Ticking noise again

[Alpha Trion]

Hey guys,

After doing a search and reading the threads that came up.. i still have no answer to my problem.

I have a ticking sound (metallic shitty cv joint sound) in my front left. it comes and goes, today it came louder than usual. Every time i take it to get service to look at it, they can hear but cant find the cause.

Anyone have/ had this issue that can help?

Thanks


-Elee

[MikeVictor]

Where's out coming from exactly?

[dtcoff]

Had the same in my right rear. I'm told it's the brake pad sensor. BMWs have them on left front and right rear. Does it happen more just after light braking?

[Alpha Trion]

Not under braking but when turning right more than anything. Doesnt happen in a straight line. BMW can't pick it, they pulled the whole left front apart. I thought wheel bearing, loose suspension/spring. Can't pick it.

[Raz0s]

Mate, do you mean the clicking sound you get when the car turns.... e.g. if you put the window down late at night in a quiet street and preform a u turn it goes click click click?

I had this when u purchased my car. Start 2010. And the car had the standard runflat's. I took the car to BMW, who pulled apart my brakes etc looking for a cause. They seriously had no idea.

Anyways long story short. I changed my Rims and Tyres and had the fitter do the nuts with a torque wrench (not a rattle Gun) and no more noise....

I cant say exactly what resolved it as i have had my wheels off at BMW since... but still no more noise so I am assuming its either the wheels or runflats?

This topic has been covered for 135i's and 335i's and it doesent seem anyone can pinpoint an exact fix.

['fatboy']

I've had the same noise also when turning (not sure whether it was left or right). You needed the window down and radio off to hear it. Took it to 2 separate dealerships and one denied hearing the noise while the other couldn't find a cause.

In any case, it comes and goes and i haven't heard it for 6 months now...

[Alpha Trion]

It's that loud now that I hear it with windows up! Yes it comes and goes for a couple of months, but it's just louder than ever now. Don't want warranty to run out and have some MAJOR issue.

If my new tyres come today I'll take it to my mates shop to fit and take a look around the left front.

[bfi2906]

Had a similar "clicking" sound on left and right lock. Only able to hear it in quiet carpark. Asked dealer about it when it was in to get solenoid replaced - tech's "couldn't hear it". Took the Master tech to a nearby car park - he heard it.

He had no idea what it was. The SA guessed at it being "pulley related" due to it only happening under load with an amount of lock. No idea whether that's right or wrong.

It's started to get louder (in my mind, anyway), so back she goes again.

[Alpha Trion]

yeah i was thinking its an 'under load' thing that is happening. Keep us posted!

[RadiuM]

I had the same issue, bmw looked at it twice and said it was 'a normal operating noise' so I got it in writing.

Hard to hear but you can hear it in this crappy video I made at the start. If I had my gopro back then I could have mounted it right next to the wheel

I got new tyres at a tyre shop and the noise has now gone away.. so bmw could have been tightening them up too hard, or too loose.

[Alpha Trion]

thats the sound!

My new Michi pilot ss arrived today so tomorrow i'll check it out and report back.

[RadiuM]

ohh yeah, the new tyres I got on the front where non-runflats.

But the wheel's had also previously been pulled off by myself and put back on and the sound was still there

[Alpha Trion]

UPDATE!

So new tyres are on, and there's no ticking sound. We had a good look around trying to work it out checking for loose connections to suspension and found nothing.

All relatively clean and no loose bits. Just cant pick it... must have something to do with the wheel.. when you take it off and put it back on the sound goes.

[bfi2906]

Haven't been around for a while - work and travel been keeping me busy

Sorry to dredge this one up again, but I think we could have solved the "clicking" mystery

Dealer has been trying (guessing) what the problem is, and they've speculated that it's everything from pullies, to powersteering pump, to suspension. Every time I've left it with them, they "can't hear the fault", so do nothing. Very frustrating having taken people out and demonstrated it.

Finally, I took the service foreman for a ride this morning, and luckily, it happened as normal. He speculated that it was coming from the rim / tyre, and that with age, some level of movement can develop.

They put the wheel on a tye fitting machine, cleaned the wheel and tyre bead, and put chalk on them. The theory is that it adds some friction and therefore gets rid of the movement.

It seems to have worked - no noise. This seems consistent with others having the problem disappear when they fit new tyres.

Chalk up another minus for RFT's - why do they persist????

Hope this helps someone else.

[Alpha Trion]

Nice work and thanks for bringing up the thread again!

[e82n54]

I have the clicking sound too! It happens when I make a 90 degree turn (left or right) at decent speed like 30 mph. It starts clicking as soon as I turn and stops when I exit the turn. So it only makes the sound under load. I too have to have the windows open and radio off to hear it. I have fairly new Michelin Pilot Super Sports, so I don't think it's related to the tires. I heard it at a track day several months ago on run flats, so it happens with both run flats and non run flats.

[BBK]

I have that sound too... either right or left hand turns at about 90degrees.

[Choclove23]

I have a similar noise on mine, but it only occurs at 1500-2000 rpm (in any gear).
When I was in Sydney a couple of months ago I saw another 130i driving to a set of lights. When he slowed down, his car did exactly the same thing!

From what I have gathered in the Uk forums, it appears to have something to do with the exhaust heat shield being loose, or the rubber getting hard.

...have to get it looked at one day.