Greetings. Over the last few days I've been hearing a metallic "schroinch" D) noise in the front right of my 328. It's not directly associated with any driving activity, except that it tends to show up more under deceleration, and I can generate the noise by turning hard to the right. I jacked up the car and removed the wheel, and when I was rotating the rotor I could feel/hear some resistance at one point in the rotation. I was thinking maybe I had a bad brake pad or warped rotor, so I removed the caliper. With the caliper out of the way, I still hear/feel that resistance at a certain point in the rotation. No external parts are touching the rotor. Grabbing the edge of the rotor and rocking it left and right generates a very small movement, and I can see the steering rack rock up and down just a bit. Not the whole rack, just the end closest to the upright. So, thoughts? I was thinking maybe wheel bearings for the resistance issue? The weather has been cold, could the Koni not like the cold and cause the noise? Thanks T
For wheel bearings, you should check if the wheel (or rotor) for movement in the longitudinal plane (top-to-bottom "wiggle"). If that's solid, then maybe the steering rack itself may be a tad loose. How's the tire wear? An excessively loose steering box will cause the tire to squirm, which should show in the car's handling and tire wear. But for your metallic noise, have you checked that the headlight frames are tight? They sometimes get loose on a 328, and then they bang around in the fender. You also have a heater box on either side inside the fender, and something loose there could make noise.
It is most likely a shock or A-arm bushing. Try spraying all of them with silicone lube spray, then go for a drive and see if this shuts it up. I had one that made a squeeky, metallic sound, and this quieted it up...only did it in winter.
Do what Dave said....plus tighten up every nut and bolt you can get to on the A-arms. It's amazing how a little slop will translate into noticeable noise. Tom
If it's a grinding type noise you are only hearing when the spindle is rotating it would almost have to be the wheel bearing.
Not likely to be a wheel bearing because that usually gives a continuous noise which will increase with load on that side, so if the noise is on the right side, taking a left hand bend would increase the noise. Sounds like shock absorber to me. Did you try "bouncing" the front end each side with the car static to see if you can make the noise ?
Update: I'm pretty convinced I have a wheel bearing going out, unrelated to the other noise. The sound/roughness in the wheel is slight and I wouldn't have heard it at any type of speed. I have to make a call or three to get some new bearings. All the bolts and such are nice and tight in the suspension. Rocking the wheel vertically doesn't generate any movement. I sprayed silicon lube on the bushings/etc. and that made some of the (preexisting) squeaking in the bushings go away. The clunking still is there under deceleration. It was less evident yesterday, but the temps were up 40 degrees from Friday. Nothing is loose in the car, I checked the various suggestions. The noise definitely comes from the right front. The car doesn't bounce when pushed down, and both sides seemed damped about the same. The car does not pull to either side during normal driving nor braking. I'm thinking the shock absorber is going away. Do you all concur? I'm off to check the archives about rebuilding these things....
