Rattle from under my 325ic

Sun Oct 01, 2006 8:29 pm

Hi,
I've got a rattle from under my car. Jacked it up but can't seem to find anything obvious that rattles. To be honest, it's more for jingle when I go over bumps. Just put in some lowering springs and it's become a lot more obvious. Replaced the rubbers on the top of the rear shocks but made no difference. Sounds like it's coming from the rear but you never know, it could be the sound bouncing from the front. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Sun Oct 01, 2006 9:09 pm

Had a rattle from mine recently.
Drove me nuts until I happened to look at the wheels.
Turned out to be the BBS centre caps were a sloppy fit.
You got BBS fitted to yours?

HTH

Iain S

Sun Oct 01, 2006 9:58 pm

It had BBS up till last week. Just fitted Alpinas. The jingle is still there. Thanks for the idea though, think it's going to be a long process of elimination! I wonder are there any links that wear out on e30s?

Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:32 pm

Exhaust clamp on the rear of the gearbox?

Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:39 pm

I'll check that tomorrow, thanks

Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:57 pm

Something rolling around in the spare wheel well ?

Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:27 am

I already checked that when I changed the alloys. Did find a screwdriver but wasn't the rattle/jingle that I was after. Thanks, any other ideas?

Mon Oct 02, 2006 12:28 am

alpina center caps

Mon Oct 02, 2006 10:26 am

No, the rattle was there before the alpinas were fitted. Sounds more like a mechanical jingle. Perhaps some rubber bushings have worn out. I just don't know where to look or which ones tend to wear out. Friend of mine mentioned something about link arms wearing out on bimmers. is this true? How would I check this out?

Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:57 pm

iv got the same problem and iv found it look at your rear shocks you have a dust cover over it or shud have i havent as it was split so i ripped it off well on top of the cover it has a metal coller thats most likely on top of ur shock rattlein around

Mon Oct 02, 2006 9:18 pm

The baffles in the rear silencer rattle on mine.

Could also be anit-roll bar bushes???

Mon Oct 02, 2006 11:10 pm

I thought of that too, gilb. Replaced the rubbers at the top of the shock but made no difference. Sabrje, I haven't checked those bushes yet. Worth a try, I'll do it tomorrow. thanks.

Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:58 am

they aint part of the rubbers though its hard to spot because it sits on top of the strut and looks like the top of it

Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:16 am

I have exactly the same rattle ...a sort of metalic jingling the the nearside wheels are going over uneven surfaces..a lot of those in sheffied..as the car is off the road for the duration i was waiting till i got it on a ramp again to have a look..but my current theory is the dust shields on the brakes,,,just a thought as sounds travel in peculiar ways....

Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:23 am

Brake pads rattling around - had this before and it is annoying as hell.

Tue Oct 03, 2006 10:11 am

ah-HA - we have a winner

I have the same noise, and I think Sal is totally right; mine is not a suspension or loaded-metal noise, it's something moving freely - why are there no 'springs' to keep everything tight? Does this mean the last time the pads were replced, someone didn't bother to put something like those metal H-shaped things in?

Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:31 pm

They might just be cheap pads. This was the case when I had the problem,

Sal

Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:46 pm

i too have the same problem. looking for the golden answer

Tue Oct 03, 2006 1:19 pm

Rogue handbrake shoe spring pins rattling inside the drum?

Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:41 pm

Some great ideas, alright. I replaced the brakes all round the car two weeks ago.... no difference. Replaced the rubbers on the top of the shocks... no good. Replaced all the rubbers on the exhaust, to no avail! This is really driving me nuts! Everytime I go over a bump all I can hear is that bloody jingling noise!!! Pretty sure it's at the middle to rear end of the car somewhere. Doesn't jingle till the rear wheels hit the bump. I've had it up on ramps but can't find anything loose. Need to get it to a ramp that's used to test shocks, that way I could be under the car listening for jingling as the shocks go through hell!

Gilb, how would I fix the metal part of the shock if it is rattling?

Sabrje's idea of the anti roller bar bushes sounds like a possibility too.

Anymore ideas??? Fire them at me...

Tue Oct 03, 2006 7:48 pm

you cant as its around the chrome rod part take the shocks off and give them a rattle only take 2 mins wont it

Tue Oct 03, 2006 8:53 pm

Thank god it's not the front shocks, I hated getting them out last Friday night. Haven't removed the rear shocks before but it doesn't look too difficult. Anything I should look out for?

Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:13 pm

Removing the rear dampers is one of the easiest jobs on an E30. Unscrew the two 13mm nuts each side of the top of the damper inside the boot, and undo the 19mm bolt that fixes the bottom of the damper to the hub.
Damper, complete with top mount, will fall off the car.

Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:25 pm

Thanks for that. Sounds like a toddler could do it. Fingers crossed it rattles... I'll have to wait till Thursday night to work on it though, I'm in the middle of doing a major polish job on it... I'll be suicidal by then listening to that jingle!

Thu Oct 05, 2006 10:10 pm

Chris-W wrote:Rogue handbrake shoe spring pins rattling inside the drum?

Chris, you hit the nail on the head! Thanks a million. No more rattles or jingles. You can't imagine the relief from solving this...

Turned out to be a fairly simple fix. Removed the wheels, calipers and then the disks. underneath you'll find the end of the handbrake cable that works itself just loose enough to jingle a little. Two new springs, problem solved.

Supposedly, this is quite a common little fault on e30 cars so anyone with a mysterious jingle at the rear should check this out first.

Thanks for all your ideas, much appreciated. This forum rocks!!!