Exhausted all options - Rear Wheel Clicking

[Suhb]

Hey guys. I've been trying to diagnose a clicking from the rear that has been driving me crazy for the better part of a year.

Last fall I did a brake service on my car. I changed out the rotors for Zimmerman blanks, akebono pads, and I replaced the 128i calipers with 328i calipers and installed SS brake lines.

During removal of the old rotors, despite lowering the handbrake, the parking brake discs were holding on to the rotor which I had not noticed after close to 15-20m of banging on the rotor. So I manually loosened the adjustment of the parking discs and rotor came loose. Maybe it's important information for helping diagnose the issue so I thought I'd mention it.

Ever since that day, the rear right, the same side with the hard-to-remove rotor has been making a rotational clicking noise. Here's what I have noted so far:

- One click per rotation
- applying the brake does not make it go away
- pulling on the handbrake in motion does not make it go away
- dropping the car in neutral does not make it go away
- The noise sometimes is not present, but is present most of the time
- It is quieter sometimes
- When the rear of the car is lifted, spinning the wheel by hand makes a very faint scraping noise once per rotation, but no click
- When rear is lifted, having the car engaged in first gear and letting the wheel spin produces the same faint scraping noise, but no click
-Only when the wheel is on the ground and loaded and rolling is there a click

Things I tried:

- Brake bed in procedure multiple times
- Disassembled and reassembled the rear brakes, rechecked every contact point
- I have since replaced the entire parking brake assembly except the cable.
- I have tightened the parking brake shoes, almost to full lock and slightly off
- I have loosened the parking brake shoes, to the furthest possible setting
- and every other adjustment in between, probably adjusted it a dozen times now
- Bent away dust shield, adjust dust shield, doesn't look to be the culprit
- I have checked the cv joint for play, no play
- I have checked the wheel lugs for contact with the parking assembly, no contact
- I checked for play in the rim for signs of a bad wheel bearing, no play
- I threw in the towel and took it to a shop to get it diagnosed, they heard the click but couldn't find the source

I am losing my sanity chasing this noise. If anyone has any idea what it could be, or anything I should check, please, PLEASE chime in and let me know and I will check it myself or get it checked somewhere.

Some photos of the parking assembly, though I'm not even sure anymore if its the culprit. The wear you see on the contact points of the shoes are from me pulling the handbrake in motion to diagnose the clicking.

[Ric in RVA]

Wheel bearing?

[juld0zer]

Faint scraping noise while rotating is the handbrake shoe touching the rotor hat/drum. Eventually it will wear the shoe and the noise will stop. Sometimes it can be caused by an out of round rotor hat.

Id suggest swapping the discs side to side but use an 80 grit sandpaper to clean up the rotor hub bore and also the surface which mates with the hub. Then before mounting the disc, wire brush the hubs to remove rust and deposits, then clean with brake cleaner.

The click i have a feeling is the Akebono pads. There is a known issue where the backing plate is not the right size and rattles in the carrier

[Suhb]

Thanks guys
The slight rubbing noise is still there even when the shoes are adjusted to their furthest position to where the handbrake won't lock that wheel. Thanks for the suggestion though, I'm going to go ahead and clean the inside and contact points.

I'm in the process of getting OEM pads back in there. See if that fixes it before moving to wheel bearing/axle

[asbrr]

Do you have spacers? I have BMS spacers and there is a clicking very similar to what you are talking about.

After doing all sorts of research I think I got it solved: The surface/face of wheel that mates to the hub (or spacers if you have them) collects rust over time and becomes uneven. When the wheel is loaded the movement comes out as this clicking noise.

I solved this by taking the wheels off, and thoroughly cleaning the surface that meets the hub. First started with some steel wool and then even a medium coarsness sandpaper. Once I had blown through the light surface rust, making sure it was a flat surface still, I cleaned everything up and re-installed the wheels. Voila! No more clicking!!!

This sounds EXACTLY like what you have....from what I understand it's quite common with spacers, I can assume it could happen without them as well.

