Loud clicking

[Hypr5]

Hello guys, my 1990 525 is nothin but problems today! anyway....

I went to go back out of my garage after checking plugs + wires because of a stumble at 2k rpm and I hear "CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK" from underneath th ebeast. Well, I have someone help me find where it's coming from and its from the back of the car, underneat - around where the differential is located. (or so it seems) but it only does this under weight. With the car jacked up and in drive, mash the gas.. nothing. Drop it back down and heres the noise again. Not constant either, sort of intermittent, but occurs VERY VERY VERY often.

Any ideas guys?

Thanks a million.

[Hypr5]

Hey guys - the noise is totally gone so I can not check to see if its the CV's. I did get it on jackstands and got the car to "100mph" and played with several RPM ranges and nothing back there looks off.

However - the driveshaft's center bearing (the rubber all around it) is cracked in several places and you can "shake" the driveshaft by hand. Is this whats causing the vibrations? What do you guys think? Medium pressure with my thumb can move the driveshaft up and down.

[bimmerd00d]

center bearing is shot. replace ASAP so you dont have to replace the driveshaft!!! do the flex guibo while you're in there if it hasn't been done yet.

[Hypr5]

center bearing is shot. replace ASAP so you dont have to replace the driveshaft!!! do the flex guibo while you're in there if it hasn't been done yet.

I have an auto - so from what I hear theres no flexdisc.
As for the center bearing, It's a lot of money - I'd hate for it to NOT be the problem. Is it just totally abnormal on these cars to be able to wiggle the shaft?

[Bill R.]

alot from person to person....You can always move the driveshaft up and down even with brand new rubber on the center bearing... Its a question of how hard..And typically when the center bearing goes the rubber is torn out completely not just a few cracks. Odds are its ok.... by the way its a really really bad idea to run the rear wheels unsupported up to 100... The cv's aren't really happy at that extreme angle...Bmw specs that if you run it on jackstands you support the rear suspension so its loaded, so that the cv's are a an angle closer to normal running conditions.








I have an auto - so from what I hear theres no flexdisc.
As for the center bearing, It's a lot of money - I'd hate for it to NOT be the problem. Is it just totally abnormal on these cars to be able to wiggle the shaft?

[Hypr5]

I understand that its not a good idea, but I really have no real way to test the CV. I figured that if it was bad I'd see it. Anyway... After reading all of this it does seem like the center support is NOT my main problem here.

I'm absolutely confused - as there is no visual cues of anything being bad except for the cracks in the center support rubber.

Well thanks for the help guys.

[Bill R.]

raised it up and ran it at a low speed also... I seem to recall that his noise went away and that the theory was that by running it at low speed at these extreme angles it redistributed some of the cy joint grease so that a dry bearing now gets lube... perhaps something similar happened to yours.






I understand that its not a good idea, but I really have no real way to test the CV. I figured that if it was bad I'd see it. Anyway... After reading all of this it does seem like the center support is NOT my main problem here.

I'm absolutely confused - as there is no visual cues of anything being bad except for the cracks in the center support rubber.

Well thanks for the help guys.

[Hypr5]

at 130k miles, should the center bearing show wear as I have explained or do you guys think something has caused it to wear out like this? Since it is crakced I figure its a good idea to replace it even though it's kind of expensive.

Thanks

[bimmerd00d]

center bearing is like $75, where's the expensive part?!?!?! get out that toolkit ;)

http://www.bmaparts.com/item.wws?mfr=FEBI&sku=BM017530&price=75.86&orpartno=1104437&cookieID=1F303IFP51F303J708&drillid=9&image=http%3A%2F%2F129%2E33%2E93%2E226%2Fwebapp%2F wcs%2Fstores%2Fservlet%2Fimc%2Fimages%2Ftn%2F26121 226723%2Ejpg

[Hypr5]

It's just expensive to have nothing that I feel fixed. It's like almost $100 and i'll never know the benefit of it. lol.

The car is on ramps / stands and everything is apart, I just wish I knew what was making it shake before I go changing out parts.

[Bill R.]

the ujoints on the driveshaft are worn also, Also there is a cv at the differential end of the driveshaft, it can also be bad.. at 130k any or all of these can be bad. Your inspection will have to determine which is bad or not.





















at 130k miles, should the center bearing show wear as I have explained or do you guys think something has caused it to wear out like this? Since it is crakced I figure its a good idea to replace it even though it's kind of expensive.

Thanks

[RobPatt]

...but isn't that half the fun of ownership? "..well I'm not sure if that was the problem or not, but one thing I do know for sure is that it won't be a problem in the future...". guess I'll try something else they're all learning experiences.... and many times still cheaper than $80/hr labor, instead you got a new part installed. (how I try to convince myself and rationalize it out...) Have fun - Rob. '93 525ia mostly sound.

It's just expensive to have nothing that I feel fixed. It's like almost $100 and i'll never know the benefit of it. lol.

The car is on ramps / stands and everything is apart, I just wish I knew what was making it shake before I go changing out parts.

[Hypr5]

...but isn't that half the fun of ownership? "..well I'm not sure if that was the problem or not, but one thing I do know for sure is that it won't be a problem in the future...". guess I'll try something else they're all learning experiences.... and many times still cheaper than $80/hr labor, instead you got a new part installed. (how I try to convince myself and rationalize it out...) Have fun - Rob. '93 525ia mostly sound.

Yeah, thanks. I guess it is still cheaper than the dealers work which is $150/ hr around here. Anyway, I guess since it is in question, I'll have a really hard time finding anything else without replacing it. Now I'm just worried that I'm gonna replace it and it's gonna get shot really soon because something made it wear out. Oh well. We'll see. Thanks everybody.