I just can't seem to diagnose this...

[dsmbaby4]

For the past month or so I've had a progressively louder droning sound throughout the entire cabin. From inside the car when driving it sounds as if I have a really loud exhaust. The noise eventually turned into severe vibration, which I discovered yesterday was due to a missing wheel balance weight. Stock wheels are on at the moment, so vibration is gone, but the noise is still there.

Some info...
*noise starts at about 35mph, and gets louder with speed
*quiet when "loading" but only in right turns
*severe play in steering- veers to the left, sometimes right depending on incline of street
*steering wheel tilts off to an angle to maintain a straight path on the road
*no vibration in steering wheel or when braking
*excessive negative rear camber/toe in
*worn shocks
*worn sway bar bushings

I checked for play in all 4 wheels, and the front 2 show a small amount, which could be bad tie rods or bad wheel bearings.
So if its bad wheel bearings, would that also account for the jacked up steering?

I'm aware I could very well have a combination of problems here... Any help would be lovely!

[restricted]

how many miles and how long have you owned the car and have you replaced any suspension parts since you have owned the car

[dsmbaby4]

It has ~120k miles, I've owned the car for 1.5 years

I've installed eibach sportline springs (about 2.5'' drop), rtabs, lcabs, adjustable camber arms still waiting to go on.

[ducky328i]

a lot of those symtoms point to a bad right side wheel bearing. the quiet when loading in right hand turns is about as incriminating to a wheel bearing as it gets. put the right side in the air, and spin the wheels. see if you can hear any grinding noises. i know i told you my issue turned out to be a failed ujoint, but i also have replaced a wheel bearing. right rear to be exact. the roaring sound it created at speed was almost deafening. so that gets my vote.

are the rear end alignment issues on both sides, or just one? you may have failing RTABs or sub frame bushings to cause that. you may also have a bent rear upper or lower control arm, or trailing arm. carefully look at all your suspension bits, and inspect your bushings...i know they're gonna look black, dirty and have little cracks, but look for sure-thing failures/bends. the worn shocks could also cause that...if they are completely blown out, i'm sure it would visibly effect your alignment.

if your tierods were junk, you'd more than likely be getting vibrations in the steering wheel. i'm betting you've probably got worn LCABs and/or torn inner/outer balljoints.

how many miles are on your car? is it auto or manual?

if you don't feel like you can inspect the stuff i've named, and feel 100% that something is in good condition or fubar'd take it to a REPUTABLE alignment shop, and ask the person performing the alignment to look over the stuff i've listed...make sure you let him know you're not an idiot though just because you're a girl...i know you know your shit ;).

[dsmbaby4]

Ducky, shes got ~120k miles, manual. The rear alignment issues are on both sides, pretty sure its just bec my camber is throwing everything off.
I replaced the rtabs and lcabs within the last 6 months. Everything looked ok, the subframe bushings I couldnt see very well but looked decent. Front shocks are pretty dunzo, rear look ok but def need to be replaced soon as well. Control arms/trailing arms arent bent, but what do I look for to check the balljoints?

I'm pretty convinced now that its my wheel bearings, and something diff/ going on with the steering... I'll just get new shocks and an alignment and see what happens from there. Thanks for your input!

[Cablekid]

Ooo.. 5hrs away..... Ill fix it come drive down here. :eyecrazy Haha.

[fuggle]

sounds to me like you have a simple alignment for front and rear toe +bad bearing as ducky said. i would replace the bearings and get an alignment.

kent

[dsmbaby4]

Ooo.. 5hrs away..... Ill fix it come drive down here. :eyecrazy Haha.

:shifty


sounds to me like you have a simple alignment for front and rear toe +bad bearing as ducky said. i would replace the bearings and get an alignment.

kent

Yup. Anyone have any experience with replacing front wheel bearings... how difficult is it? I've skimmed over a few DIYs and it seems relatively straight forward... just need to rent a puller and a beefier torque wrench.

[flyfishvt]

front wheel bearing took me 45 minutes as long as you have the right socket and a dremel tool to get the old race out. Piece of cake. Gotta love that dremel tool.

[dsmbaby4]

Sounds good, but isn't the socket huge, like 45mm? I don't really want to spend 50 bucks on one of those... anything else I can use?

[ducky328i]

the rear wheel bearings use a 32mm 12 point socket torqued to something north of 200ftlbs...not sure about the fronts...but i've always heard the fronts are a feckin gravy train compared to the rears.

and, rene....to check the balljoints, just get under the front end and look at the control arm. look at the two forward most mounting points. the one on the front subframe is the inner ball joint, and the one on the wheelp spindle is is the outer ball joint. check the rubber boots surrounding the actuall ball joint for holes or tears. also make sure they aren't leaking any grease.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/y/h/147.png

#19 is your outer ball joint...these are replaceable, which is why the diagram shows it seperate from the actual control arm itself. but its also shown installed in the control arm just above the individual part.

#3 is your inner ball joint. stock control arms do NOT have replaceable inner ball joints; if they bad go to bimmerworld.com and get their meyle replacements. they not only have replaceable outer ball joints like the stock CAs, they also have replaceable inners as well.

[dsmbaby4]

Thanks for your help! It rained all day so I didn't get out there to take a look, but I'll keep ya posted :D

[dsmbaby4]

Well I followed a diy on here, and replacing the front wheel bearings were not too difficult. The noise has changed, its not nearly as loud, it just sounds like my front tire is loose... and yes, I tightened the lugs very well.

The steering is also way worse, its a struggle to keep the car from veering to the left, yet when I brace the steering wheel to maintain a straight path it sits tilted off to the right.

And now I have another question :D... what is this (sensor?) and why is it just hanging around? I couldn't find anyplace it could plug into.

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu283/m-technic/sensor.jpg

:confused

[BMWboy5]

geta alignment

[ducky328i]

did you happen to check your inner and outer balls?...err..ball joints :shifty how about your tie rod ends? and yeah...do the alignment thing.

where is that sensor at?? i see the back of the oil pan so i'm assuming its down close to the trans tunnel?? that looks a lot like the sensor i pulled out of my auto tranny...


NVM...just realized thats teh control arm there...still looks like the plug off my auto trans...:dunno

[dsmbaby4]

lol, but I don't have an auto tranny!