Clunk in the rear

[YETI]

Hey Guys,

Did my eibach springs and bilsteins with all new hardware about 2 months ago, everything was cool. But now when I hit a bump, I get a clunk from the left rear.
I checked everything out and all seems to be ok.
Sounds like its coming from the trunk, I thought maybe the upper shock mount, but it's new and tight and seems ok. I removed my jack, etc. checked the exhaust, but it's still there, doesn't affect the ride, but annoying as hell.

Any thoughts??

[carolinus]

Did you forget the body in the trunk?

I would take all of the stuff out of the trunk, including interior panels, and see if that helps. Also, are the spoiler and tail lights still firmly screwed down? They can loosen up and cause that problem. Also pay attention to the antenna.

[YETI]

Originally posted by carolinus
Did you forget the body in the trunk?

I would take all of the stuff out of the trunk, including interior panels, and see if that helps. Also, are the spoiler and tail lights still firmly screwed down? They can loosen up and cause that problem. Also pay attention to the antenna.

Yup, truck is empty, took the jack, spare tire and all the panels and mats out.

It sounds like the clunk is comming from "higher" up, almost like a shock mount.
When I bounce the car, no noise, both mounts look the same when bouncing the rear also.

Annoying the hell out of me, If I can figure it out by the weekend, I'm thinking I may swap shocks from left to right and see if one of them is the problem.

[carolinus]

Could be worn out subframe bushings.

Urgh.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Shock mounts would be my first guess. I would also highyl reccommend that you use the upgraded E46 shock mounts if you are running Bilsteins and Eibachs. The stock shock mounts dont seem to hold up as well as thge stock ones. I learned this after breaking two sets of shock mounts driving over the wonderfully maintained Los Angeles street system.

[YETI]

Im thinking from where the noise is comming from, it has to be the upper mount. I will find out later when I tear it apart. If it is, Iwas thinking of going with the Ground Control street mount, seem to look pretty beefy.
Is the E46 a direct bolt in? and do you carry them?

Thanks

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

We do carry the E46 and the Gound Control mounts. They are both direct bolt-in units. I would try the E46 mounts before i go to the ground Control units. The Ground Control units are really only intended for race use, and you may find that they cause the rear to squeak as they are constructed of urethane.

[YETI]

Well, had the shocks out, both seem fine.

I guess I will replace the 2 month old mounts with some of the E46's.

Jared, thanks for the help can you give me a part # on the E46 mounts?

I guess I need to place and order, and while I'm at get a few more things

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Yeti,

just look in the BMW section of our website under your year and model and you should be ok.

[CarolinaE30]

Yeti, let me know of the shock mounts work. I'm hearing the same noise in my 1989 325i. I put in Eibach and Koni's. I did the ground control shock mounts, Jared is right, they are noise, but that clunking is getting on my friggin' nerves. Let us know what you find. On a side note I was told my a mechanic that my lower control arms looked worn and could be causing that noise as well.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

I had the same clunking problem, only in the front. I found that replacing the sway bar drop links helped the problem, along with replacing the control arm mounts.