Still got an odd rattle after suspension work...

[Sobek]

Hey guys,

So as some of you know, I've had some rattling / clunking / wobbling in my front end and it was time to start refreshing things (78k miles, seems early for things to go but, hey, this is Australia). I've replaced the center link + tie rod ends and now the thrust arms, and things are pretty fantastic - mo more clunking while driving from the old bad center link, and no more wobbles at speed or under braking from the bad thrust arms. The thing is, I DO still have a little 'rattle' from my front end that's annoying me. I notice it only in two situations... the first is on my driveway, which at the moment is under repair and has lots of uneven surfaces - as I drive over these I get this hollow sounding rattle sometimes. The second is easily reproduced in my underground carpark here at work. If I have the car sitting still and just turn the wheels at a reasonable speed, it rattles very strongly, almost with the sensation of the wheels bouncing... this is a polished concrete floor so LOTS of grip too which I imagine helps exacerbate it. It does still occasionally want to try and drive itself into slight imperfections on the road, as if the wheels were being far too easily pulled in one direction or the other.

Any ideas what this might be? My lower control arms look to be in great shape so I'm not sure if they could be causing this noise. Could it be sway bar end links (they wouldn't tramline my car on road imperfections though right?) or could it possibly be the front struts? More specifically, I'm just wondering what the most likely thing to rattle would be if you just turned the wheel at a standstill like I can. It still just feels overall a little wafty on the roads, and still a bit harsh on the front end to what I would expect, as if the road noise and feel was translating too directly into my steering wheel, you know? As for the rattle, the only way I can describe the noise is if you rattled a stick in a tin can, only that tin can had a coating of rubber on the outside - muffling it, if you will.

Cheers!

[sigtwenty]

Hollow rattle sounds over small bumpy imperfections is probably strut mounts
I had a similar issue on my 98. I replaced everything....including motor and transmounts as well for pm since its 15 years old rubber. Noise still there
Replaced struts, noises gone.

[setconstr]

I had a weird clunk in my front end turned out to be motor mounts............

[Sobek]

Hollow rattle sounds over small bumpy imperfections is probably strut mounts
I had a similar issue on my 98. I replaced everything....including motor and transmounts as well for pm since its 15 years old rubber. Noise still there
Replaced struts, noises gone.

Motor and trans mounts are right near the top of my to-do list actually, so that will get done regardless. But are you saying you think it's likely just the strut mounts, or the struts too? I'd hate to think the struts are already blown at 78k miles but, you never know. Mounts are cheap and easy to do - what do you think, just start with replacing the mounts and see how it goes from there? Still got to do my rears too since one of those is shot, might as well order all four corners and do it all at once I guess.

I had a weird clunk in my front end turned out to be motor mounts............

I see... This is definitely suspension related though. I doubt bad motor mounts are going to cause a jumpy rattling just from turning the wheels at a standstill!

[setconstr]

Usually if the struts are Bad they leak and you can see it. Strut mounts don't usually go bad most people just change them when they do new struts or coilovers . Sometimes the noise people think they hear in the front turns out to be from the rear end .......... When my motor mounts were bad I only noticed it at low speeds as I stepped on the gas a bit . It's easy to diagnose if you open the hood and have someone start the car leave in park and step on the gas a bit the engine will jump up and down ( it shouldn't do that )

[Sobek]

Haha yeah I did the standing rev test recently, not a hint of movement from the motor... still want to do all the mounts though, as Sig said, age + rubber, good preventative maintenance at least. This noise is without question from the front though. I've got the clunk in the rear from the rear left shock mount and that annoyed the buggery out of me, but I specifically hung out my window when I turned the wheels in the car park (AND had a friend listening too!!) and it's the front end.

I guess only so many things can skip or rattle when doing that kind of 'test', and bad front shock mounts would definitely seem to fit that bill. I can't think of anything else that I haven't changed in front end suspension that might do it bar POSSIBLY the sway bar end links, but I'm pretty sure they've only got about 10k miles on them (replaced shortly before I bought the car if I recall correctly).

