Hmm, I have the same sound. I'll check out the DIY and FUP on the boards. I thought it might be the shocks. '02 3.0i E53, 116,000miles.

So I'm curious, the picture you posted looks like it's from www.realoem.com. They quote some low prices yet have no links on the site to order from them . Checking other online retailers of BMW parts yields higher price quotes. Where'd you get the parts?? :banghead:

My Indy purchased from our local BMW dealer for $76 for both and charged me $85 to install. Did you check with your local dealer for a price? I think my Indy did get a discount which in part was passed onto me. Let us know how things work out for you! :thumbup:

Thanks for the DYI post guys. Just put a pair of chop stix on mine and the noise is gone. Still have a vibration when braking at higher speeds in the steering wheel, on in the brake pedals. Noticed when doing the sway bar links that the wheel can be moved back and forth a bit while on jacks. Sound like symptoms of bad control arms and or bushings?

i get a low clunking noise coming from the passenger front wheel.. ONLY when i go over very small bumps/uneven road... (no clunking over larger bumps, or when turning, or when breaking)
yall think its also the sway bar links? is there a way to test it? (visible damage? feel them? pull them?) just wanna be sure thats what it is before i replace them.
thanks!!

It's hard to test for movement in the link while the beast is up on jacks as you need a load or weight baring down on the suspension. There's a 98% chance that the sway bar links are the culprit. Given that probability with the cost (40-70 bucks for the pair), and the great DYI write-up, I'd just replace them. Worst case scenario, you'd have new links (which would have eventually failed given the written track record). My 2 cents (which cost the government about 10 cents to manufacture).

so i squezed myself under the beast while its on the ground and tugged on the links, left one was tight, right one moved up and down slightly... success! unfortunatelly i also discovered that my left front outer cv boot is torn! :( looks pretty recent.. so hopefully there is no inside damage, im no mechanic but ill try to replace it with the DIY.. any tips for the process? any advice is appreciated.
thanks

I'd replace both sway bar links while you're there since the other one will fail sooner or later. As far as the left outer CV boot is concerned, as long as you do not have the dreaded click-click-click or scrape-scrape-scrape sound, then you most likely have found the boot torn before your CV joint was damaged by sand/water, etc contaminants. If that's the case, then use the DIY for the boot replacement, otherwise, replace the whole half-shaft as I did in the past with my local indy. Good luck, let us know how you make out! :thumbup:

took a look at the DIY, too much for me, dont have some of the tools needed.. bearing puller? :) found a bmw mechanic that does side jobs on evenings, he changed my left outter boot and right sway bar link for $225 parts included. so im satisfied.
thanks for the support!

Very good, glad everything worked out for you! Sounds like you got an excellent price on the work and didn't have to dirty your hands! :thumbup: