Put the summer tires on yesterday, and checked pad play side to side. Basically the same. Swapped pads side to side anyway. Pretty sure it's not pad rattle.

All I can say is that it seems the rattle is about 3/4 of what it used to be since I replaced the front drive shaft. I'm worried that it is in the transfer case, as you can cause a rattle by moving the front drive shaft up and down at the transfer case. May try rigging up a go-pro and flashlight in there somehow and go for a drive, but probably won't get to this for a few weeks. Sorry @Ard, but you'll have to find something else to amuse yourself with while self-isolating :-)

@LightlyToasted, is your rattle like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW6r4r3WL0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVEh2y_wIuA

I spent 6 months about a year ago just like you. I replaced EVERYTHING in the suspension except the springs :) In my case, my front lower thrust arms failed a few months into their life. I had just replaced them so I started convinced it wasn't them. I replaced half the suspension, was ready to push the truck of the cliff, but before I did brought it to BMW. They charged me $700 to tell me to replace the other half of the stuff I hadn't replaced and were useless (later they gave me 300 bucks store credit back at least).
Eventually i got new lower thrust arms and that resolved the issue.
https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ion-noise.html

I know exactly how you feel. It's terrible and I'm sorry for you right now, but soon you will be over it and then you can replacing your timing cover gaskets, valve cover gaskets, oil thermostat oring, valve stem seals, coolant pipe and valley pan just in time for the thrust arms to fail again... :)

Wow... That is eerily close to mine... and it started a few months after replacing my thrust arms. Was it the bushing that failed or the ball joint? I'd think if it was the bushing I'd have the wobble in the steering wheel like the first time. Thanks for the input.

It was the bushing. I had no wobble in the steering wheel, everything felt fine, just this terrible noise :)

The core of the bushing was torn away and the noise was the bolt ratting on the metal sleeve through the bushing.

The TRW arms i got were just bad. Early int he 6 months the noise was just from the left. I didn't realize it at the time but after finally solving it I recall being on a road trip to southern CA and hit the brakes hard on the freeway when traffic came to a standstill and heard a clunk. This is when the thing tore but in my head I thought there's no way it was the thrust arm, it's brand new (and was installed correctly with car with weigh on wheels). About 3-4 months into the debug, i was constantly replacing parts and testing things (aggressive breaking) and somewhere in there the right side tore and then all of sudden i had the noise on both sides and thought I was going crazy :)

It was a terrible 6 months, my knees and fingers are still recovering, suspension work is hard on the body!

You want to know the best part?
I replaced my older thrust arms with the TRW arms preventatively, i had no issue, just had a few years on them so swapped them to avoid any issues... terrible decision...

I think TRWthrust arms were taken off fcpeuro

OMFG, that's it! That's the rattle! I'll check out the bushing this weekend. That would be especially disappointing as I've just recently replaced that part. If it turns out to be the culprit, there's a case of craft brew coming your way.



Oh, and I've already done all of the gaskets on the top of the engine, and the oil cooler thermostat gasket. And I just got through replacing the rod bearings on my E46 M3. BMWs are killing me...

Still there unfortunately:
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-31126773949-1

My reply from November hehhe

I actually just replaced a set of thrust arms after only 20k miles or so. The left side had some play. The 20”s and rough roads really take a beating on these bushings. With the lifetime warranty from fcp, it cost me about $50 for a new set. Shipping for the old parts was about $40 via ups.

I might go with power flex urethane next time.
https://www.google.com/search?q=pff5...&client=safari

https://syncrodesignworks.com/produc...nt-thrust-arms

@SF2000x5 was I that poor bastard you referred to? :)

Haha yessir. Hope this fixes the rattle for Lightlytoasted.