[setconstr]

I have 130 K on my 2001 sport now ( bought it with 7k 13 years ago ) and I finally redid everything 2 weeks ago I bought all the kits from OEMBimmer. parts plus Bilsteins and H&R sport springs. Both front and rear oem lemforder kits and new front and rear mounts. Made a lot of difference, and when I pulled the old parts out I couldn't believe how Bad the orginol parts were, no rubber left what so ever, but it still seemed fine when I was driving . Now it's not as smooth but it sure is Fun !

[Raudi Driver]

Hollow rattle sounds over small bumpy imperfections is probably strut mounts
I had a similar issue on my 98. I replaced everything....including motor and transmounts as well for pm since its 15 years old rubber. Noise still there
Replaced struts, noises gone.

Struts or Strut mounts? Your reply isn't reading clear to me.

[IcemanBHE]

Could be strut mounts. I had one that would pop on uneven transition.

Could also be sway bar links.

[Sobek]

Is there any good physical test for sway bar link condition, like giving them a good wrenching back and forth with your hands? Or just... replace them and see? I know that mine are Gold in colour which, from what I've seen online seems to point to CHEAP branded parts.

Might be worth doing regardless since I don't really know their history either.

[sigtwenty]

Struts or Strut mounts? Your reply isn't reading clear to me.

Whole assembly with known good used ones.

[Raudi Driver]

^^I understand.

To the op, I'm thinking that your strut plate bearings could be the culprit. Usually a stand still turning issue can be traced to the plate bearings.

[Antipodean]

Is there any good physical test for sway bar link condition, like giving them a good wrenching back and forth with your hands? Or just... replace them and see? I know that mine are Gold in colour which, from what I've seen online seems to point to CHEAP branded parts.

Might be worth doing regardless since I don't really know their history either.

G'day.

I checked mine by just taking a link off and driving it a short distance to see if the rattle goes away. If you do change the links, might want to do the sway bar mount bushings also. These can clunk when worn, and are easy to swap out.

Cheers,

Rob.

[danb1979]

Had very similar issues to you after having repleced the centrel tie rod, track rod ends and front shocks/springs and top-mounts etc...

Turns out its the front lower control arms that are just going on me and they only clunk when I'm driving on/off the drive at very low speeds OR driving slowly down very bumpy roads etc...

Got the replacement arms yesterday and they're due to be fitted tomorrow afternoon

Hopefully this'll cure the knocking...

[Jamos]

Sway bar bushings.

[racer2086]

I have replaced everything front to back, including strut mounts and struts.

I have a rattle in the steering on very uneven roads (i.e. dirt road with pot holes). I'll tell you it sounds a lot like dampened rattle. I had a friend turn the wheel back and forth within the range of play I feel. I narrowed it down to the steering box. I could see the column move without the pitman arm move. Also, there was a "rattle" inside the box. I took a video of mine, which I have to post. My next move is to have that rebuilt or something.

I can't say that's your problem, though, because mine has 175k on it and you only have 78k which seems far too low to have a steering box problem. Check it out for play though.

[Sobek]

Had very similar issues to you after having repleced the centrel tie rod, track rod ends and front shocks/springs and top-mounts etc...

Turns out its the front lower control arms that are just going on me and they only clunk when I'm driving on/off the drive at very low speeds OR driving slowly down very bumpy roads etc...

Got the replacement arms yesterday and they're due to be fitted tomorrow afternoon

Hopefully this'll cure the knocking...

Let me know how you go ok?

Sway bar bushings.

Checked mine when I did the thrust arms the other day, they're solid and have practically zero distortion at all - I yanked hard on the sway bay itself and there was no visible play in the bushings. Can always chuck them into my next big order from FCP I suppose...

I have replaced everything front to back, including strut mounts and struts.

I have a rattle in the steering on very uneven roads (i.e. dirt road with pot holes). I'll tell you it sounds a lot like dampened rattle. I had a friend turn the wheel back and forth within the range of play I feel. I narrowed it down to the steering box. I could see the column move without the pitman arm move. Also, there was a "rattle" inside the box. I took a video of mine, which I have to post. My next move is to have that rebuilt or something.

