strange noise when accelerating

[bibi_mwewe]

Hello again. My car has developed a new issue; when starting from a dead stop (or sometimes when cornering abruptly), I hear a brief creak/groan. So far I haven't narrowed down where the sound is coming from, but I suspect it's from a suspension component because it basically occurs whenever I do something to make the suspension work.

Any ideas on how to go about figuring out what's happening? I've looked through the service records, and nothing seems to have been done with any of the suspension bits. Considering the car's a '95 325iC with 86K miles, from what I've read I shouldn't be surprised if it needs new rear shock mounts, or some sort of bushing...

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm a poor grad student, so really prefer to do as much of my own work as possible - taking it to a shop is not my preferred option!

cheers, Jessi

[Jeron]

I assume the noise is from the rear end.

Rear shock mounts are very common and cheap and easy. get E36 or E46 M3 RSM's (60-80k)
Rear trailing arm bushings but I don't recall complaints about them making a noise (60-80k)
Diff support not very common
Rear sub-frame cracks not very common but the noise is as you described

Also, rocks in the spring perch or missing rubber dampeners in the spring perch