[E90Tony]

I did a search for "brake clunk" and couldn't find any threads.

Whenever I put my car in R and back out, when I put it in 1st gear, drive a bit and brake - there will be a audible "CLUNK" sound coming from the back. After that the noise will go away when I brake, unless I go in reverse then forward again. It happens only the 1st time I brake after changing from R to a forward gear. This makes me think that something in the brakes is being shifted out of place when I change direction and gets put back in place (and hence a clunk) when I brake for the first time.

Any thoughts and know what the dealer would do about this issue? I recently changed my suspension and wheels if that makes any difference (don't think it should...) TIA

[bimdaddy]

I've heard that on my car too since day one. Mine comes from the front I think. I hear a very soft clunk when shifting from P to R, or from D to N. Does not do it everytime. My suspension and wheels are stock right now.

[E90Tony]

Mine happens when braking, not during the actual shift...

[e92phreak]

Originally Posted by E90Tony

I did a search for "brake clunk" and couldn't find any threads.

Whenever I put my car in R and back out, when I put it in 1st gear, drive a bit and brake - there will be a audible "CLUNK" sound coming from the back. After that the noise will go away when I brake, unless I go in reverse then forward again. It happens only the 1st time I brake after changing from R to a forward gear. This makes me think that something in the brakes is being shifted out of place when I change direction and gets put back in place (and hence a clunk) when I brake for the first time.

Any thoughts and know what the dealer would do about this issue? I recently changed my suspension and wheels if that makes any difference (don't think it should...) TIA

I had this on another vehicle. I brought it into the dealer and they were able to fix the problem. It came back again a few weeks later and brought it in again. If I find the service bulletin, I will post... but it was for a different make.

[dingobat]

This happened on another car (Lexus) I had once. Annoyed the hell out of me. Although I was assured it was totally normal and nothing to worry about, its still drove me crazy. Never on the 335 though.

[Russell Mania]

here's my experience: 1. The clunk with the shifting is the brake not being fully depressed.. press a little harder on the brake when doing the changes..

2. Whilst braking the problem for me had something to do with the ABS (it is virtually non-existent since I changed out the factory 16 rims..I also noticed that the abs engaged more readily with the 16 rims (annoying so) than with the 18s..

[thekurgan]

Sounds like one of the brake pads is shifting when braking, dealer will be able to figure it out though.

[BK]

Originally Posted by e92phreak

I had this on another vehicle. I brought it into the dealer and they were able to fix the problem. It came back again a few weeks later and brought it in again. If I find the service bulletin, I will post... but it was for a different make.

Originally Posted by dingobat

This happened on another car (Lexus) I had once. Annoyed the hell out of me. Although I was assured it was totally normal and nothing to worry about, its still drove me crazy. Never on the 335 though.

We have this EXACT issue on our 06 Honda Odyssey, and the Honda dealer said it was normal and mumbled something about the Ody's ABS or traction control system. It's not too loud or annoying, but I notice it and have wondered if the dealer is giving us BS. Interesting that other cars have the same thing.

FWIW, I don't have this happen on my E90.

[mds82]

i had this happen to me, Only when i had my 19's on. Once i put the stock wheels back on it was fine... Odd

[achien]

Let us know if/when your auto transmission goes...

Originally Posted by E90Tony

I did a search for "brake clunk" and couldn't find any threads.

Whenever I put my car in R and back out, when I put it in 1st gear, drive a bit and brake - there will be a audible "CLUNK" sound coming from the back. After that the noise will go away when I brake, unless I go in reverse then forward again. It happens only the 1st time I brake after changing from R to a forward gear. This makes me think that something in the brakes is being shifted out of place when I change direction and gets put back in place (and hence a clunk) when I brake for the first time.

Any thoughts and know what the dealer would do about this issue? I recently changed my suspension and wheels if that makes any difference (don't think it should...) TIA

[itsbrokeagain]

mine does it too..particularly on the left front wheel. I pulled the wheel off and checked the pads, all good and everything is tight so I dont bother with it.