I can't say that's your problem, though, because mine has 175k on it and you only have 78k which seems far too low to have a steering box problem. Check it out for play though.

This is actually very interesting to me. I had a mechanic mate who was helping me out with some things on his hoist last year, and he was positive I had a steering box leak. I didn't think much of it at the time because I had enough else to deal with but... you never know. Might have to get it up on the hoist again and take a really good look at my steering box. When I get these rattly noises, it DOES jiggle my steering wheel a bit, and I feel it very clearly through the wheel. Perhaps this COULD be it.

[danb1979]

Apologies for late reply on this; didnt get chance to get the car in last week for the front lower arms, so did it today

No more rattles/knocks

So after replacing:

Front and rear upper arms
Front and rear shocks, springs and top mounts
Rear upper arms
Central drag link and 2 new tie-rod ends

Teh car no longer knocks!

[jbimflyer]

Yeah it was probably the struts or strut mounts I bet... I'm just going through the same thing myself.

[Sobek]

Mmm I'm leaning towards possibly a combination of things here. What it basically boils down to is that I'm REALLY feeling the road surface and getting lots of road noise and feedback into the cabin through the steering wheel, and the steering overall is just loose and vague. Considering I've already done the center link, tie rods and thrust arms AND I only have 78k miles on it AND have had it all balanced and aligned... struts + strut mounts personally seem like the next most logical thing in this case - dead / dying struts would create excessive road noise and feel through the steering wheel, right?

Lower control arms still look great and are tight as, even still I can't believe that they alone would cause so much looseness, noise and road feel alone? The rear had control arms and ball joints replaced at the time I bought the car and it all seems very good back there. I also still have a nasty constant vibration throughout the car at roughly 70mph highway speeds, but that's in another thread and I believe it may be a drivetrain issue, so more or less unrelated.

[danb1979]

Right...

Back to square one for me also now

Rattle/knock is still there at very low speeds either on bumpy roads or driving on/off our driveway (steps down to pavement then steps down again to the road)

Took it back to my pal and all we can think of now is the steering joiont/steering box has some play in it and this is causing the knocking!

Unsure of where to go at it from here but will try to keep this updated

I'm booking it in for metal thermostat housing, thermostat and water pump replacmeent soon as the cars on 106k now and dont think these have ever been replaced so will get a better look at things then when it's up on ramps... Again!

[Sobek]

Haha damn. I actually spent a good few hours under the 7 today using a friends' hoist. I pryed and checked literally everything and the whole front end is solid as a rock, I just can't fault it now. Just makes me think more and more that the front shocks are to blame... the excessive road noise and feel, the rattling and wandering, it's all I've got left.

Did find a bunch of things in the rear that need attention. Rear right bump stop on the shock is almost gone, can't even tell what's going on with the rear left. One of the control arms' boots is totally shot and covered in sand and grit so I've ordered a replacement pair, and the rear sway bar links are totally loose, ordered those too.

[ATrain91]

Interesting. I will keep my eyes on this one as I have noise coming from my front end also. Good information so far. Will be interesting to read the final solution. Thanks!

///APowered

[Sobek]

No worries, I'll update as I go. The huge order of parts is on it's way over from the US right now, with any luck I'll have it before the week is done and get things installed on Sunday. If all goes well, this weekend I'll be doing the motor mounts, sway bar links, sway bar bushings, and one pair of rear control arms plus the rear sway bar links too. I'll be giving the steering box a VERY thorough going over at the same time too, just to be absolutely certain of that.

Early next week the rear upper shock mounts will arrive, and right now I'm debating whether I should just buy a pair of front shocks and be done with it for completeness sake!! Hmmmm

[chris33]

I recently swapped out my steering box. My symptoms were a rattle-can sound on bumpy roads and some what vague steering. I had already replaced all of the front end and steering components and the rattle-can sound and vagueness persisted.

I found a good, low mileage steering box at a local yard and it took about two hours to R & R utilizing DIY's I found on the web.

Afterwards no more rattle-can sound and the input and feedback from the steering wheel is similar to that of my e90 which has a rack an pinion. My only regret is that I did not do this sooner.