» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | | | | 03-21-2010, 10:55 PM | #1 | Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 44 | Installed sway bars, now noise from rear. :( Hi all. I installed eibach sway bars on my car and I'm getting a clunking noise from the rear. The noise is only heard when I go up or down any slope. I didnt change anything before I installed them so I was wondering if you guys can let me know what I should reinforce or upgrade to fix the problem. Thank you Last edited by former ti owner; 03-21-2010 at 10:59 PM. | | | 03-22-2010, 02:03 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Elizabeth City, NC Posts: 3,877 | Did you replace the endlinks? Everything torqued correctly? __________________ ~Dave~ 98 328ti Morea Grun slicktop 11 128i space gray slicktop 13 JGC WK2 Deep Cherry Search | RealOEM | | | 03-22-2010, 02:22 AM | #3 | Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 44 | Yeah the sway bars came with new end links and the bolts were tightened correctly. One thing I noticed though. I had the rear set really stiff before. When I loosened it, the noise got much much louder. | | | 03-29-2010, 05:21 PM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Denver Posts: 111 | Did you lube the bushings really well? What kind of noise? | | | 03-30-2010, 03:37 PM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Earth Posts: 178 | Rear sway isn't installed backwards right? (if it's even possible) I just know the stock one has a bump to clear the diff mount.. And by loosening the rear I am assuming you mean the swaybar, moving it to the outer holes? | | | 03-31-2010, 04:50 PM | #6 | Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 44 | No actually I did not lube the bushings so i'll try that. The noise made me think there was something in my trunk when I first heard it. It's gotten really bad now. When I do a sudden turn to avoid a pothole, go down a ramp to a straight road, and now even when I brake or accelerate. | | | 03-31-2010, 04:59 PM | #7 | Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Columbia MD Posts: 215 | If you have a rattle/clunk suspension sound from the back, the first and most important thing to check is your upper shock mounts. The OEM parts suck- they need to be upgraded, especially if you have upgraded any other suspension parts. (I put in brand new OEM mounts last summer when I put in new Bilsteins. By December they had failed.) There is really not a lot about the swaybar that can make sound. If you have it in right, I expect that's not your problem. But a stiffer swaybar could certainly aggravate shot shock mounts.... __________________ *Except 318ti '97 318ti M-Sport '95 M3 BMWCCA | | | 03-31-2010, 05:08 PM | #8 | Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 44 | Thank you i'll check the shock mounts too. Do you know of any other brands that I should look at that make shock mounts for the 318ti? | | | 03-31-2010, 10:37 PM | #9 | Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Columbia MD Posts: 215 | I replaced mine with the USM's from the E46 M3. They're the beefiest OEM part that BMW sells (and will fit all E46/E36/E30), and they're supposed to be suitable for upgraded shocks. I'm going to keep an eye on them, I only installed them because they were the quickest option to get in hand. UUC sells an upgraded version which I think may be better still, and Rogue Engineering apparently makes the best. If the E46 ones fail, that's probably my next upgrade. Make sure that you use an enforcer plate with your USM's. BMW made these for the Z3, and they are an absolutely necessary upgrade for the ti (and other E36s). They can be had from Pelican etc, and several aftermarket companies (including UUC and Rogue) make their own also. If not used, the sheet metal that the USMs bolt into has a way of tearing- not good. I did not notice that the USMs were deteriorated until I had the car up on a lift one day with the rear wheels hanging. A look into the wheel wells with a good light showed that the mountings were separating. I never would have suspected that a set of five month old mounts would fail- but it did finally explain the clunk/rattle from the rear that I hadn't been able to find. __________________ *Except 318ti '97 318ti M-Sport '95 M3 BMWCCA | | | 04-01-2010, 02:12 AM | #10 | Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: asdfasdf Posts: 10,002 | Quote: Originally Posted by rono174 Do you know of any other brands that I should look at that make shock mounts for the 318ti? | I've got some BWSport mounts from Bimmerworld, I haven't been able to test them personally but I've heard good things about them | | | 04-04-2010, 03:15 AM | #11 | Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Halethorpe, MD Posts: 1,028 | Were the end links that came with the bars adjustable for length? If so, did you put them on while the rear wheels were off the ground? My E30 had this same problem with clunking from the swaybar. It was actually a pretty horrible noise. Installing the end links with the rear suspension loaded took care of the problem. I had them adjusted to be too long. I would look into this soon. Mine was bad enough that the links were actually bent and I had to get new ones. | | | 04-09-2010, 05:55 PM | #12 | Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 44 | Found the problem. You guys were right, Sway bar end links are horrible and installed improperly. They're bent. This caused that horrible clunking noise when I turned and went down slopes. | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |