[BM3Rrrr]

I notice a clunking sound from inside the vehicle when pulling into or reversing out of my driveway (wheels almost at full lock and car is on a slight incline) Its definitely coming from the front and happens almost every time. During normal street driving everything is fine.

I pulled off the front wheels with the car jacked up, grabbed the lower control arms and other suspension components and wiggled them around and nothing seems loose. I also inspected the bushings that I could see and they seem to look ok (not cracked or blown out)

Is there anything else I could check or any idea of what it could be?

Current suspension: Eibach pro kit w/ Koni yellows, 2010 e90 335i

Cheers

[iqraceworks]

How many miles are on the car? Have you ever replaced any of the front end components?

[BM3Rrrr]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

How many miles are on the car? Have you ever replaced any of the front end components?

115,000 kms, no I haven't replaced any other front end components other then the springs and shocks.

[iqraceworks]

Originally Posted by BM3Rrrr

115,000 kms, no I haven't replaced any other front end components other then the springs and shocks.

Chances are, you have some worn out bushings in the front end. With that many miles, you need to go through everything and see what has slop in it.

[PerfectAce]

First, try to produce the sound manually by bouncing the suspension. Lean on the front fenders and use your body weight to get it moving. Try it with the wheels turned in various directions. By hearing the sound from outside the car you might get better audible clues as to the source.

One possibility that often gets overlooked is your brake pads. Raise the car and take the wheels off. Grab a hold of the caliper with both hands and try to move it up and down along the path of the circumference of the rotor (it'll take some strength as it's heavy and in an awkward position to get good leverage.) A certain brake pad brand (Akebono) is known for having millimetrically undersized pads. The slop between the pads and caliper carrier on which they rest can cause an awful clunking sound as the caliper moves up and down with large (and sometimes small) articulations of the suspension.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by BM3Rrrr

I notice a clunking sound from inside the vehicle when pulling into or reversing out of my driveway (wheels almost at full lock and car is on a slight incline) Its definitely coming from the front and happens almost every time. During normal street driving everything is fine.

I pulled off the front wheels with the car jacked up, grabbed the lower control arms and other suspension components and wiggled them around and nothing seems loose. I also inspected the bushings that I could see and they seem to look ok (not cracked or blown out)

Is there anything else I could check or any idea of what it could be?

Current suspension: Eibach pro kit w/ Koni yellows, 2010 e90 335i

Cheers

Most likely it's your swaybar end links.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by BM3Rrrr

115,000 kms, no I haven't replaced any other front end components other then the springs and shocks.

I vote sway bar end links to. Mine rock back and forth with extremely easy ease and I am started to get clunks on inclines when hitting a bump. Like if I go faster than usual on a speed bump I get clunk.

But my understanding is that it's easy to diagnose your suspension really. Twist and move all components to see if bushings has play or if bushings are leaking black goop under it. Everything should be fairly tight and not have extreme play.

[BM3Rrrr]

I'll check and retighten the sway bar end links and report back

cheers

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by BM3Rrrr

I'll check and retighten the sway bar end links and report back

cheers

Did you already check them for play?

[BM3Rrrr]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

Did you already check them for play?

Not yet, will do it this weekend

[mefferso]

I recently had a popping sound in my front end. The bushing in the wishbone was the culprit.

[feuer]

Originally Posted by iqraceworks

How many miles are on the car? Have you ever replaced any of the front end components?

How is the mileage a determining factor? Is 100k hwy vs 50k city yield same suspension wear or 100k on 3 years old car vs 100k on 10y old car and etc...

[colorado.e9x]

Originally Posted by feuer

How is the mileage a determining factor? Is 100k hwy vs 50k city yield same suspension wear or 100k on 3 years old car vs 100k on 10y old car and etc...

I would imagine the more miles on it the more worn it would be..

[Salzamani]

Originally Posted by BM3Rrrr

Not yet, will do it this weekend

Same issue with my 07 335i E90. I’ve taken the wheels off and looked for a loose suspension a couple times and I couldn’t find it. I’ve replaced my sway bar links 9 months ago and it didn’t fix that issue. Please report back what you find!

[streetpro]

I get quite a lot of noise (or at least I think so) through the front... I suspect the upper shock mounts... but they do not look worn and are intact, no play... I will try to shim/separate them from the metal hats with plastic/hard rubber sheet...

[BM3Rrrr]

I checked the sway bar end links, they were still torqued to spec. One thing I noticed is that I could move them laterally by hand. I assume that's normal as they need to swivel side to side?

I also checked both the control arms, the upper one had about 1mm play in it when I grabbed hold and tried to twist it. Not sure if that warrants replacing them?

It almost seems as thought the popping sound is coming from the top of the motor, like just behind the dash or something though I could be mistaken.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by BM3Rrrr

I checked the sway bar end links, they were still torqued to spec. One thing I noticed is that I could move them laterally by hand. I assume that's normal as they need to swivel side to side?

I also checked both the control arms, the upper one had about 1mm play in it when I grabbed hold and tried to twist it. Not sure if that warrants replacing them?

It almost seems as thought the popping sound is coming from the top of the motor, like just behind the dash or something though I could be mistaken.

If links are clunking it's because one of the two ball joints has play in it.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by BM3Rrrr

I checked the sway bar end links, they were still torqued to spec. One thing I noticed is that I could move them laterally by hand. I assume that's normal as they need to swivel side to side?

I also checked both the control arms, the upper one had about 1mm play in it when I grabbed hold and tried to twist it. Not sure if that warrants replacing them?

It almost seems as thought the popping sound is coming from the top of the motor, like just behind the dash or something though I could be mistaken.

How easy would you say you can swivel the end links? I'm about to replace mine after winter since I can swivel them really easy by hand. I'm pretty sure it should be tight.

Yes they do need to swivel but not by hand that easy. Someone correct/confirm if I'm wrong or not.

[BM3Rrrr]

Originally Posted by TheMidnightNarwhal

How easy would you say you can swivel the end links? I'm about to replace mine after winter since I can swivel them really easy by hand. I'm pretty sure it should be tight.

Yes they do need to swivel but not by hand that easy. Someone correct/confirm if I'm wrong or not.

Mine were easy to swivel as well, I could move them back and forth with two fingers

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by BM3Rrrr

Mine were easy to swivel as well, I could move them back and forth with two fingers

Ok you have the same as me. I wanted to replace them because I noticed how easy play they had and also I am now just starting to get a clunk noise on bumps like speed bumps if I take them a bit quicker than usual.

[mweisdorfer]

Originally Posted by Salzamani

Same issue with my 07 335i E90. I’ve taken the wheels off and looked for a loose suspension a couple times and I couldn’t find it. I’ve replaced my sway bar links 9 months ago and it didn’t fix that issue. Please report back what you find!

You sure the torque settings are correct? Check to see if the power steering rack is loose. 41# for those two bolts.

[BM3Rrrr]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

You sure the torque settings are correct? Check to see if the power steering rack is loose. 41# for those two bolts.

Torque on the sway bar links are 43 ft/lbs
I'll check the steering rack as well. I had it off a few months ago when replacing pre-cat o2's but am almost positive its torqued up.