[Smoothound]

Drivers side mostly. I did some searching on here and see that squeaking bushes are quite common. I got underneath and sprayed light oil on every bush I could see and it's still doing it.

So either the bush has totally failed, or it's something else. What do you guys think? Can you help me pinpoint it? Does this sound like a failing bush to you?

I'll be taking it to the stealer soon. Sods law says this will stop when they have it. They couldn't hear the squeaking aircon when I last took it in, so even though it was obvious from the description that a bearing on the main blower was failing, they did nothing, hence the video this time.

OH, and they also lost my towing eye cover and refuse to replace it. Not impressed

[HP Autosport]

Be careful with spraying lubricant on your rubber bushings, it usually does just the opposite and speeds up the detieration of the bushings.

[itsbrokeagain]

most likely the balljoint/bushing at the bottom of the hub. I have replaced 2 already.

[e90pilot]

Originally Posted by Matt@Camber-Toe

most likely the balljoint/bushing at the bottom of the hub. I have replaced 2 already.

Riding the curbs too much?

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by e90pilot

Riding the curbs too much?

That is probably where most of the load is.

[fitchhottie]

My car does the same thing, but only when my e-brake is applied. Dealer says it has something todo with the cables and is completely normal.

[gian335]

car does the same....jus not as severe. its getting annoying. What do i need to do to get this fixxed

[Smoothound]

I'm going to try and book it in with the dealer, it's getting REALLY bad now. I think something has failed in a big way.

[Dynomyte]

Exact same issue, driving me nuts. I am FBO so I cant bring it in...
Keep us posted.

[Smoothound]

The stealer just called : it's the lower ball joint as expected. They're saying over £500 to replace it as it's not covered in the warranty. Even worse, they won't do to work unless I replace all four tyres at the same time - £800.

So I'm looking at £1300 to fix this for a car, supposedly in warranty, that I've only had 9 months.

Are there any DIY guides for these joints?

[Smoothound]

Update : Just spoken to two local garages who have quoted <£50 for the same job. What a joke!

Cooper BMW - AVOID!

I'll never buy a car from Cooper again.

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by Smoothound

The stealer just called : it's the lower ball joint as expected. They're saying over £500 to replace it as it's not covered in the warranty. Even worse, they won't do to work unless I replace all four tyres at the same time - £800.

So I'm looking at £1300 to fix this for a car, supposedly in warranty, that I've only had 9 months.

Are there any DIY guides for these joints?

How far are you from Birds Auto? Give them a call and tell them Harold from HP Autowerks sent you!

[Smoothound]

Originally Posted by HP Autowerks

How far are you from Birds Auto? Give them a call and tell them Harold from HP Autowerks sent you!

A little bit too far away I'm afraid, but thank you very much for the refferal!

I'm off to see a nice man at a local BMW Mini garage, he's estimated £50 per side but he wants to have a look at it on the ramp before he gives a firm quote.

I've had another quote from a ex-Rover dealer (so they're BMW trained) and they've said £42 assuming it's a 1 hour job. Even if it's a 2 hour job, that's still alot less than £500!

Collected the car this morning and the engineer I spoke to actually hinted that they wouldn't be removing the ball joint and pressing in a new one, they would be replacing the whole arm. No bloody wonder it's gonna cost so much!

[Smoothound]

I took the car to local garage : Mad4Mini - run by an ex-BMW mechanic.

He's seen this a few times on 3 and 5 series and says in many cases all that's needed is some lubricant in the right place. As an example he said that one of his mates had a 5 series and had the exact same problem. They lubed up the ball joints and 12 months later it's still fine.

The fix: making a very small hole in the bush, and filling it with grease/lubricant. He spent 20 mins putting the car on the ramps, making the holes, squirty-squirty and back off the ramps again.

He said it might take an hour to a day to start working, but the result was instantaneous. The squeeks are gone

Worst case, we need to replace the joints, he recons this would be <£200 to replace both. Based on £30 for the parts and 1.5 hours labour per side. Seems pretty fair to me.

So, if you're in the Leeds area and need your BMW servicing or repairing, go see Richard at Mad 4 Mini http://www.mad4mini.co.uk/

[Smoothound]

Further update : BMW Dealer has called to say the *will* replace both ball joints under warranty. Bit of a shocker! I never expected that!