[voltron1011]

Every car that I've owned with rear disc brakes does that... It has to do with how the pads are floating in the calipers. Since you drive forward 99.99% of the time, the pads wear in the direction of rotation of the disc. Once you drive in reverse, it pushes the pads out a bit and then they re-seat once you start going forward again. This the clunk that you hear.... It's completely normal on any car with 4WDB (four wheel disc brakes).

[Scobar]

Also when you shift the car into gear most cars with ABS will "test" the ABS control by pulsing the pedal. If you have your foot on the brake at the time you will often hear it.

[BK]

Originally Posted by Scobar

Also when you shift the car into gear most cars with ABS will "test" the ABS control by pulsing the pedal. If you have your foot on the brake at the time you will often hear it.

Interesting. I think this is what the Honda guy said when we asked.

[noro]

Originally Posted by voltron1011

Every car that I've owned with rear disc brakes does that... It has to do with how the pads are floating in the calipers. Since you drive forward 99.99% of the time, the pads wear in the direction of rotation of the disc. Once you drive in reverse, it pushes the pads out a bit and then they re-seat once you start going forward again. This the clunk that you hear.... It's completely normal on any car with 4WDB (four wheel disc brakes).

Right on, the pad sometimes isn't very tight in the holding bracket so it shifts back when you stop in reverse an then shifts forward 1st time you stop going forward.

I wouldn't worry about this at all. One thing that may be worth checking is stand out side of the car and have a friend back the car then stop then forward then stop, if you notice any movement of the wheel within the wheel housing then you may have some sort of a suspension issue, but the chances of that are really small.

[halB]

Originally Posted by voltron1011

Every car that I've owned with rear disc brakes does that... It has to do with how the pads are floating in the calipers. Since you drive forward 99.99% of the time, the pads wear in the direction of rotation of the disc. Once you drive in reverse, it pushes the pads out a bit and then they re-seat once you start going forward again. This the clunk that you hear.... It's completely normal on any car with 4WDB (four wheel disc brakes).

+1

Characteristic of floating calipers!

[ezatnova]

Originally Posted by voltron1011

Every car that I've owned with rear disc brakes does that... It has to do with how the pads are floating in the calipers. Since you drive forward 99.99% of the time, the pads wear in the direction of rotation of the disc. Once you drive in reverse, it pushes the pads out a bit and then they re-seat once you start going forward again. This the clunk that you hear.... It's completely normal on any car with 4WDB (four wheel disc brakes).

Thanks, this makes sense...but, I will say that the prior two cars I've owned with disc brakes all around never did this. Heck, I've actually never driven another car (out of the 100+ I've driven with discs) that's done this. Do you think it didn't do it when it was brand new because the "wear pattern" wasn't biased to "forward motion braking" at that point?
Also, I am pretty sure that once the car is driven a bit and warmed up, I can go from reverse to a forward gear, braking any time in either gear, and NOT have the noise/feeling. It only seems to happen the first time it's moved after sitting a while.
I was almost thinking it could be a little layer of rust somewhere that "pops" loose when the brakes are applied. This would explain why it only happens once, when cold. You know how fast rotors rust...well, it could be the same situation causing this? Just speculation.

[holson]

Originally Posted by halB

+1

Characteristic of floating calipers!

hhhmm I guess this is it... the only other car I've ever had with similarly clunky brakes was a 95 toyota celica..

[GreenThree]

My 328xi clunks, or does a variation of whats being described in this thread - it drives me CRAZY! My car has been in the shop 3 times for this issue, and it still happens unfortunately. When backing into a parking spot, I shift the tranny from drive to reverse. Slowly rolling backwards... As soon as I press the brake: CLUNK! The techs have tried swapping out both axles, the driveshaft, flange (sp?), replacing brake pads and inspecting rotors. No luck. I guess it depends how much I want to persue this issue. But if it is normal and cant be fixed, I suppose there is nothing I can do?

[Deltari09]

hmm... maybe it might be coming from the ABS, because when I go from P>R, it clunk/thuds, or D>N it sometimes thuds. The former is a self-check of the ABS if i'm not mistaken, but I'm not sure about the D>N.

[Hyper_545i]

The same happens on my E60 (545i).

[ChuckBMW3]

My 328i does the same thing, however, the noise definitely comes from the front. It is identical to how GrennThree described it.