New here...

[anonymous1]

Hi,

I know this is the 5 series forum - but I have noticed there seems to be more interaction on this one than the 3 series. And overall I have found the great advice given here, seems to apply in the main on the 3.

Back in July I bought myself a BMW 320i SE and so far can't believe the quality of the drive in a car this old. (Believe me I drove a lot of cars while looking and they pretty much felt like trying to drive an ice skating donkey compared!)

I like the idea of working on my own car, beats paying someone for a job you could probably have done yourself. Previously worked on this car and my friends 535i Sport, not been too bad with the advice from here and the willingness to work into the early hours of the morning by the light of the torch on my phone.

So far I have replaced:

Front Control Arm Bushes
Front Control Arms (Which meant the above had been pretty pointless )
Front and Rear Sway links
Idler and tensioner wheels
All discs and pads
Full Service - including 15 year old fuel filter!!!
Rear trailing arm bushes - done by a garage. (One mishap and a snapped carry bolt later)
Exhaust - done by a garage

Still wanted:
New Fiscus Fan coupling
Chip - Anyone know if Mark D'Sylva does an E36 one?
Valve cover gasket
Possibly rear drivers' side wheel bearing - depending on peoples' opinion on the below.
Anything else that rears it's head and I think myself and e34.535i can do!

I was also wondering if anyone could help on the below:

I am experiencing a grinding (Like rubbing two knives together) noise when I go around corners to the right. Doesn't seem to always happen depending on the corner. It's coming from the rear drivers' side and seemed to start happening after I had corrected the handbrake. I'm wondering if this could be linked or if you think it'll just be a coincidence and instead be the bearing on that wheel? I'm hoping the former is possible as I've heard doing the bearing can be tricky! Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[e34.535i.sport]

Ha ha ha welcome Bro! Love the intro and the sig! Will see you around

[Ross]

Does gently applying the handbrake when this occurs change the noise? If so I would investigate the handbrake, otherwise suspect a bearing.

[anonymous1]

I hadn't even thought to try that, I'll give it a try shortly and get back to you. Just have to remind myself not to pull it too hard!

Appreciated on the advice.

[anonymous1]

Hi,

I tried what you said Ross and doesn't appear to make any change to the noise. Going to test it again next time I am out, just to be sure. Leaning towards it being the bearing though unfortunately.

I'm wondering if it is a DIY job to change the rear wheel bearing or is it easier to just change the whole trailing arm assembly?

Any further suggestions on this one are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[artguy]

Nice to have you here.

My 320i is 10 years older and I love it too...e21 though.
See ya round...

[anonymous1]

Hi,

Haven't had a chance to get back on for a bit. (Sorry this is fairly lengthy one)

Spoke to a garage to get a price for rear wheel bearing and they didn't think it would be bearing related as wrong type of noise. Grind rather than a hum.

So I have investigated the noise from the rear wheel further. I have taken the brake disc off and found that there is a groove being made into the outer edge on the rear of the disc. It is about 1/2" thick and seems to go around the entire outer circumfrence.

I have checked the pad where it would touch the back of the disc and there does not seem to be any unusual wear on this.

When putting the disc back on, I have rotated it with the pads off and just the retention screw in. This seems to produce a similar noise to the one I get when going around corners. The only thing I can think that could be rubbing is the protective cover that is attached to the wheel hub.

I'm wondering if there is anyway to move this at all, as it seems to be fixed in place? I have noted when bending it in the right place the noise stops, but then it just bounces back to the old position. The noise only seems to occur when going faster than 15mph around a right hand corner and when I brake as going around a corner this seems to stop the noise. (As far as I can tell anyway)

My main concern is that I'll be getting through brake discs quicker than I should be. Also I'm presuming when going around corners there will be some resistance on the rear offside wheel moving.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.