They still insist I need 4 new tyres before they will do the work, as their alignment rig won't grip onto tyres with low tread (which still seems weird as every rig I've seen clamps onto the wheel/rim).

Anyhoo, ordered a set of MV3s and a set of rubber as I want to use my 17s with some snow tyres come winter

[TigerJK37]

Originally Posted by Smoothound

I took the car to local garage : Mad4Mini - run by an ex-BMW mechanic.

He's seen this a few times on 3 and 5 series and says in many cases all that's needed is some lubricant in the right place. As an example he said that one of his mates had a 5 series and had the exact same problem. They lubed up the ball joints and 12 months later it's still fine.

The fix: making a very small hole in the bush, and filling it with grease/lubricant. He spent 20 mins putting the car on the ramps, making the holes, squirty-squirty and back off the ramps again.

He said it might take an hour to a day to start working, but the result was instantaneous. The squeeks are gone

Worst case, we need to replace the joints, he recons this would be <£200 to replace both. Based on £30 for the parts and 1.5 hours labour per side. Seems pretty fair to me.

So, if you're in the Leeds area and need your BMW servicing or repairing, go see Richard at Mad 4 Mini http://www.mad4mini.co.uk/

Can you point out where he made the hole to lube? If you can take a picture of it that will be awesome. Thanks!

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by TigerJK37

Can you point out where he made the hole to lube? If you can take a picture of it that will be awesome. Thanks!

+1. I would also like to know as mine is squeaking too.

[mweisdorfer]

Could be the Ball joint or a bushing in the lower toe arm or main arm that holds the spring and shock.

Both of those can be really hard to get out if they are frozen in there. They also have eccentric bolts/washers, so you'll need an alignment when you replace them.

You can pay the BMW tax and get genuine BMW bushings or get Lemforder, which is the OEM provider.

[Wolf 335]

Originally Posted by Smoothound

I took the car to local garage : Mad4Mini - run by an ex-BMW mechanic.

He's seen this a few times on 3 and 5 series and says in many cases all that's needed is some lubricant in the right place. As an example he said that one of his mates had a 5 series and had the exact same problem. They lubed up the ball joints and 12 months later it's still fine.

The fix: making a very small hole in the bush, and filling it with grease/lubricant. He spent 20 mins putting the car on the ramps, making the holes, squirty-squirty and back off the ramps again.

He said it might take an hour to a day to start working, but the result was instantaneous. The squeeks are gone

Worst case, we need to replace the joints, he recons this would be <£200 to replace both. Based on £30 for the parts and 1.5 hours labour per side. Seems pretty fair to me.

So, if you're in the Leeds area and need your BMW servicing or repairing, go see Richard at Mad 4 Mini http://www.mad4mini.co.uk/

could you tell us where the holes were drilled and what grease was used?

[E60525d]

The noise on mine is getting worse so definitely need to fix it ASAP.

Found a thread here which also suggests making a small hole and lubricating the balljoint, http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=781387

Plus there is a few youtube videos showing the process (albeit not on an E9x)

Im going to try this on the weekend.

[Greyfox]

Okay, for those with a squeak in the rear end.... is your emergency brake on?

I had a squeak when getting in and out of the car from the rear. Open the tailgate and close it, squeak. Drove me absolutely bonkers till one day I got out of the car without the emergency brake on.... no squeak. Sure enough, something had a bit of rust on both sides and when I put the e-brake on the movement would cause it to squeak.

[!LEFTCOAST!]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

Okay, for those with a squeak in the rear end.... is your emergency brake on?

I had a squeak when getting in and out of the car from the rear. Open the tailgate and close it, squeak. Drove me absolutely bonkers till one day I got out of the car without the emergency brake on.... no squeak. Sure enough, something had a bit of rust on both sides and when I put the e-brake on the movement would cause it to squeak.

Thanks for the info! I've been having a squeak coming from my passenger side rear lately. Only audible if pushing or bouncing the rear of the vehicle but very noticeable if doing so. Initial thought was it has something to do with suspension but honestly had no idea and planned to have it looked at. Went outside after reading your post and sure enough 100% gone with the emergency brake disengaged.