E30 318is drone from the rear

[Baked_bean]

Hey guys,
I have had my E30 for 5 months now and ever since ive had it it has made a droning noise from the rear (drivers side), several garages have looked into it to no avail. I was told though it might be the tyre so i switched over the tyres and the noise is still occurring . It hasn't got any worse and there are no handling effects but the noise does grate on me at times so im looking to get it sorted. Basically any ideas as to what it can be?

Main points:
Noise occurs at different speed eg: it is noisy at 60 but fine at 70
No obvious problems
Hasn't worsened
Tyres show signs of uneven tyre wear all over but no alignment problems.
I'm thinking rear suspension bushes or the diff.

[E30M3SE]

What about wheel bearings?

If you remove the rear seat bench and take it for a drive you should be able to hear if it is coming from the diff.

ETA, rear sub frame or trailing arm bush issues usually cause knocking sounds and a shimmy over bumps and pot holes, not droning noises.

Edited by E30M3SE on Friday 7th January 14:54

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

I had this and it was a wheel bearing. I'd thought about using it as an excuse to buy an LSD for the car but in the end just settled for the wheel bearing.

It's a bd of a job (if you don'thave the right tool) as you have to press the bearing in from both sides (or something) so best get your BMW indy to do it for you. Of course you might Mr Fixit and I stand corrected.

Don't assume it's the driver's side either. Get the garage to put it on a ramp. I thought it was the passenger side bearing in mine and in fact it was the driver's side (they were right too).

[Baked_bean]

Yeah it does sound like a bearing related fault but ive been told its not by a few garages and it hasn't worsened after 6,000 miles, id assume if the bearings were going it'd get worse over that many miles? I was more thinking that worn bushes were pushing my alignment out causing uneven wear making the tyres noisey and droney?

Thanks for the device so far though chaps but keep it coming.

[GrilledBeans]

Sounds like it could be the fuel pump, they can get noisey. As well as the diffs, my e30 has a droney whine which I can only seem to put it down to the diff itself. If you're concerned about bearings jack the car up and give the wheels a a good shake to see if there's any play, if that fails get under the beast and have a look at the rear trailing arm bushes, if you can see they're cracked and looking grim then it'd be worth changing them.
You can just check the rear subframe bushes while it's in the air as they're right on the sill, pretty obvious to see if they're deteriorated.

[Baked_bean]

Thanks for the help guys, ive had a look at the bearings etc before and found no problems at all. However today i inspected my car for its upcoming MOT and think i have found the culprit, the handbrake shoes! IT seems there is abit of give when the handbrake is on so im hoping that sorting the handbrake shoe will solve the noise, i had read somewhere before that it can happen.

[Baked_bean]

Update: after fitting the handbrake shoes it has still be occuring! its starting to drive me mad an overall is affecting my enjoyment of the car......

However i have noticed that the backbox is missing a hanger, im gonna fit a new one over the next week. any chance that could be causing the noise?

[E30M3SE]

Can't see it being the exhaust hanger, but stranger things have happened, have you driven it without the rear seat bench and listened for the diff?

[steve6304]

is it a 2 door or a 4 door, the E30 did have noisey diff's and fuel pumps, there is less sound prooofing in the back of a 4 door so noises can sound worse.
if the handbrake was tight you would get a vibration more then a drone.
check ALL rear axles bushes including the diff mount for play.
when the drone is present can you make the noise better/worse by playing with the throttle gently to increase/decrease load on the diff, if so its the diff.
the other alternative is to let it progress until it becomes more obvious, during this time you can use the universal noise suppressor to reduce the noise to an acceptable level, commonly called the radio.
good luck.

[billzeebub]

sounds like somebodys tied up to me...have you ever looked in the boot

[Baked_bean]

cheers for the advice.... to narrow it down some more....

Not affected by load on diff
Its a 2 door
the drone is more than abit noisey if you travel at the wrong speeds (40-50mph & 60-65mph) but its ok at others
ive checked over all the bushes for its MOT last week and me nor the tester saw any evidence of worn bushes.
ive changed tyres & wheels, so it cant be them.


Its a mystery! especially considering its not got any worse over time ive owned the car in which ive travelled 8,000 miles.

[Martin 480 Turbo]

If the wheel bearings, the bushes and the exhaust pipe are already checked,
(even the handbrake fixed) there might be one more culprit:

Drive-shaft.

If the vibrations have gone worse in 8.000 miles there must be wear marks
on the faulty part.

Martin 480 Turbo

[thequietone]

Could be your diff. I know mine is on the way out - makes wheel bearing type noises but only at certain speeds (60 and about 85).

[Baked_bean]

no marks, as i say it hasnt got any worse over this period of time which is bizarre. if it was a wearing item it would have gone completely by now.

Im now down to Diff

or a noisey wheel bearing that isn't worn?

this diff could be a good excuse to save for a LSD

[E30M3SE]

Something else to consider is the centre prop bearing.

[TheInternet]

The good thing about older, less well insulated cars is that you can get a good 20,000 mile warning that components are failing and can wait for further clues.

Your symptoms sound exactly like mine when the wheel bearings began to go. They droned on like an old Kenwood food mixer for months, slowly worsening. You might like to try cornering each way whilst the sound is present to see if it increases / diminishes one way or another.

Even when finally rectified there was still no play in the wheel and the mechanic said they didn't look dreadful despite the prolonged period of rumble rumble. This was at approx. 150k miles.

If not that then driveshafts / diff / propshaft are all possible but far less likely in my experience.