Ticking noise - BMW Forum

warrior spirit · 03-14-2009, 05:15 AM

Dear friends

when i drive on road full of holes or when one of front wheels go in a hole i hear ticking noise (like metal pieces ticking) the sound comes from the front side or between wheels,
i cheked the wheels and had look under the car and found nothing...

can anybody help me ............... i dont like strange sounds on my BM

marti5 · 03-14-2009, 07:49 AM

Now thats a hard one to diagnose, could be one of a 100 things!!! suspension or as simple as a stone on the inside of the rim, suppose you could get her up in the air and check all the suspension joints or in maybe one of your back plates loose.

rashid · 03-14-2009, 12:57 PM

I had experienced almost the same sound & it turned out to be the steering rack. There is no leak but only this clicking noise when drving on a rough road. Replacing the rack is too expensive & thus I have to live with this noise for four years (since 2005)... Now I start getting another noise when turning the steering wheel sometimes & I am still investigating on that.

CosmosBlack · 03-14-2009, 02:55 PM

It's hard to know what you're trying to describe by "ticking"
Ticking would mean a continuous sound, as in the clock ticking....

One thing that is overlooked though, when it comes to annoying noises when going over bumps or rough surfaces for E39's.....check your headlight housings. There are some white plastic pieces that hold them in place, used for leveling adjustments (I think, if I remember correctly, it's been a while). They tend to break, and the headlights will move/vibrate when the car go over rough surfaces.

Good Luck.

rashid · 03-15-2009, 01:26 AM

I think he mean "clicking noise under the car", which I think due to the suspension, as marti said. My experience on the same problem is also summarised above. The suspension system of BMW is complecated & has number of joints & parts.

Headlight housings can make noise even on normal road when it hit the air (I belive) ..

warrior spirit · 03-15-2009, 03:02 AM

Sorry friends for my bad describtion
but the ticking comes from under the car and its not the suspension, i raised the car in the air and cheked everything there and found nothing.
the ticking comes only when going on rough road and its like a pieces of metal jump in a can, or the sound of 2 metal pipes touching ...

rashid · 03-15-2009, 03:23 AM

I would say it is the steering rack, get it checked & let me know ..

Where are you located & which car do you have?

warrior spirit · 03-15-2009, 03:54 AM

thnx Rasheed

i'm in Syria, i have 2003 E39 520i, how i can chek the steering rack??

rashid · 03-15-2009, 04:34 AM

Go to the mechnic but get it confirmed by another one before you do anything becuase this problem is shady & hard to diagnose as said by marti. If the steering rack is ok then, check the bushes & the arms.

forum's experts, correct me if am wrong pls.

EnginE34 · 04-03-2009, 11:08 PM

Dont know much about E39's but on the E34's that type of noise comes from the steering column nut which after a bit of time starts to loosen and causes a little bit of play and also when going over bumps moves slightly and makes the same noise as described. Don't know if the connection still exists on the E39's but might be worth checking out. If you take the bottom cover from under your console you should be able to see the nut, you can just r grab it and shake it and you will feel the movement and the noise will come through as well. Link below shows how to do it on an E34.

BMW E34 Website : Steering play

Hope it helps.

warrior spirit · 04-04-2009, 02:23 AM

thanx friend,
but the noise comes from outside the car and under it, i cant hear it when the windows r closed .

wish u luck

miro1969 · 04-09-2009, 10:17 AM

I Had similar problem in me 2000 528i, mechanic found play on the steering rack, so to avoid spending too much i got another used one(from autowrecker) and replace it.
Noise went away but after some time(not really long like we talking mayby 1500kM i start hearing the same noise, not as bad as it use to be but it is there when going over the bump. So not sure if replaced part is going bad (is it possible that it goes from good to bad in matter of approximatelly 2000KM)? or is it something else that I should check?

Also, one thing I have noticed before replacing steering rack was vibration in steering wheel when driving between 80 and 90KM/h). Vibration is gone after rack has been replaced.