Going nuts-- clunkidy clunk
 

Ok... This is finally driving me off the walls!!

Under acceleration, between gears, I get a good ole clunk coming from front suspension ( I believe it's from there). I feel it on the floor, in the steering wheel, and my passengers feel it too... Now this only happens when the car is warmed up. The ball joints are less than a month old, and the control arms were done 15k miles ago.

Now follow me here... Perhaps the cv joint? When it warms up, the oil separates causing it to slip? Could it be the entire front axel? I'm at such a loss.

Or could it be in the driveline? This problem is making me want to pull my hair out. I don't feel it if I accelerate hard... Usually happens around 3k rpm?

Help.


UPDATE: Heres video of pulling on rear driveshaft http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgj2LYybeKU

Seeing as though I'm here I'll give you my 2c, from my experience (with other vehicles) suspension "clunks" only tend to make themselves known under braking or turning therefore I would put my money on drive line

Engine mounts?

half-shafts? try to lift the car on a lifter and see if anything is loose... guibo sound is usually in the middle of the car, not in the front... but worth checking...

But why would this only happen after driving a bit ( car is warmed up).

It is stupid easy to check the mounts. Just take a look. Foot on brake, car in drive, hood open. Give it a solid rev with the other foot. Check in drive and check reverse. Have someone else rev while you look. Just be firm on the brakes. You will see the engine pop out if mounts are done.

Could be something else, but this you can check quite easy.

I'm thinking car warms up, shifts are softer, engine manages to fall back against mount. When hard accelerating, engine stays tight.

Also axles could be it.

Do you have any other symptoms? Maybe a jolt forward?

I used to have a clunk when turning (this was fixed by ball joints).

The clunk is almost like a "jolt" or a shudder.. seems to only happen when accelerating and usually at the top of the gear.. I guess engine mount could make total sense with it getting to the top of the gear range, and then jolting because the revs go down. I'll have to check it out. Can you see the mounts from having the hood open? Any guidance here as i am not familiar with these.. And how much movement is "normal"

it just doesnt seem like engine mount symptoms... it really does feel as if its coming from the front suspension... i guess i could be wrong..

the most frustrating part is that any mechanic in this god forsaken town of ithaca is an ass..

I called the foreign car service called AJ foreign car--complete asses. they told me they charge to diagnose EVEN If i get the repair done with them. and that i tell them how much time i want them to spend. aka $90 an hour, i tell them to spend an hour, i get charged 90 even if they find nothing. He said if I dont want to pay, he does not want to do business with me... I told the guy to go fu*k himself.. unbelievable

I guess i have to wait this one out till i get home for thanksgiving, just so frustrating....

this actually just inspired me to write AJ foreign auto a review on google:

To sum it up..Money Hungry. I called them to get some info ( I am a Cornell student who knows a lot about cars, and has lots of mechanic friends at home in NJ)..they claim to charge you for diagnosing an issue even if you get a repair done with them. What if they spend time and do not find the problem? well they still charge you. They will spend as much time as you "tell them to." Dave (i believe the owner) actually told me that if i have a problem paying, that he does not want to do business with me.. That is not how you treat a customer. No, Dave, I have no problem paying, I have a problem paying you to book time for an hour and then say that you found no problems with my car. The policy just does not seem very reasonable.. Even my normal BMW dealership (BMW of Morristown) does not charge to diagnose...

It does not seem like they are in the business because they enjoy what they do, it seems like they do it purely for money.

Dave--I am a great paying customer, if you were reasonable you would be getting a ton of business from me. It is not like i am asking you to spend 8 hours on my car and waste your own time (i understand you need to make money), but to spend 30-45 minutes to check something out i believe is completely reasonable.. Especially for someone who could be writing you a check for a lot of money for repairs that i suspect need to be done.

I would take a look at the intermediate driveshaft bearing and the guibos. If you have the means to get the car on some jackstands, you can check these yourself. Look for cracked rubber. You can examine those motor mounts while you're under there.

As far as changing any of them, they are all pretty tough jobs without a lift.

Just tested motor mounts. They look ok. I have a video I'll upload later. I had looked at the guibo joints over the summer, no visible cracking.

Still sort of stuck on cv...

I wish I took a vid of what a blown mount looks like. But you can't mistake it. It looks like the engine wants to flip out the side. You need a solid rev. A quick solid jab of the throttle.

I'm thinking maybe the front output shaft from the transfer case. Didn't they cause quite a few issues back in the day? Wasn't there a guibo or joint of some sort that used to fail? Do a search on that Naz. I'm on the iPhone, so searching sux.

Naz, does this happen in every gear? Or just some random one.

woooo!! twin turbo GTR is a life saver. we've been texting for the past 3 hours trying to narrow this down.

just got under the X.. twisted and pulled on on the driveshaft, it has lots of play... According to him the bentley manual says U joint, flange connections, center rubber bearing or flex disc. I have a video of me pulling on the rear drive shaft. i'll try to upload it now

OK heres the video..

BMW X5 rear driveshaft - YouTube

this is from the rear driveshaft, i was laying on the floor.. to give you an idea of exactly where it is, kind in line with where the front of the rear wheels are

Yea glad you got under there. Us thinking it was from the front was going in the wrong direction. Glad TTGTR was there.

It must have been sending the vibration up front, i swear i still feel it coming from the front when driving. Lets hope i can get this baby fixed and confirm that this was the problem

$750 part. This will be fun

Wait so which part are you replacing exactly?

WE're looking at this part 26107549298

But, again, this all depends on what my mechanic says also

RealOEM.com * BMW E53 X5 4.4i Drive shaft, 4-wheel

What really? You going to replace the whole thing? I thought you could buy individual parts from the drive shaft.

Hmmm, so does "only happens when warmed up" still apply? :dunno:

Right. I don't get it either.

That's what I'm stuck on....

well its.. "less" noticeable when the car is cold. Maybe the rubber U joint warms up and is more pliable, making it less sturdy under pressure?