Steering - Turning Noises!

[Metroporter]

Recently I have noticed a whining / rubbing sound when steering / turning at lower speeds. The sounds seem much more pronounced in cooler temperatures (<40 f). It also occurs directly after an aggressive braking (in any temperature). The noise sounds somewhere in between a grind, a whine, and a rub and only happens when the wheels are turned all the way to the left or right. When I cranked the car the other cold morning, I heard a pulsing whine that faded after about five seconds (the car was in park and no pressure was applied to the steering wheel). Has anyone else experienced this? I checked the visible joints on the front end of the car and could not see any visible wear. Any help / advice would be appreciated! This is a 97 328i.

P.S. Once the custom grilles are fabricated, I will post pictures of the slight mods I have made to the exterior.

[Jeron]

Check your brake pads.
Look inside the wheel well to see if any slash shield is loose. Look for places where the tire might be rubbing.

It sounds like you have two or three different noises.
Brakes or wheel rub
power steering pump or belt

None of the noises is comming from the actual steering wheel is it? That is common.

[Metroporter]

Thanks for the reply! I have confirmed that the tire is not rubbing anything, and as far as I can tell, it is not related to the brakes. I can say with certainty that it is not coming from the steering wheel either. Now the power steering pump or belt... hmmm. This is quite possible. What should I look for / check?

[Jeron]

I reread your post and it does seem like you're describing a p/s pump or belt. You might try to isolate the sound by having a friend turn the wheel while you listen.

Belt related wear items are:
belt
tensioner
pulley bearings

If you think it is the pump you could change the p/s fluid but this probably wont help the pump noise but may prolong the life a bit. If you do end up replacing the pump make sure to replace the fluid reservoir because it has an integrated filter.

[Metroporter]

As I drove around and out of the parking garage today I rolled the windows down and really listened. This is a pretty pronounced grind. Do these cars have the likes of a CV joint? Bearings going out somewhere?

[LiquidBMW76]

They don't have CV joints. Those are used on front wheel drive and awd drive vehicles. My money would be on the pulley bearings.

[Jeron]

I could be a wheel bearing. I've never had one go out.

From memory, I think you will hear a noise when turning in one direction more than the other. And it should make noise when braking. I"m not sure that your description fits a wheel bearing but it is possible.

[Metroporter]

'From memory, I think you will hear a noise when turning in one direction more than the other. And it should make noise when braking. '
That's funny you should mention that because I rarely hear a sound when turning left but almost always here the sound when I'm turning right (slow and tight turns).

[Jeron]

I did a quick search but I'm sure there many more threads out there.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=496959&highlight=wheel+bearing+noise

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=494302&highlight=wheel+bearing+noise

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=497307&highlight=wheel+bearing+noise