Possible Suspension Problem

[AshleyT]

Hi. I have a 728i E38 (Y reg) which has done about 50K milles. It runs perfectly apart from a noise (in the suspension I think) which has developed over the past year. The noise seems to come from the near side front suspension and it is particularly noticeable when driving in town traffic with slow driving and lots of speed changes and stop-starts. The noise sounds like creaking and clunking. However it is not consistent and I would say that repeating the same journey the noise would occur on about half the trips.

Does anyone have any ideas what this noise could be? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, AshleyT.

[dubiez]

It could be coming from the shock absorbers top mount. They have a bearing in them that allows the shock absorber to rotate with the wheel. They get stiff over time and give a clunking noise when it gets moving. The part can be obtain from a BMW dealer, it's not expensive (part #9. Fairly easy to change too, just look for a write-up on how to change shock absorber.

[AshleyT]

Hi Dubiez,
Thanks for that advice, it could certainly explain why the noise happens inconsistently. I will look into it.
Thanks,
AshleyT