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Thread: 1991 735i Mysterious Noise When in Motion

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
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    1991 BMW 735i

    1991 735i Mysterious Noise When in Motion

    Alright guys, I'm looking for some guidance as I am at a total loss now. I've owned this vehicle for a year now and have been restoring it slowly. Here is my problem: after driving for about 10 minutes then making a stop, when I take off again I get a scraping sound. it's not constant but does it on rotation somewhere and when I go faster the sound is faster. After about a minute of driving without braking it goes away but as soon as I brake again it starts up. As far as I can tell it's coming from the front passenger side. This noise does not happen while sitting idle, just when in motion.

    So here's what I've done so far. My first thought was wheel bearings/hub assembly, so I replaced those and still get the noise. then I thought to myself that the brake caliper piston was sticking, so I got a rebuild kit for the front calipers and when I was doing that I went ahead and replaced the rotors (those needed to be done anyways). No change. Long shot changes I made was flushing the break fluid, transmission fluid, and rear diff fluid as they needed to be changed as well. The last thing I did today was get new front brake calipers thinking the piston was still sticking and no change again. One more thing to note is when I turn to the left the noise get's quieter but when I straighten back up it comes back. Almost makes me think wheel bearings again and I got a dud or something.

    Not sure what this could be but any info would be greatly appreciated.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    1992 750il / 1991 560 SE
    Check the brake dust shields. I had one with a slight bend. Turning did impact noice a little because things flex. Worth looking at. Was pretty easy for me to find by simply raising each wheel and spinning it by hand. Then a visual backed up the issue. Just bend it out by hand a little.

    I think another possibility could be something rubbing on the driveshaft, like a heat shield that maybe slide forward when braking or such?
    ______________________________
    1992 750iL

  3. #3
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    1991 BMW 735i
    Forgot that I checked the dust shield already too...so many thing I checked. I’ll take a look at the heat shields later today after work. Thanks for the reply

  4. #4
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    everything looks good on the heat shields. Anything else y'all can think of? Thanks in advance

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Im 99.99% sure it is the driveshaft rubbing on a heat shield somewhere due to a failed center bearing. I had the exact same issue on my car. Changes with braking or direction of turning. This is just the driveshaft being loose. I have just replaced mine a few days ago, could not tell where it was rubbing until I had it pulled off.
    IF you find you have a bad center bearing, do check the U-Joints on the shaft. I believe your 735i only has one set. These usually seize up causing the shaft to not flex when turning, putting stress on the bearing. This usually requires a rebuild/ replacement of the shaft. I had mine replaced with a new old stock from 97' from my mechanic. Both my U-Joints were shot, as well as the bearing (750).

    BMW 7er Website www.7er.com
    1989 BMW 735i Schwarz (sadly, sold) // 1989 BMW 750iL Cirrusblau Metallic // 1998 BMW 740iL Oxfordgrün Metallic // 2000 M5 Carbon Schwarz ///

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by SergeBMW View Post
    Both my U-Joints were shot, as well as the bearing (750).
    Out of curiosity and to prepare for the future, at what mileage did this problem arise?
    1983 4-spd Mercedes 240d w/403k - Sold!

    11/87 E32 735iA w/45k - Daily Driver (finally!)

    04/88 E32 735iL - Parts Car

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by CamE32 View Post
    Out of curiosity and to prepare for the future, at what mileage did this problem arise?
    I can't say for sure because the car sat for many years before I bought it, then sat for another 3 years while I slowly worked on it. Car has 120,000 miles and when I took it for a drive the noise was apparent. My joints where bad where one axis of movement was sloppy and the other axis of the same joint was very stiff and nearly impossible to move by hand.

  8. #8
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    Any new findings on the noise?

    BMW 7er Website www.7er.com
    1989 BMW 735i Schwarz (sadly, sold) // 1989 BMW 750iL Cirrusblau Metallic // 1998 BMW 740iL Oxfordgrün Metallic // 2000 M5 Carbon Schwarz ///

  9. #9
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    Alrighty guys, sorry it's been a while since I've replied, the holidays got us all crazy over here.

    I've ordered a new center bearing for the driveshaft. In the meantime I have replaced my rear wheel bearing (I only replaced the front ones before) but found no details on how to do it for a '91 735i. So I made a quick video on how to do that see below. I have not been able to test it just yet since I am also waiting for a new parking brake kit that should be here Wednesday. Once I get those parts in and up and going I'll post again.

    While I'm waiting for parts, does anyone know a guide for doing the driveshaft center bearing? Any help would be much appreciated.

