1995 318 IS.... Weird noise - BMW Forum

jhawth1 · 08-24-2007, 06:52 PM

At Idle I can hear a clunk coming form the tranny, no bad noises coming form the engine and none when I am driving. I only noticed this becasue I left the car running with the AC on ran into a store and when I came out I heard what sounded similar to a bearing noise. it is intermitant and does not seem to matter if I push in the clutch or not. I tried this as a way to try and determine if it is the release bearing or not.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank in advance.

SHAHAB323IS · 08-25-2007, 04:20 PM

sure it's coming from the tranny? doesn't make sense that the transmission would make a clunking noise when the car is stationary, considering it's not moving

Criminal · 08-26-2007, 03:16 PM

Maybe it's coming from the AC belt or Pulley check them.

SGXander · 09-03-2007, 02:41 AM

could be a general shake i know that mine at idle did cause my headlight to shake before i tightened it aswell as my doors (not closed) would shake quite a bit at idle

Numark318i · 09-03-2007, 03:50 PM

maybe check the tranny mounts?

drz · 09-03-2007, 04:44 PM

You need to be a little more specific. I will answer from what I have experienced. It seems to me that you are mentioning two separate things:

(1) The thud from teh tranny That is very often worn transmission mounts. Those are cheap and an easy fix. understeer.com even selss metal reinforcements so that there is no movement of the transmission when you shift out of idle. (This whole paragraph will only be good for you if you have a manual transmission -- it would have been nice of you to specify this information)

(2) The lose bearing sound may be from the A/C compressor. Old E36's have this all the time. The A/C will keep working without a problem (mine has been making this sound for all three years that I have owned the car). It is intermittent, because the compressor will shut off and rest for short whiles. To be certain that this is the sound, do two things: (a) let your car idle with the A/C off. See if you get the sound at all. (b) Let the car idle with the A/C on, and listen closely around teh compressor area, which is at the very front of the engine bay, around the lower right corner (right where the A/C belt tensioner is located).

Best of luck. I apologize if I am way off base.

jhawth1 · 09-03-2007, 05:44 PM

Great advice from all of you. Sorry I was not more specific.It is in fact a manual transmission, and yup it was the AC compressor. I thought for sure it was the release bearing. But it does not make the noise with the AC off.

Once again this site has helped steer me in the right direction.

Much appreciated!