Clickin noise from wheel/lumping in steering wheel

[m5james]

I can feel from a stop up to about 30MPH a bumping in the steering wheel, almost like if I was driving over a little turtle in the road, on just one side. It has also gotten worse now to where between 45-80MPH intermittently I can feel the WHOLE car shake to the point where the passenger seat moves in rhythm. I put the car up on ramp just now, all the suspension parts look fine, but I know it could probably use a rebuild with new bushings. One funny thing that I noticed though is that when grabbing the wheel on the passenger side and pushing in and out I can her a metallic ticking noise....wheel bearing maybe?

[shogun]

Check the drive shaft. Maybe the center bearing or flex disk
http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/Maintenance/Transmission/CenterBearing.htm

[m5james]

Check the drive shaft. Maybe the center bearing or flex disk
http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/Maintenance/Transmission/CenterBearing.htm

It is DEFINATELY from the front. I've had to replace the center guibo in the M5, and this is definately not the same feeling. From the tickin noise and shuddering unless I get to certain speed or shaking the wheel around, I am getting the strong feeling it is a wheel hub bearing :(

[shogun]

http://shrubbery.student.utwente.nl/sean750/front_wheel_bearing/ReplacingFrontWheelBearing.htm

If it is the front wheel bearing, you should be able to feel the temp difference on both sides.

[m5james]

http://shrubbery.student.utwente.nl/sean750/front_wheel_bearing/ReplacingFrontWheelBearing.htm

If it is the front wheel bearing, you should be able to feel the temp difference on both sides.

This is GREAT info, thank you sir!! Can you eloborate so I can check tomorrow as being hotter, you mean the wheel in the center will be hotter due to the friction, correct?

[shogun]

See the description on Sean's page:
Problem : whining or howling noises from the front that become louder as you increase speed, grind noises when turning the wheel of your car by hand (jacked up). Of course in my case I had a slightly different phenomenon: rattling noises from the front (like a loose shock absorber) while driving, that disappeared making a left turn, and become louder making a right turn. And no, the wheel bearing was not the first thing I thought of. A slight grinding noise when I turned the wheel by hand pointed at last at the bearing, after I checked the entire suspension and numerous other components
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It all depends on the degree the bearing is already damaged.
A bad tire can create a speed dependent noise leading you to believe it is a failing wheel bearing. As a rule, not a bad idea to swap tires front and back from the wheel suspected of making the noise.
You can also listen to the wheel by jacking up the car and using an electric drill to spin the tire up to speed. Of course will not address the bearing under load when it would generally be the loudest.

[m5james]

See the description on Sean's page:
Problem : whining or howling noises from the front that become louder as you increase speed, grind noises when turning the wheel of your car by hand (jacked up). Of course in my case I had a slightly different phenomenon: rattling noises from the front (like a loose shock absorber) while driving, that disappeared making a left turn, and become louder making a right turn. And no, the wheel bearing was not the first thing I thought of. A slight grinding noise when I turned the wheel by hand pointed at last at the bearing, after I checked the entire suspension and numerous other components
-------------------------
It all depends on the degree the bearing is already damaged.
A bad tire can create a speed dependent noise leading you to believe it is a failing wheel bearing. As a rule, not a bad idea to swap tires front and back from the wheel suspected of making the noise.
You can also listen to the wheel by jacking up the car and using an electric drill to spin the tire up to speed. Of course will not address the bearing under load when it would generally be the loudest.

Ya, mine would be more similar to the rattling/vibrating while driving. I ran my hands around the tire to feel for any lumps, broken belt feelings, etc. I will try the tire rotation for the heck of it, but since I can hear a tickin noise when I moved the wheel from the top and bottom at the side of the car, I am pretty sure the tires are ok.

[shogun]

Here is the online vendor list
http://home.earthlink.net/~hainesinutah/bmwvendors/