Front Suspension noise

[Greg]

Ok guys, I have replace my both sides sway bar links, front axle ( torn CV Boot ), control arms and still clunking. So today while at the shop, my mechanic had my vehicle on the lift and showed me where the clunking is coming from. It is the curved arm that is below the control arms. I need to order the part but neither of us know what it is called. Any help? Please

[flyingmachine]

Originally Posted by Greg

Ok guys, I have replace my both sides sway bar links, front axle ( torn CV Boot ), control arms and still clunking. So today while at the shop, my mechanic had my vehicle on the lift and showed me where the clunking is coming from. It is the curved arm that is below the control arms. I need to order the part but neither of us know what it is called. Any help? Please

curved arm? I guess you refer to thrust arm(aka tension strut). no. 6 here

what is making the clunk on it? the bushing or ball joint?

[themoth]

Originally Posted by x5fromOz

FYI...My 4.4 has been diagnosed with having a worn/faulty steering rack. I think this is a little unfair at 85k klms???

So you need a new steering rack? Seems odd for 85k, not a lot of miles..

[Greg]

Originally Posted by flyingmachine

curved arm? I guess you refer to thrust arm(aka tension strut). no. 6 here

what is making the clunk on it? the bushing or ball joint?

Ball Joint needs replacing. No big deal I have an excellent mechanic that takes care of me. I order my parts from Discount Auto Parts – Mercedes Parts, BMW Parts, Volvo Parts, Volkswagen Parts – PartsGeek.com and save a lot of money.

[Greg]

I just found out about realoem.com. What a great website

[flyingmachine]

Originally Posted by Greg

Ball Joint needs replacing. No big deal I have an excellent mechanic that takes care of me. I order my parts from Discount Auto Parts – Mercedes Parts, BMW Parts, Volvo Parts, Volkswagen Parts – PartsGeek.com and save a lot of money.

you can also try Auto Parts at AutohausAZ - OEM Auto Parts - Discount Replacement Parts, Resources and Car Care Tips for non-OEM parts. the pricing should be better than partsgeek. they also offer free shipping on any orders more than $50.

for oem parts, you can try morristown bmw in nj. ask for Rishon. he's the internet parts manager. they do mail order too and good pricing on oem parts. their website is bmw-accessoriesonline.com

[JBF]

Thanks for this info. I have been suffering from some phantom play in my steering, the steering column bearings were replaced which seemed to get rid of an annoying click/play in the steering around centre point while driving. I still get some play and noise if I wriggle the steering wheel from side to side with the engine off but I'm not sure whether that is normal or not.

The phantom play is only felt occasionally, usually over rough ground or when shifting weight from one side to the other (for instance coming on/off a small roundabout). I will try the wheel bearing test as I have found it impossible to reproduce on demand for the dealers.

I've also noticed the car seems to rock a backwards/forwards a bit when coming to a stop and an annoying hiss from the front drivers side wheel when going over speed bumps at low speed. Not sure whether these are just normal X behaviour or not.

[faranks]

I'll share my two cents since I am going through all this too. I first had a clunk only heard when going over a bump at low speeds in the front end, sounded like something was loose. Replaced sway bar end links and problem went away. 10k later started having more noise, passenger side front, sound like creaking or knocking up until 30 mph or so. So I just replaced control arm bushings and ball joints, it's a major pain to replace the ball joints FYI (torches, big hammers etc.) Noise did not go awayand gets louder as time goes by. My friend mechanic feels certain that it is a strut, so I will replace that next.

[admranger]

Sway bar end links worked for me. Just make sure you have an 18mm thin wrench available. Bike shop or grind a cheap one down. I made my own out of a piece of steel plate, but I don't recommend this...

[juppalgae]

Hey, it's either front lower arm, axle, or ball joint problems. I took my car to the shop to evaluate which. Good luck and let us know how it works out.