock but maybe that is normal? Nothing at all noticeable if I try to wobble the wheels by hand but maybe there are some specific tests I can do in that regard?

My thoughts at the moment are to perhaps replace the tie rods on both side as a precaution and because it's fairly straight forward and inexpensive. But what next after that?

I did actually wonder if the knock could have even been the engine mounts with the tighter roads throwing the cars weight around a bit more than usual?

BTW, the car is on 140k miles. I got it at 100k miles and it had full BMW service history but I have no record of any specifics on suspension stuff that has been done. So although I know all the drop links are new-ish anything else could still be original.

danb79

12,010 posts

89 months

Yesterday (13:14)
quotequote all
I had this on my F01 even though it flew through its MOT

Both ball joints on the main front thrust arms were fubar, but only seen once removed

Replaced with Moog parts and zero issues - I did the inner tie rods/track rod ends too as they like to seize for fun

Gad-Westy

Original Poster:

15,868 posts

230 months

danb79 said:
I had this on my F01 even though it flew through its MOT

Both ball joints on the main front thrust arms were fubar, but only seen once removed

Replaced with Moog parts and zero issues - I did the inner tie rods/track rod ends too as they like to seize for fun
Thanks danb79. You always seem to pop up with advice in my hour of need! It's much appreciated.

I've had a really good poke around again this morning and there is just no sign of any smoking gun at all. So for now I'm going to put the car back together and have a think about what to do next. My thoughts kind of drift to doing a bit of a full refresh on the front end but I'd need to price that up first. And the only worry with that plan is whether there is an issue on the rack itself.

I did see a few youtube videos adjusting the steering rack or indeed replacing the plastic guide and spring. But my rack does not look like those. It does not have the 3 pin cover. Feels more like a 17mm hex but it's near enough inaccessible as the water pump sits right above it.

Tempted to let it get worse in the hope it becomes easier to pin point.

danb79

12,010 posts

89 months

Gad-Westy said:
danb79 said:
I had this on my F01 even though it flew through its MOT

Both ball joints on the main front thrust arms were fubar, but only seen once removed

Replaced with Moog parts and zero issues - I did the inner tie rods/track rod ends too as they like to seize for fun
Thanks danb79. You always seem to pop up with advice in my hour of need! It's much appreciated.

I've had a really good poke around again this morning and there is just no sign of any smoking gun at all. So for now I'm going to put the car back together and have a think about what to do next. My thoughts kind of drift to doing a bit of a full refresh on the front end but I'd need to price that up first. And the only worry with that plan is whether there is an issue on the rack itself.

I did see a few youtube videos adjusting the steering rack or indeed replacing the plastic guide and spring. But my rack does not look like those. It does not have the 3 pin cover. Feels more like a 17mm hex but it's near enough inaccessible as the water pump sits right above it.

Tempted to let it get worse in the hope it becomes easier to pin point.
This was the issue I had, both sides (after a full clean MOT): https://photos.app.goo.gl/YBCETAAfWaAhVAC39

Both ball joints had failed; arms less than 6 months old (fitted before I bought the car); binned them and fitted Moog - zero issues

But could only see this once I'd removed the arms!

The F01 shares a lot of parts with the F10 and F11 - deffo worth looking into

Your steering rack is the ZF version; it's the Thyssenkrupp version. that needs the bush replacing etc thumbup

Gad-Westy

Original Poster:

15,868 posts

230 months

danb79 said:
Gad-Westy said:
danb79 said:
I had this on my F01 even though it flew through its MOT

Both ball joints on the main front thrust arms were fubar, but only seen once removed

Replaced with Moog parts and zero issues - I did the inner tie rods/track rod ends too as they like to seize for fun
Thanks danb79. You always seem to pop up with advice in my hour of need! It's much appreciated.

I've had a really good poke around again this morning and there is just no sign of any smoking gun at all. So for now I'm going to put the car back together and have a think about what to do next. My thoughts kind of drift to doing a bit of a full refresh on the front end but I'd need to price that up first. And the only worry with that plan is whether there is an issue on the rack itself.

I did see a few youtube videos adjusting the steering rack or indeed replacing the plastic guide and spring. But my rack does not look like those. It does not have the 3 pin cover. Feels more like a 17mm hex but it's near enough inaccessible as the water pump sits right above it.

Tempted to let it get worse in the hope it becomes easier to pin point.
This was the issue I had, both sides (after a full clean MOT): https://photos.app.goo.gl/YBCETAAfWaAhVAC39

Both ball joints had failed; arms less than 6 months old (fitted before I bought the car); binned them and fitted Moog - zero issues

But could only see this once I'd removed the arms!

The F01 shares a lot of parts with the F10 and F11 - deffo worth looking into

Your steering rack is the ZF version; it's the Thyssenkrupp version. that needs the bush replacing etc thumbup
Thanks again. Seems like there is no adjustment possible on the ZF rack.

I'll price up lower arms but given I can get the steering to clunk with the wheels dangling with the car on stands, does that not maybe suggest that's less likely? I can see how they could still cause a bit of noise but my inclination at the moment is that it sounds/feels like something on the steering system itself.