Possible Suspension Problem?

[Driverk]

It seems as though everytime I go over a small dip in the road or a speed bump, my front suspension makes a horrible noise that sounds as if it is about to break apart. BTW, I have a 1996 328is. Any help would be much appreciated!

[bigred318]

i would jack up my car. take my wheel off and take some pics to post up on the forum, maybe we can see what is going wrong... just a though, or maybe you can see what is going wrong.

Do you have stock suspesion of aftermarket? if its not oem maybe its hitting something if the car is to low.... maybe your shocks are going out and its depressing to far, all just thoughts

David

[BlantonG13]

What kind of a noise? There are a lot of them that can be different problems...If you can better explain the noise, we can help you a little better. Also...how has the car been riding? Is it wobbly or bumpier or anything like that? Any shaking, etc?

[Driverk]

Originally posted by BlantonG13@Dec 20 2004, 02:43 PM
What kind of a noise? There are a lot of them that can be different problems...If you can better explain the noise, we can help you a little better. Also...how has the car been riding? Is it wobbly or bumpier or anything like that? Any shaking, etc?

[snapback]254834[/snapback]

It still has the stock suspension. It sounds like a rough, scratching, screeching noise. During normal driving, there seems to be a little more 'play' in the suspension. A little more roll and dive. I am planning on upgrading to Bilstein dampers and ACS springs soon, but I'm having to spend money on tires this week and brakes at all 4 corners next week. ghead

I bought the car 2 months ago. It only had 67,000 miles on it. I'm going to start my real mods in January and I'm going to go with ACS for the majority of it.

[BlantonG13]

New dampers and springs should make a big difference. Those just sound like wear and tear noises by the way you describe them. You may want to have all the suspension bushings checked out too. A great suspension Mod would be to have all the bushings replaced for urethane. The access rolling and "dive" you say does sound like a strut problem, like one or more of the struts may have lost compression. That could allow for some of the noises you hear. Thats some pretty good mileage for a car that old. Goodluck with your problems, welcome, and enjoy the ride!

[thekid]

yep needs struts and maybe bushings. Springs should be fine, I don't think springs ever really go bad unless driven with blown struts for a long time. Or you Can just use it as an excuse to go ahead and start your modding.