[Robin]

I have a minor issue, which is a massive annoyance with my car at the moment.

It's lowered on Bilstein coilovers, not silly low, in fact, it's as high as it'll go on them...

From the nearside front, I have developed a knocking noise. I can't locate it and neither can my work, or BMW themselves.

It does it a low speeds over block paving, or similar surfaces. It's more like a rattle than a clunk, repetitive and quite light.

I just cannot place it, or cure it.

Anyone had a similar problem and know the answer?

Thanks in advance.

[MrDummy]

I know when I had a clunk on my Mazda MP3 it was the rear sway bar bushings, they were not properly fitted around the bar and clamped correctly. However, you say its more of a ticking which might mean it is something else? But since u have coilovers it could be one of them. Are they the adjustable screw down style. I would assume they are?

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by Robin

I have a minor issue, which is a massive annoyance with my car at the moment.

It's lowered on Bilstein coilovers, not silly low, in fact, it's as high as it'll go on them...

From the nearside front, I have developed a knocking noise. I can't locate it and neither can my work, or BMW themselves.

It does it a low speeds over block paving, or similar surfaces. It's more like a rattle than a clunk, repetitive and quite light.

I just cannot place it, or cure it.

Anyone had a similar problem and know the answer?

Thanks in advance.

It might be that you've raised the ride-height too much! If there isn't enough loading on the springs, and you're getting extended wheel travel over bumps and paving stones, the spring might rattle a little bit on the spring perch. I used to get that in very extreme circumstances on my Bilstein kit because I had raised the front height to the max. The cure for me was to install the BMW rough-road kit for the front suspension, which is a set of 20mm high suspension shims (raising the ride height by 20mm) and then lowering the car back down on the coilovers. Zero noise now!

[Robin]

I might try that then. The coilovers came set already for me, I hadn't adjusted them at all, just left them as they were in the box.

Do you have a part number for the rough road kit?

[E92Fan]

Originally Posted by Robin

I might try that then. The coilovers came set already for me, I hadn't adjusted them at all, just left them as they were in the box.

Do you have a part number for the rough road kit?

That's probably why you've got the clunking - you need to have the coilovers properly setup for your car. The setting out of the box is completely wrong, even if someone has supposedly done it for you, as every car is balanced differently.

Part number for the off-road shims is 31306779671. You will need two of these.

However, before you go down this route, get the suspension setup accurately. Give Troy Robinson a call at Northampton Motorsport - 01604 766624. www.northamptonmotorsport.com. He'll be able to setup the suspension properly, corner weight the car and have the alignment reset correctly. If after having done all that the car is too low, then invest in the 20mm off-road shims from BMW.

[creepy coupe]

^^^ Top advice Tony