    1991 BMW 735i Rear Wheel Bearing Replacement:

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    87 325is,91 318is,R53MCS
    We’re the calipers you replaced new? Or salvage? Asking because i had an issue with the guide pin bushings not allowing the guide pins to slide freely, creating poor caliper operation. If they are salvage i would definitely look at a pin bushing kit.

  11. #11
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    1991 BMW 735i
    They were new (remanufactured) and came with new pin bushings.

  12. #12
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    Whose bearing tool did you use? HF? Autozone?

  13. #13
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    1991 BMW 735i
    Quote Originally Posted by Sansouci View Post
    Whose bearing tool did you use? HF? Autozone?
    I purchased my own. Looks like the Bearing Puller is not in stock at the moment though.

    Bearing Separator: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Bearing Puller/Pusher: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

  14. #14
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    '89 535i/5, '88 735i/5
    Here's a guide on how to replace the CSB

    http://bmwe32.masscom.net/sean750/dr...terbearing.htm

  15. #15
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    1997 528i/5, 1997 528i/5
    I have a similar noise very occasionally and I am going with the center support bearing on this.
    Wade

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
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    90' 735iL, 90' 535i, 93'
    I recently had this exact same issue of an odd noise (aside from my u-joint) coming from my front right wheel region. Turns out that the "fancy" brake pads that I purchased had a thin metal plate glued to the the rim side of the outer brake pad. I'm pretty sure when I bought them the box claimed it was to cut down on squealing or something like that. Anyways, I go to take apart my caliper and find that thin piece of anti squeal metal had become separated from the pad. After throwing that piece of metal (i guess its called a brake pad shim?) in the trash I had no more issues with braking noise.

    Hope this helps! Also a pic of the shim....

    http://www.filtsai.com/accord/brakes...al_outer_1.jpg

  17. #17
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    '91 M5, '13 E92, '89 E32
    My M5 was making the same noise, I thought it was one of the rear wheels. Lots of E34 stuff is the same as E32, so the processes are the same or very close. Here's a DIY for the center support bearing. Replace the flex disc while you're in there too, if the bearing is bad the flex disc has taken a beating too. Make sure you get the flex disc in the correct orientation.

    http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Mainte...terBearing.htm

    Thanks for making the video re: E32/E34 rear bearings. I did mine pretty much the same way you did yours, with a couple of exceptions that made things go a bit smoother. First, I found an appropriately sized thrust bearing to use on the nut side of the bearing press, for both pushing the old one out of the trailing arm and pushing the new one in. The difference in force required is night and day over just using the washer that came in the kit. The second was, instead of banging on the outer flange with a hammer to get it into place, I welded one of the old axle nuts onto the end of a 27mm 1/2" drive impact socket and ground the points off the nut, but leaving the collar. Screwing this onto the threaded stub from behind, this let me pull the outer flange into place without beating up the new wheel bearing.
    1989 750iL schwarz/schwarz
    1991 M5 schwarz/silbergrau
    2013 328i coupe diamondschwarz/caramel
    2003 525iT orient blue/tan
    1990 535i/5 schwarz/schwarz

  18. #18
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    Alrighty guys, I've been out a few weeks from doing a lot of work, stupid emergency appendectomy. Anyways, I got her up on one side tonight and prepped her for surgery tomorrow. Will keep y'all posted on how it's going.
    IMG_0517.jpg

  19. #19
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    I believe y'alls assumptions are correct...lol. Took the heat shield off and found this. Next is to take the driveshaft off...stay tuned.
    IMG_0518.jpg . IMG_0519.jpg . IMG_0520.jpg

  20. #20
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    And here is the bearing...oh my
    IMG_0521.jpg

  21. #21
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    I'm going to finish this up tomorrow.

    Here is what's left of my center bearing...it was all jacked up

    IMG_0522.jpg

    The U-joints look good. This is the scraping on the drive shaft, just scraped the paint off.

    IMG_0524.jpg

  22. #22
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    After installing the center bearing it seems a little stiff, not spinning as freely as I would have thought. Is this normal? Or did I not push it back far enough?

  23. #23
    Join Date
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    11/88 E32 750iL+98 E36M3
    I assume a new center bearing is stiffer than an old one. You have to test it. Usually the center bearing goes into the correct position when you bolt the 2 shafts together http://bmwe32.masscom.net/sean750/dr...terbearing.htm
    Shogun tricks and tips for the E32 series are HERE!

  24. #24
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    After a couple of days of work and four trips to Home Depot for tools, I finally finished this job. AND IT'S FIXED

    @SergeBMW, Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. I really appreciate. And to everyone else who helped me as well, this was an annoyance I'm glad is no more.

  25. #25
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    How did you get the keeper out before removing the spindle nut?

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