Alright guys, I’m going to describe this in as much detail as possible, so please bear with me…
2003 330i by the way, auto transmission (recently replaced)
This morning I was enjoying a rather spirited drive, going about 85 mph in a low gear with the music up a little bit louder than it should have been (essentially being a jackass), which is something I do almost every morning before class. As I’m slowing down for an upcoming stop sign, I realized that the worst sound I’ve ever heard coming from any car was coming from what seemed to be the rear of the car, almost like a bearing failure. After a little bit of driving and feeling and testing and stuff, I found out:
1. It isn’t coming from the engine (redundant?), RPM’s don’t affect the sound. If I’m at speed and put the car in neutral I can rev the engine with no effect on the noise, even changing gears doesn’t change anything as far as that god-awful sound is concerned.
2. It becomes audible (although barely) at around 20 mph. As speed increases beyond that, the noise becomes louder and whinier, to the point where it’s almost overwhelming.
3. When any sort of torque is applied, I mean even BARELY tapping the gas pedal, there is this grinding sound that kicks in momentarily and the sound gets WAY louder and whinier, but when I let off the gas and coast it returns to normal.
4. I can’t feel anything going on wrong with performance or anything that I’m aware of, aside from the quick grinding sound when I hit the gas.
5. It is quickly getting worse and worse.
Logic dictates that it has something to do with the driveshaft bearing (I think?) but I searched around for a little bit and wanted to see if there is anyone with a very similar problem before I start ripping stuff off of my car. I have DIYed a fair amount on it but most of it had to do with the cooling system and stuff directly under the hood, never really anything in this area and therefore have no clue what I’m getting myself into.
What do you guys think it could be, and how much time and money are involved in a DIY if that’s something worth DIYing?
2003 330i by the way, auto transmission (recently replaced)
This morning I was enjoying a rather spirited drive, going about 85 mph in a low gear with the music up a little bit louder than it should have been (essentially being a jackass), which is something I do almost every morning before class. As I’m slowing down for an upcoming stop sign, I realized that the worst sound I’ve ever heard coming from any car was coming from what seemed to be the rear of the car, almost like a bearing failure. After a little bit of driving and feeling and testing and stuff, I found out:
1. It isn’t coming from the engine (redundant?), RPM’s don’t affect the sound. If I’m at speed and put the car in neutral I can rev the engine with no effect on the noise, even changing gears doesn’t change anything as far as that god-awful sound is concerned.
2. It becomes audible (although barely) at around 20 mph. As speed increases beyond that, the noise becomes louder and whinier, to the point where it’s almost overwhelming.
3. When any sort of torque is applied, I mean even BARELY tapping the gas pedal, there is this grinding sound that kicks in momentarily and the sound gets WAY louder and whinier, but when I let off the gas and coast it returns to normal.
4. I can’t feel anything going on wrong with performance or anything that I’m aware of, aside from the quick grinding sound when I hit the gas.
5. It is quickly getting worse and worse.
Logic dictates that it has something to do with the driveshaft bearing (I think?) but I searched around for a little bit and wanted to see if there is anyone with a very similar problem before I start ripping stuff off of my car. I have DIYed a fair amount on it but most of it had to do with the cooling system and stuff directly under the hood, never really anything in this area and therefore have no clue what I’m getting myself into.
What do you guys think it could be, and how much time and money are involved in a DIY if that’s something worth DIYing?
