Help!! @ wits end with rear end rattle on e30

[many944s]

Ok, this is driving me crazy! Car is a '90 325i, I have raised the car, shook, bumped, hit and wiggled everything I can, yet I can't track down this rattle! It sounds like there is a tin can of marbles in the passenger wheel well every time I hit a bump. I checked the lic. place, exhaust, gas fill tube, sway bar, drop links, shocks, wheel bearing, removed everything from the trunk... Agh!!

It almost sounds like a Subaru does when there is a handful of gravel in the heat shield under the cat, but I don't have any shielding that could cause this.

It's starting to get frustrating when the person driving next to me looks over wondering if my car is going to fall apart.

Throw me some ideas, I'm out!
Thanks,
-Nick

[Jeron]

My latest rattle sounded like exhaust shielding rattling against the exhaust. It turned out to be the rear brake pads. To test find a test bump and drive over it with the brakes on.

[grafhky52]

I have seen on many e30s the subframe bushings go bad. and the sub frame will shift. they are extremly hard to do.

[nizzleone]

I had a horrible rattle that was driving me nuts in a '87 325i conv. I have a really great BMW mechanic who knew what it was just from me describing the problem. Turns out because these cars have the battery in the trunk there is a counter balance weight to "tune" the frame or something. Anyway, the bolts holding it in place become rusty and it should just be removed. Solved my problems with very little hassle. The thing is like 80lbs and apparently quite pointless.

[many944s]

Thanks for all the input!

My bet is on the brake pads...
I'll have to wait a couple of weeks to check as I will be out of town for a while.

I'll definitely let you know what I find out!

Thanks,
Nick