1993 BMW 318is rear wheel creaking

[ZenV]

Hey everyone I'm trying to figure out what the problem with my rear left wheel assembly is. At very low speeds, there is a very loud creaking noise coming from the wheel. I thought it may be a seized caliper, so I removed the caliper and spun the rotor only to still hear the creak, even with the caliper off, so that's out of the question. The rotor was also very hard to spin (I had both rear wheels in the air so the other wheel was just spinning in the opposite direction). My next thought is that it's a seized wheel bearing but after a bit of research it seems like its more likely to be a bad ball joint of something of the sort. I'm wondering if any of you have any insight into what this might be and how I could diagnose it. Thanks

[MarcoZandrini]

It’s not a bad ball joint as you heard the noise by spinning the axle. What are the conditions of the constant velocity joints rubber “accordions”? You might have a CV joint running out of lube.

[jclausen]

Spray the area with wd 40 not on the brake pads of course

[bmwdirtracer]

Jack up both sides of the rear end. A trolley jack under the diff will work for this.

First, grab the top of the tire and the bottom of the tire, and see if you can make the wheel wobble at all - even a tiny bit. If so, you have a bad wheel bearing.
Then, hit the top of the tire inwards, hard, with the side of your fist, like a hammer blow, listening for any metallic clank sound. If you're not sure, compare with the other side. If it clanks, you have a bad wheel bearing.
Lastly, drive the car, and zig-zag gently. Wheel bearing noises usually change noticeable when the wheel is loaded vs. unloaded, meaning leaning left or right.

All these are subjective observations, aided by experience, but I rely on them.
Speaking of experience, I have found that left rear wheel bearings on E36's fail at least twice as often as right rears.
And they are, inevitably, an absolute bitch to change.

That's my 2 cents/