Here is what the original mount looked like after I took the washer off.
You can see how the strut is leaning to the side

Here is what I know

Bought 6 months ago in like new condition
2011 e70 X5 35d

Started hearing clunking noise a little about 3 months ago,
Clunking noise progressively got worse (from, "is this noise new, or always been there", to "yae, this deff is not supposed to sound like that")
Started to hear chirping noise as well....

Changed right upper strut mount, and clunking and chirping noises went away

2 weeks later clunking noise emerged again.

Replaced upper strut mount again, and clunking noise went away, I thought.

Now 1 week later, wifey is telling me she hears the clunking noise again...but, only over bigger bumps, and only if she is going really fast. Yes, that's how she said it to me!LOL

I stumbled onto this thread yesterday and found this diagram.
It does appear that I missed replacing #10 the foam washer, spacer, or whatever it is. I did replace #8, but missed #10. When removing strut for the 1st time, the wear must have gone on long enough to have completed disintegrated the original one, and I never realized it was missing.

I would not think that would be crucial enough, so that the replacement wore out in 2 weeks, but it wouldn't surprise me.


SO.....LightlyToasted

Thinking.....maybe it's your upper strut mount, even thou you did replace it??? maybe???

I have replaced everything except the spring. When I replaced the strut mounts they showed no signs of wear. The only part which clearly needed replacing was the bushing at the front of the thrust arm - all other parts were basically fine, but I replaced them anyway.


The noise is a dull rattle, not a single clunk. It only happens when going over a bump (so I would normally suspect a suspension issue), but I'm beginning to suspect the inner CV joint. I can pull the axle in and out a bit, and it makes a clunk when I do so. Usually CV joints make noise when decelerating which is why I looked at suspension first. I can now make a slight clunk when "stutter stopping" at low speed.


Anyone know how to diagnose an inner CV joint?

A **long** time ago I recall a thread where someone had a noise that was traced to a bad few welds in the body/strut tower area. I think. Anyone else recall?

Long shot... But did you tighten number 3 enough? Not sure how much movement would be there if it were "loose." Long shot... And you've done the job twice so unlikely you didn't tighten it both times.

Edit: wouldn't hurt to check torque values on all the fasteners involved actually. Fairly common to have to go back in after a week or two and retorque.

I torqued all fasteners (including #3) with a torque wrench. The first thing I did was to retorque everything. Nothing had come loose. There is no evidence of the shock coming loose from the lower holder, like paint scraping or a dust line. Also, it took quite a bit of prying that holder open to replace the shock.



While we're on the topic of the lower holder, one thing that is interesting is that there is a slight taper at the bottom to receive a rounded-bottom shock body. The OE and KYB shocks have this taper, but the Bilsteins do not. The Bilsteins sit firmly a few mm from the bottom of the mount. I first noticed this when comparing the shocks side by side on my work bench - at first the KYB seemed slightly longer. Note - the rattle was present for both the KYB (tapered) and Bilstein (not tapered) shocks.

I think that the stabilizer bars on my e53 and my e70 have a tendency to make squeaking and/or croaking noises going over speed bumps. Never got around to putting lube on them to see if it would help, as it mostly occurs in the mornings getting my daughter to school. Nor do I know if doing so would be good, bad or indifferent but it would be easy to squirt some wd-40 in there and remove it if need be.

This vehicle continues to make me cry.
Rattling symptoms have gotten worse, and have developed a new companion symptom. If I do a series of stutter stops and starts there is a clunk which sounds identical to the clunking/rattling when I go over stutter bumps. It sounded to me similar to what a loose brake pad would sound like, or perhaps a worn CV joint with radial play.
I verified that the caliper and carrier is secure, and that there is no play in the pads or caliper. I also replaced the CV axle. Both symptoms the start/stop and stutter bump rattling are still there.
When I have the vehicle on jack stands, and I rotate the wheel back and forth quickly, I can hear the clunking. I can even get it to happen with the wheel off by rotating the brake rotor back and forth quickly. Kind of hard to tell if the sound is coming from the wheel side or the diff side of the axle, but it's definitely in that area.

I have a wild a$$ theory that I'd like to run by you guys. When I was replacing the axle the outer splines came out of the hub with virtually no pressure at all - I pressed it out with my finger! Normally they're in there very tight with almost a press fit, requiring a press tool to press the axle out. New axle went in effortlessly, sliding out to full extension with zero effort. I'm wondering if the PO replaced the bearing with an inferior part with really loose tolerances, and the axle is slopping around in the bearing splines. What do you think? Any way to tell if this is the case?

I went through a similar nightmarish front clunk chase ...... thought it was the radiator (clunk was replicable just with tap-braking), checked brakes/pads, radiator, engine mounts, etc etc etc

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...tor-loose.html

After weeks of chasing the culprit, replaced lower control arms -helped but did not completely removed the clunk- I believe the issue is still the #8 part in the diagram which plan to address soon.

#8 and #10 can create noises when they deteriorate. One thing I didn’t see mentioned yet is engine mounts. Worn engine mounts can creak and clunk.


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