[Dmak]

Originally Posted by Ric in RVA

Wheel bearing?

This. You. Might have damaged the bearing when hammering the shit out of the rotor. Or the hub might be damaged from the hammering too.

[Suhb]

Wow. Asbrr, I think you just solved my problem. I knew spacers had such symptoms but I don't have any, and my lugs are stock so I never thought twice about it. But the click has been gone for 3 days now and counting.

Months and months of chasing this noise and it was in the unlikeliest place. It feels good to drive the car again with my sanity intact :cheers:

This is why I love 1addicts.

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by Suhb

Wow. Asbrr, I think you just solved my problem. I knew spacers had such symptoms but I don't have any, and my lugs are stock so I never thought twice about it. But the click has been gone for 3 days now and counting.

Months and months of chasing this noise and it was in the unlikeliest place. It feels good to drive the car again with my sanity intact :cheers:

This is why I love 1addicts.

Awesome - glad to help! I've received tons of help here over the last couple of years, least I could do.

One thing to note, I had clicking on both sides of the car initially, did the procedure I described above and solved the problem. But because I did one side more thoroughly than the other, I got some mild clicking that came back on the driver's side. Only from the rear because that was the first wheel I did. Going to go back this weekend and sand it down / clean it properly and should be fine. The passenger side has been nicely quiet for 5+ weeks, including a track day so I'm pretty confident that this solved the issue.

Just keep that in mind if you get some clicking that comes back, you probably need to revisit and be a bit more thorough.

Enjoy the silence

[juld0zer]

Originally Posted by Suhb

Wow. Asbrr, I think you just solved my problem. I knew spacers had such symptoms but I don't have any, and my lugs are stock so I never thought twice about it. But the click has been gone for 3 days now and counting.

Months and months of chasing this noise and it was in the unlikeliest place. It feels good to drive the car again with my sanity intact :cheers:

This is why I love 1addicts.

You use standard length bolts with spacers???

[Suhb]

I had no spacers and stock bolts. I think there was a little bit of excess anti seize on the hub/wheel that caused the clicking. These cars must have super tight tolerances.

At least now I know, and hopefully everyone else does too. Keep your wheel mounting surfaces clean!

[Suhb]

After a little bit of no noise, the other day, I put my stock wheels back on and noise returned.

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by Suhb

After a little bit of no noise, the other day, I put my stock wheels back on and noise returned.

Did the stock wheels have clean/smooth mounting surfaces? Still have the spacers? I've had pretty consistent results once I got the surfaces cleaned and flattened out....

At least we know we are on to something here, it's not anywhere else in the hub etc....

[Suhb]

Well, now I'm embarrassed I didn't find this sooner. Took the car in for an alignment at a reputable BMW shop, asked them to check for the noise.

Mounting plate for the parking brake assembly (not the shield for the rotor), had a small bend and was rubbing the inside of the rotor. Noise is gone and may weird noises never return. I am happy. Thanks to everyone who chimed in.

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by Suhb

Well, now I'm embarrassed I didn't find this sooner. Took the car in for an alignment at a reputable BMW shop, asked them to check for the noise.

Mounting plate for the parking brake assembly (not the shield for the rotor), had a small bend and was rubbing the inside of the rotor. Noise is gone and may weird noises never return. I am happy. Thanks to everyone who chimed in.

Haha, awesome....

[gorilla]

Originally Posted by Suhb

Well, now I'm embarrassed I didn't find this sooner. Took the car in for an alignment at a reputable BMW shop, asked them to check for the noise.

Mounting plate for the parking brake assembly (not the shield for the rotor), had a small bend and was rubbing the inside of the rotor. Noise is gone and may weird noises never return. I am happy. Thanks to everyone who chimed in.

Reviving this old thread because I think I have the same issue. Trying to understand which mounting plate for the parking brake was causing the issue for you.

https://www.1addicts.com/forums/show...6#post29453116