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View Full Version : E34 520i -88, clunk noises from front



Gloomie
04-09-2011, 11:47 AM
Hey guys, its my first post on the forums :)

I've had this beauty for about 2 years now and its ran like a charm. Last autumn the front end started making slight clunk noises when braking or driving into bumps. The problem was caused by the upper control arms (thrust arms?), which I switched on both sides. Over the hard winter the noises returned, this time it was the lower control arms - so I switched them as well last week.

Confident I had now fixed the clunk sounds, I was a bit disappointed to hear the front still clunking on bumps :( The sound appears to be coming from the left side. The best way to hear it is to "pump" the brakes a little from a slow speed, you can clearly hear the clunking.

I was wondering what could it still be? When I took apart the front end to switch the lower control rods, I also thought at least that I checked the other arms/struts connected in the same place, they seemed ok.

What else could be causing the clunky noise? I first thought of the sway bar links, but the ball joints on them seemed ok when I installed the lower arms. Running out of ideas here :p

Bo525i
04-09-2011, 01:22 PM
Engine mounts perhaps?

Tiger
04-09-2011, 04:11 PM
Sway bar links.

Wallabee
04-11-2011, 02:44 AM
I did a replacement of all the bushes and mounts on the front end of my E34 and was disappointed when I had a NEW clunk in the front end after the work. Had me puzzled for a while, until I found that one of the new top shock mounts was making the noise. I replaced it with one of the old ones and the noise disappeared. The bearing in the new one was slipping up and down in the mount.
So take off the plastic caps on the shock mounts and see if you can detect any play in the mounts when you bounce the suspension up and down.

Gloomie
04-11-2011, 07:35 AM
Didn't research where the noises come yet, but I'll check the suggested stuff when I put on the summer tires :)

Thanks for the replies!