E46 suspension knock ?ball joint ( 330d )

[The_Doc]

Yes, I know I should take the car in to the garage and get an answer, but I'm bored at work and thought I'd throw this out there.

my 2002 E46 330d has a slight knocking coming from off-side front wheel at low speeds over bumps. At speeds it's still very smooth.

sounds like some play from that corner's suspension, (it's 87k miles)

what could this be and how much is it going to hurt me?

? knackered ball joint or suspension bush

any thoughts before I take it to my local BMW man.....

[MitchT]

My E36 had a ball joint at its last MOT and it was unfathomably cheap... not that I know how much a ball joint should cost. BMW main dealer too! Not sure if the cost is likely to be much different for an E46.

[phelix]

Could be the ball joint (integral part of the control arm), could be the rear bush or could be the ARB drop link.

[Zead]

If it's an M-tech, an indi supplier of gen parts should be just over £300 for a pair of arms and bushes. (They are different geometry from SE) Always do both sides, always change bushes. Old ones will be destroyed trying to remove them. I changed mine in the summer, cured slight knock, a clonking when reversing then applying brakes, and a degree of vagueness when pushing on thru a fast bend. Speed humps wreck them.

Passenger side was easy. Offside, had to loosen engine mount bolt, raise engine on a jack, to get enough room to get socket on the inner balljoint nut. But apart from that...